BangladesherKhela: Hannan & Mushfique the possible replacements for Khaled Mahmud

[fwullah]

I hope that it is only a rumour and the selectors are not seriously thinking about making either Hannan or Mushfique the captain of the BD team.

First of all, they're both too young.

Secondly, Hannan has only recently found his feet at both ODIs and Tests in this year, and to be specific just on last tour of Pakistan that Hannan has become successful in ODIs. Mushfique has done better only in this series and the One Dayers in the last Pakistan series, he needs more time to make himself a permanent player, especially on abroad.

Thirdly, as they both are around about the same age as most of the other players of the national team, so making either or both of them captain (or vice captain) will mean that it will encourage "dolio kondol" into the team. Remember the Boro Bhai (Big brother) forumla that we have talked about earlier? It just doesn't seem like a good idea when some selected certain players are made captains whereas other players are ignored. There is the possibility that it might be too much pressure on them at a very young age.

Hannan Sarkar was born in 1982 (which means that he is only 21 years old on paper) and Mushfiqur Rahman was born in 1980 (which means that he is 23 years old on paper).

Besides all the above facts and opinions, there are still 2 more players in the current BD line up - Mohammad Rafique and Habibul Bashar who are far more experienced and also old enough to be the captain of the BD team; and not given opporutnity to lead BD ever before.

BangladesherKhela

[Mahmood]

BCB is good at making the wrong call. Look at the reality, they picked Sujon as the Test Captain who was not even qualified to play test. Need I say more?

Just cross your finger and prey hard. Those idiots can do any blunder. May allah help us.

[aman]

bashar and rafiq are not qualified for this post.

[oracle]

We should start to think/experiment along the line of picking the best 11 in terms of performance and ratio of bowlers to batsman. Pick captain from the 11 chosen.

[oracle]

************************/cricket/2003/nov/11inter.htm
On the issue of captaincy, here is an insightful interview with I . Chappell.

They say a captain is as good as the team he leads. Do you agree with that?

don't agree with that at all. It negates the idea of a captain. A captain's job is to make the team better, to get them to play to the best of their ability. A captain's main job is to raise the level of each player so the team competes.

don't judge a captain by his wins or defeats. Take, for example, Arjuna Ranatunga. I rate him highly as a captain though he has more losses than wins. He was a very good captain and I always maintained that even before the 1996 World Cup.

I remember when they toured Australia before the World Cup in 1996; Ranatunga led them brilliantly. Man to man, the Lankans and the Aussies were no match. The Lankans were not supposed to be there in the contest, but for three and a half days Ranatunga kept his flock on the field and made them compete. That is captaincy.

Now, Dave has some very useful and volatile experience with Arjuna. This could be tapped for BD. He should know who will be a good captain.

[fwullah]

Except for the last quote of yours, of the time that Ranatunga went to Australia before the World Cup 1996, all others are true for Khaled Mahmud.

He -

has made the team better,

got them to play to the best of their ability.

raised the level of each player so the team competes

We may have better player-captain or leading-by-example-captain in the best captain scenario (either Sumon / Rafique / former captain Pilot / former captain Naimur / Hannan / Mushfique), but the challenge is, to find a good captain among the probably list of 11 players as well. Now we won't find such captain until we give the job to someone firsthand, I agree with that point; but must we choose a different captain other than Sujon right now? Before the Zim tour?

Yes, Mahmud has played as worst as he can, as the captain, but doesn't that also mean that he is having to sacrifice his captaincy because of the team's poor performance? If the failure of the team during the England series is the main reason for sacking Sujon, then I think that the following statement is being taken very strongly and is being followed by the BCB.

captain is as good as the team he leads

[fwullah]

The media has been saying and is repeating that our first test win will come against Zimbabwe - on our next tour, but for that to happen, we need not only the best players, but also the best captain.

I wonder what will happen to those people who are saying that first test win will come against Zimbabwe, when we lose the test series 2-0 in a 2 match test series.

We have realized it on this board only recently from Bangladesh's series against England and also from Zimbabwe's series against West Indies that it may not be possible for us to beat Zimbabwe in 1 test match. But what will happen to the rest of the fans? They deserve (to know) better.

