Should we have a pincher?

[Sham]

A lot of people have been advocating pushing Rafique up the order as a pinch-hitter in the remaining one-dayers. However, I feel that this issue of whether to employ a pinch-hitter or not should be examined more closely before we decide whether we ought to employ one or not.

What a pincher is meant to do is to give the run rate a boost, to go out and have a go at the bowling without having to worry about losing his wicket. However, I think it is important that we are judicious about the use of a pincher and figure out in what sorts of circumstances, if at all, we should use one, and when we shouldnt. Let me discuss three possible scenarios.

Scenario 1: BD finds itself in the all too familiar situation of losing an early wicket, so say we are 5 for 1. Should we send in a pincher? My answer is: absolutely not! While a pincher might hit a few sixes and give the score a boost, he can just as easily get out. 10 for 2 would be as demoralizing for BD as it would be encouraging for the opposition. In such a scenario, we should send in a proper batsman to try and undo the damage by putting up a good partnership.

Scenario 2: The BD openers both click and they put up a great opening partnership, say 125 for no loss in 25 overs! Lets say they hit their share of boundaries in the first 15 and then settled down to pick up the singles and rotate the strike once the field is spread out. Should we send in a pincher if a wicket goes down at this stage? My answer: again a no! This would seem like an ideal situation to send in a pinch-hitter. But I would say, when an innings has that kind of momentum, the last thing you want to do is disrupt it. A pincher usually hits boundaries, but they also waste balls in between. If the pinching doesnt come off, it might be that the pincher faced 20 balls for 11 before skying a catch to the deep. What does that do? Kills the momentum that the innings had. Even if the pincher is successful in hitting a few sixes, the lack of strike rotation is likely to kill the momentum anyway as the batsman who was getting into the habbit of taking quick singles will be sitting around at one end watching the drama. So, I would rather resist the temptation of sending in a pincher and rather send in a batter who can maintain the momentum.

Scenario 3: BD gets off to a steady but slow start and finds itself at 60 for no loss after 16 overs, the rr a little below 4. Should we send in a pincher if a wicket goes down at this stage? My answer: yes! Obviously the rr needs a boost and a pincher might provide it. On the other hand, if he gets out, 65 for 2 doesn't seem as bad (unlike scenario 1), and even if he wastes balls and then gets out, its no big loss since the innings never had any momentum anyway (unlike scenario 2).

Thats my take on when we should send in a pincher. Would like to hear what the rest of you think.

[pagol-chagol]

I would send in a pinch hitter on scenario 2 and 3.

[Zobair]

Sham...agreed..I want to add another angle to the discussion. Suppose! we decide that the stage is set for a pinch-httier...who should do it? I used to think Rafique was the ideal choice...however now I think may be we should rethink that. For me the ideal pinch-hitter is someone who can do the job without being sorely missed in his usual batting position. Rafique has become a vital cog in our late order hitting and losing him cheaply (when sent as pinch-hitter) causes us double the headache. I think Masrafe or Tapash should be considered as pinch hitters simply because they can hit the ball cleanly, have good technique, and losing them cheaply may not quite cause the psychological setback that we associate with rafique's cheap dismissal.

[Ehsan]

Yes I am with pagol-chagol!

I would send in a pinch hitter in scenario 2 and 3. I would not reall worry if the pinch hitter loses his wicket just for 15-20 runs, but we get the boost thats needed for both the scenarios and once the pinch hitter is out we then must send in a responsible batsman who can deal with both the run rate and not give away his wicket soon, for example Rajin or Bashar.

[BangladeshFan]

Originally posted by pompous
Sham...agreed..I want to add another angle to the discussion. Suppose! we decide that the stage is set for a pinch-httier...who should do it? I used to think Rafique was the ideal choice...however now I think may be we should rethink that. For me the ideal pinch-hitter is someone who can do the job without being sorely missed in his usual batting position. Rafique has become a vital cog in our late order hitting and losing him cheaply (when sent as pinch-hitter) causes us double the headache. I think Masrafe or Tapash should be considered as pinch hitters simply because they can hit the ball cleanly, have good technique, and losing them cheaply may not quite cause the psychological setback that we associate with rafique's cheap dismissal.

i agree with pompus, mashrafe is a clean hitter and may sometimes promote up the order to boost the rate, however the ideal choice may be tapash who can throw the bat and wont cause any stir if get out cheaply since he bats at 9 or 10 anyway.

rafiq is a good hitter when there is a spinner or medium pacer bowling, however he doesnt have a clue when the ball is about waist high or above. thus against zim i think he should be tried as pinch hiter but not against teams with quality pace attack.

[Ehsan]

Agree with pomp bhai as well. Rafique's wicket is an important one these days, so ya may be we can consider Tapash and Masri.

[sham1980]

Mahsrafe gotta be more consistent then Tapash

[Shish Ahmed]

I would send a pincher in when their spinners are bowling. Rafiq usually does good against spinners even mashrafe can use the long handle.

[mahbubH]

I am not a fan of pinch hitting. I think batsmen of this era should learn to play at different gears.

[ZaKi]

All depends on match situation.....if we need to increase RR then we should send pincher like Rafiq, Mashrafe... Rafiq is better choice..... & if RR is ok then no need to send a pincher.... better he should bat in last couple overs....

[Sam]

In another thread I have put Mashrafe as 5-down considering him as an effective pinch-hitter (like in 3rd ODI).

[Sam]

Originally posted by ZaKi
All depends on match situation.....if we need to increase RR then we should send pincher like Rafiq, Mashrafe... Rafiq is better choice..... & if RR is ok then no need to send a pincher.... better he should bat in last couple overs....

Agreed, but chance may not come to get their pinch hitting and increase the RR if the match ends with only 5 batsmen out.

[ZaKi]

in that case u can send a picher as a no.5 batsman.....

[AsifTheManRahman]

I am not really fond of pinching when it comes to the BD team. Honestly, I don't think we have anyone who can destroy the opposition and score some 50-70 runs (at least) in the space of 15 overs or so. However, if we do decide to send in a pinch hitter, I'd rather send him in at number 1 (or 2/3 for that matter) than later, in order to take the advantage of the fielding restrictions. This will enable us to get off to a flying start - something that the next batsmen will be able to build on. Tapash and/or Mashrafe seem ideal choices for this job.

Another scenario suitable for pinching the opposition is when we are in a comfortable position between the 35th and 40th overs, or in the early 40's for that matter. If we are 3/4 down, we may want to consider sending in Rafique or Masri to do some hitting as soon as the next wicket falls, instead of sending in the usual number 6 and 7.

That's my idea of what should be pinching - Bangladeshi style.

[shaad]

Asif,

The trouble with sending the pincher in too early (at 1 down or 2 or 3) is that he'd be dealing with the new ball. So far, Rafique, Tapash, and Masri have shown some success with the old ball. Would they be as effective with the new ball?

[fab]

The only time we should think about sending in a pincher is if we are batting first. If we are chasing then we shouldn't even be thinking about it as we don't really have any 'successful pinchers'. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that these three (Rafique, Masri and recently Tapash) are not really that 'successful' when we bat in the 2nd innings. Have any of them been able to turn the game around for us (substancially) when chasing? On the otherhand I think both Rafique and Masri bat well when not in too much pressure.

[bourny3]

I would only have a pinch hitter if the run chase was on and BD needed 300+