Hindustan Times: topstories Kayes: Bangla's new poster boy

[Zunaid]

Complete article here

Kayes: Bangla's new poster boy

Nilankur Das, Hindustan Times
Chittagong, March 13, 2011
England run out Bangladesh's Imrul Kayes during their ICC World Cup match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury......

Imrul Kayes wanted to play football. His father, Baniamin Biswas, was a cricket buff. Their small house in Meherpur in Kushtia district did not have a television, but Baniamin would never miss a cricket match on the radio. Finally, the father prevailed and Imrul was given his first bat. But including his son in the team was a 'costly proposition'. Imrul would most certainly hit the ball out of sight.The road from gully cricket to the national team has been long. And even now, with the likes of his opening partner, Tamim Iqbal, and captain, Shakib-Al Hasan, the chances of hogging the limelight for players like Imrul have been few and far between.

On Friday, Imrul and his equally introvert team-mate, Shafiul Islam, emerged heroes of Bangladesh's memorable win over England. And, just like the post-match media conference after the victory over Ireland, Imrul repeated what Tamim - the 'Man-of-the-match' against Ireland - had said: "I think Shafiul deserved this award more than I did".

"This is my first Man-of-the-match award," Imrul muttered towards the fag end of the session. Skipper Shakib patted his shoulder the moment Imrul spoke his first words, even as the gathering - that also included the ICC media head, Colin Gibson, who did not quite get the language but the drift - broke into laughter. Imrul had scored 76 against England in Bristol when Bangladesh last beat them. But a 60 in difficult conditions and on the biggest stage will definitely be his most memorable innings, even better than his century against New Zealand last year. "The Bristol win was a turning point, and I started believing in myself that I could do such a thing again," Imrul said.

[Zeeshan]

His textbook cover drives are lovely to watch. It's almost perfecting something to a boredom that is so sublime.

[allrounder]

What happened to Tamim's brother Nafees Iqbal? Is he still in the radar or out of the equation.

[Shubho]

Originally Posted by allrounder
What happened to Tamim's brother Nafees Iqbal? Is he still in the radar or out of the equation.

Nafis Iqbal is a lost cause. Still plays in domestic competitions, but can't seem to regain his pre-2005 form even against poor to mediocre attacks.

[lamisa]

it's so good to see players like him and riyad and shafiul to b e under the spot-light.now we can proudly claim that we have more match winners ahead of shakib-tamim and ash-mash!

[Night_wolf]

poster boy?..sorry not for me

[Shubho]

Imrul a poster boy?

Whatever they're smoking, I want! Must be really, really good.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Shubho
Imrul a poster boy?

Whatever they're smoking, I want! Must be really, really good.

Yeah, its called "common sense", and is rarely available in the bangladeshi fan market

[samircreep]

Originally Posted by Kabir
Yeah, its called "common sense", and is rarely available in the bangladeshi fan market

Awesome

[Zeeshan]

Statistics speak for themselves. Just look up at what number Kayes was in terms of top run scorers in 2010.

[Musfique]

The best thing about Imrul is that, he is constantly improving and getting better, hopefully, he will keep on improving.

Players like Shariar Nafees, hasn't shown the ability to learn and improve over time.

[_Rafi_]

Bangla mane ki. Pura nam likhte somossa kothay? Porum na.

[Kabir]

A different poster boy for a change, and im glad he's a match winner. Good to see him progress. His abilities gives us such a boost in our batting lineup.

[Shubho]

^ Um, I'm not sure you understand the meaning of "poster boy"?

[bangla-red]

I think that he's a player that is perhaps made to look good by other players and bad by the performance of the team in general. For example, if Tamim gets at least a 30 at his usual strike-rate, he makes up for Imrul's slow scoring and if we win, it's often Imrul who gets praise for holding the innings together (because he actually scores the runs). If Tamim gets out early and Imrul scores at least 40, then he gets a bit of criticism for scoring slowly. I think that he's been impressive over the last year, but he needs to find another gear so that when he's got 50+, he can at least speed up a bit. But I'd say that he's one of the few secure batsmen in the our team ATM.

EDIT: But where did the poster boy thing come from?

[AsifTheManRahman]

Poster boy? SMH

[Fazal]

Imrul pretty much solidified his position. I hope now he with play with more confidence and flair.

Coach gave him a role, and he more or less playing that rolel pretty well and therefore nullified the threat from SN and Juniad, the coach's boy.

Now once he is set and no near threat of replacement, may be we sill see the real Imrul, the Imrul who played against India. That game gave me a confidence that yes he can hit with all cylinder if he is allowed to do so, but he can also be a team player and play a supporting role and let Tamim hit.

[Musfique]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Imrul pretty much solidified his position. I hope now he with play with more confidence and flair.

Coach gave him a role, and he more or less playing that rolel pretty well and therefore nullified the threat from SN and Juniad, the coach's boy.

Now once he is set and no near threat of replacement, may be we sill see the real Imrul, the Imrul who played against India. That game gave me a confidence that yes he can hit with all cylinder if he is allowed to do so, but he can also be a team player and play a supporting role and let Tamim hit.

You are right. I hope so too.

Lack of a decent middle order means, Imrul has no choice but to hold back. maybe after the world cup, the middle order will slowly change ans with it, Imrul's style.

[Musfique]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Poster boy? SMH

He definitely has the eye of the tiger!

[simon]

what I like the most is his determination in staying in the middle.

[Ananna]

There are many people in this forum who thinks Kayes is too slow for ODI. But I think he is perfect partner for Tamim> He is very consistent alothough his strike rate is not that great. We need him to hold our innings together. Dont forget last year he was the highest run scorer for us.
It would be great though if he can improve his strike rate.

[Dhakablues]

He is not one of my favorite players but that is my bias because even I cannot justify my irrationality when I look into his stats and how he is still much better than Golla, Jahangir, Rokon, Mehrab or all the other 30 different players we tried in that role.

Is he the poster boy? I dont think that the Bangladeshi people will agree with that. Rather Shakib, Tamim or even Mashrafee is. Imrul reflect Bangladesh in the sense of how a rural Kushtia boy who don't speak English well, didnt have the access to world class facilities or gym or coach, achieved his dreams yet remains un-seen, unrecognized and un-flamboyant unlike his other team mates..

[Farhad]

Imruls strike rate hasnt really been an issue this WC. So far, he's batted at an average of around 75, around the same as Shakib and Junaid, and only (significantly) below Tamim...

[Shehwar]

I take back everything I said about Imrul. I used to not like his style at all but he is gutsy. ALMOST as gutsy as JO actually and he has superior skills. Still can't beat JO for shear grit though. That guy used to take a battering, all sorts of body blows and still fight it out. Born Tiger!

[AsifTheManRahman]

He needs to up his strike rate to be effective in the long run. He might be OK for now.