[rafiq]

what indeed will happen to them? do the rest of these fans follow cricket and are they able to think independently or do they need to come to banglacricket.com to figure it all out?

as for the selectors, bcb henchmen, etc - I am glad they don't run any organization I have business dealings with. all of this is utterly pathetic, clueless and it is a wonder the cricket team can even play as well as it does - with these kinds of managers, selectors, fans, reporters, etc.

I need a big break from anything to do with bangladesh cricket and am glad I don't have to think about it until at least next year. cheers, eid mubarak and happy new year to everyone!

[Zobair]

it strikes me that BK often engages in rumour-mongering...i mean...why post something when you are not sure about it...its not professional!

[abs]

I tink Rafique should be captain.

He is by far da best of da spinners and is very unlikely to get fro any matches.

He also seems ore captain material than Bashar.

Bashar is too quiet.... leave hi as batsen/vice.

[Kana-Baba]

How could you think about Rafique?

He came from a very low-class economic family. it's not a sin to be poor but his education is not up to the mark. You can not make a test captain who can barely speak in English. You need someone who can handle the media.

[fwullah]

Talking about the family backgrounds of cricketers, I think that those players who have come from low-class economic family, their commitment to the country is more than the others.

I have heard sometime ago that only Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka has come from a rich family, and the rest of their team members (especially Jayasuriya) has come from lower-economy class?

[Hasib]

Masri is a chicken farmar... Mahmud is from an upper class family... (Ashraful is from a lower class family)

[Sami]

interesting discussion going on here...

I think what Kana-baba's point was that the captaincy shud go to someone who can give interviews, press conference, give reactions after a win (ummm dunno when that will happen) take part in discussions i.e. can communicate with media... IN ENGLISH!!! We really dont need to classify which player came from what background... Its really weird when someone talks abt these things... The whole of BD is poor... PERIOD.

But Kana-baba's point needs to be noted... It is necessary that a captain is able to talk to media- not only the BD ones but also the international ones... But given a situation when there is no one capable of being the captain we shud go for the best choice... and if it has to be rafique then it has to be rafique... Its not a prb that he cant talk in english as long as he can prove to everyone he has the capabilities of being a captain... If needed I am sure BCB will be happy to assign a personal translator for him if extremely needed...

to fwullah: Ranatunga hails from one of the Sri Lankan minister's family... Just for an added info... De silva isnt the only rich guy in the team... and Jayasuriya is probably one of the richest cricketer in the Sri lankan team now given he wasnt one from the start...

[oracle]

The Lower Classes

A dying breed, i.e the upper classes.
The English Upper classes dominated the game but eventually it sucumbed to the popular majority. The chicken farmers will dominate BD cricket in 5 years time.

[fwullah]

I was talking about the SL squad that won the World Cup, at that time, I thought Jayasuriya was not so well-off? Anyway, I don't wanna bring up the issue again, but I do agree with Radicalsami that if anyone can lead the Bangladeshi players on and off the field well, then talking in English would not matter, given that the team performs.

[rafiq]

Can't resist a monday morning retort when I read such a classless suggestion as the one about Rafique or someone else not being qualified for captaincy, merely because they are from "low-class" families. My, aren't we full of ourselves!

So Rafique should have been borne to a higher caste, his family should have made more money, he should have accumulated some of those useless degrees we Bangalis like to adorn ourselves with ? What rubbish - if the concern is with English interviews than perhaps you could have suggested Rafique enroll himself in some intensive English classes - with all the shada chamra-wannabes running around a class shouldn't be hard to find.

The emphasis on English is itself a completely misplaced notion that somehow the ability to speak well on TV interviews will affect the team's performance on the field. We just want a captain who can command a place on the team and lead his men well. The heck with being able to give interviews, that can come later.

This whole upper class - lower class thing holds us back tremendously as a nation. Kana Baba, ar koto din ondho thakben?

[reinausagi]

Aman wrote:

bashar and rafiq are not qualified for this post.

I love to hear all viewpoints. Could you elaborate why they are not qualified to be captain?

The obstacle most frequently cited against Rafique is that he can't speak English. I don't have a problem with that at all. It is quite possible that even the great Steve Waugh does not speak a language, other than his native tongue.

[fwullah]

I would like to add a few points to the Bashar-Rafique captancy debate, which I am adding in under a new topic.