Shahriar Nafees is in!

[shuziburo]

The pitch was not an easy one to play. Playing at SBNS will not be a walk in the park, but I think he might improve. I saw enough from him today to recommend giving him a few more chances.

[tiger_omar]

Originally Posted by allrounder
Rock's innings based on the circumstance was very crucial. We reached 205 somehow with that partnership. Shariar Nafees innings was under no pressure from match condition, but his own of not playing for a long time. The two innings are totally different.

Very good point, well put.

Even though I still want Nafees to play against South Africa and see how he performs.

[HereWeGo]

Originally Posted by allrounder
Rock's innings based on the circumstance was very crucial. We reached 205 somehow with that partnership. Shariar Nafees innings was under no pressure from match condition, but his own of not playing for a long time. The two innings are totally different.

On a personal level SN innings was actually played under same kind of pressure if not more, since this is probably the last time the management will show any kind of faith on him. Plus he hasnt played any international cricket for a long time....

[Fazal]

Originally Posted by allrounder
Rock's innings based on the circumstance was very crucial. We reached 205 somehow with that partnership. Shariar Nafees innings was under no pressure from match condition, but his own of not playing for a long time. The two innings are totally different.

Niijey Baachlee Baaper Naam.

This was indeed THE LIFESAVING INNINGS of his career for SN. This was indeed ultimate pressurized innings that a player can play. He knew very well, that one low score and he will be out from the team for atleast next one year...he was fighting against lot of influencial enemy in the the team.

There is still chance he will be dropped. But in the process it will make it cristal clear taklu Da's discrimination against SN.

[Ajfar]

Originally Posted by hbk619
SN should focus on middle order position rather than going for top order position

middle order solution? Because he scored 37 runs from 60 balls. Let's see how he does against SA before jumping up and down.

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (iPhone)

[Dhakablues]

Guys no reason to diss him,,, he is the player who also scored against New Zealand, Australia and not only the minnows..He did face pace bowlers of Gillespie, Lee. And this is not like we are playing in English condition that Steyn will be packing us up in 30 runs...And if history prevails, its not the star players its always that non-star player who troubles BD batting team

[al-Sagar]

what would have happenned if ROCK played instead of nafees ?????

1. Rock would have scored 12 of 99 balls unbeaten and thus take BD to win in the 48th over
2. IMRUL would have got the chance to score his 100 with ROCK not scoring too much....
3. BD would have won by 8 wickets

[al-Sagar]

anyway well done nafees in his comback match

i wish he regains Confidence and improves in future

[Abirz]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
SN deserves and should get atleast 5 matches in a row.

When Rock scores 37 scratchy runs against equally bad irish attack he is touted as a superstar and in form batsmen. When SN scores the same against Ned, than calling it scratchy isnt right.....
Wheres Abirz, he should agree with me...

Lol I agree, actually I was so occupied with watching him bat, I didn't notice much, was just enjoying every moment of it, but he took his time early on, which anybody needs to as he said it was a sluggish pitch, hope I get to see him again on Sat

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (iPhone)

[mar umpire]

Originally Posted by WarWolf
It's good that SN is given the chance. Hope he can capitalize it.

Junaid should have been dropped instead of ROC. But unfortunately as long JS is here, Junaid will continue to enjoy that free ride.

It is unfortunate that some of us are more influenced by what seems like personal vendettas and are blind to the qualities of those we may not necessarily like

Junaid's innings after the dismissal of tamim when Bukhari was seaming the ball around was quite crucial, at that phase of the match a lot of things could have happened that could have resulted in a very tight match for bangladesh.

Well played Junaid. Out of the last 15 innings Junaid has not crossed double figures once or twice I believe. That's consistent enough for me-Bangladesh in the past tended to lose many wickets in clumps, we need a consistent number 3 to help combat this problem, although he should try to capitalise on his starts.

That being said Nafees' slow and laboured 37 was great not in its aesthetic quality but rather in the way he didn't throw his wicket despite his struggles. He should be cut some flack with regards to the rustiness-that's what he was perhaps, rusty after a long lay off.

If Nafees can play well enough I don't see why he shouldn't replace roquibul at 4. However as it stands it would be premature to make any statements regarding the long term make up of the team based on one rusty 37 against the likes of Netherlands or a fighting 38 against the likes of Ireland-truth be told our number 4 position is up for grabs.

If Nafees was to score 10 ducks in a row that would indeed make him consistent-but that is not the type of consistency we are looking for, hence I hope if Nafees is to stay in the team he justifies that with consistent performances.

Our current worry if anything would be tamim whose last two dismissals are a bit worrying as the deliveries were not exceptional. Furthermore what is more worrying is the fact Tamim isn't lasting that much more than the first batting powerplay(other than India). I think he and junaid should be getting their heads down and capitalising on their starts.

Batting is based on partnerships and scoring a quick 40 is good but a slower 60 is perhaps better from a bangladeshi team perspective as we tend to lose wickets too easily and regularly.

[SS]

SN is in good but whether he will meet our requirement for middleorder..that question still remains unanswered...we need a middle order who will contribute with his batting and keep the score going on even in 1s or 2s and not give up his wicket..for few years we still see so many faces coming to the middle but not adequate enough to meet the criteria of a true middle order...few promise solid defense..few promise good in taking singles...few promise test like mentality but we are not getting the right ones...may be in process but we never know when we can see it...lots of thinking to do after the WC.

If SN likes that position, he should deliver and also should get chances to prove that...hope he does not lose the form like the others who recently promised but faded away

[Tiger Manc]

SN will never get the plaudits he deserves until he delivers a century against the g8. That's why guys like Kapali probably has more fans because people remember that innings against India, despite the fact that SN has a much better average and strike rate than Alok.

Come on SN deliver against SA and brush away that 'minnow-basher' tag.

[lamisa]

i prefer SN over rok

[Abirz]

Originally Posted by lamisa
i prefer SN over rok

Yea even Shakib indirectly said he prefers Shahriar Nafees over Rokibul, he said "because we're not getting any runs from the "number 4 batsman", we had an option that's why we made a change" in the post match press conference, Im pretty sure he was referring to Rokibul when he said "number 4 batsman"

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by SS
SN is in good but whether he will meet our requirement for middleorder..that question still remains unanswered...we need a middle order who will contribute with his batting and keep the score going on even in 1s or 2s and not give up his wicket..for few years we still see so many faces coming to the middle but not adequate enough to meet the criteria of a true middle order...few promise solid defense..few promise good in taking singles...few promise test like mentality but we are not getting the right ones...may be in process but we never know when we can see it...lots of thinking to do after the WC.

If SN likes that position, he should deliver and also should get chances to prove that...hope he does not lose the form like the others who recently promised but faded away

Our search for a no.4 continues. I hope SN can take this opportunity and make it his own. Now that he has got a game in, its up to him to hold on to that spot. Technically, he is not a no.4, nor is he a natural at that position. Like you have said, a no.4 is a place for a batsman who must be good at building an innings based on primarily 1's and 2's, as the middle overs field set doesn't allow for free flowing boundaries. No.1-3 can get away without relying much on singles-two's simply because they have better opportunities for boundaries. So, by theory, a no.4 must be a great runner, quick on his feet, has the ability to play with soft hands and play to the field, so the RR doesn't suffer based on the start given by no.1-3. I am not sure SN is good at either. He never struck me as a busy cricketer. Can you imagine a partnership of Juna-SN in the middle ? Oh..how many dot balls ? and, since both are lazy runners, run outs are just inevitable.

So, he needs to re-invent his game if he has a future at no.4, and must do those things above before I can judge him . In other words, he can no longer play like a no.3. I will not even take into account the 37 against the Dutch he scored. That bowling was awful when he came in ( 92/2 ) and we basically needed 70 odd runs with tons of overs left! So, really, it was no barometer.

If you ask me, who is a better no.4 between SN and Rok. I will say, it's still Rok, because he simply is more suited for that slot. If you ask me who is better at no.3 between SN and Rok. The answer is obviously SN. But, we are dissecting the no.4 position. Its a shame that we can't find one. Rok, SN etc are not the answer, but if you ask me to pick one from the two, I will have to pick Rok, despite of him not getting runs at the moment.

Also, five lefty in a row is not tactically a good thing. But, will do at the moment. I will pay close attention to how he plays this position now. For example : 35 runs of 45 balls next game will actually be better than , say, a 50 in 75+ balls.

[BangladeshFan]

SN is way better than Raqibul at number 4. We need to use Raqibul like India uses Raina, the 12th man.

[Dhakablues]

Since, Junaed is going to be the number 3 which I frankly think he shouldnt be, we are left with no other players who can fill in that #4 position unless Shakib moves up and Shahrier moves to 3 and Junaed to 5.

Frankly speaking, we never had a solid number 4 after the likes of Bashar, Akram, Bulbul, Nannu left. If you compare the world number 4s like Mahela, Trott, Ponting, Dravid/Kohli, Misbah/Yunus,,, we dont have any one that comes close. Technically, Raqibul is the one who can build innings which he has done in the past but he just does not get it... how to rotate strikes or when to go after a bowl that is to be hit.. And we all know the Ashraful story. There is still Jahurul or Nasir who can be at the middle order but as our selectors have it,,,they never got much exposure to solidify themselves in those positions..

[shuziburo]

Amla could be an excellent No 4. Will he agree to becoming a BD citizen?

[Dhakablues]

Originally Posted by shuziburo
Amla could be an excellent No 4. Will he agree to becoming a BD citizen?

Dude, we didnt even give Pakir Ali the cititizenship after he was in the country for 13 years and waited and waited for many years that too when he was a celebrity at that time,, you think we will give Amla citizenship? He will be deemed too religious or Jamati like..!!

[mar umpire]

Originally Posted by Beamer
Our search for a no.4 continues. I hope SN can take this opportunity and make it his own. Now that he has got a game in, its up to him to hold on to that spot. Technically, he is not a no.4, nor is he a natural at that position. Like you have said, a no.4 is a place for a batsman who must be good at building an innings based on primarily 1's and 2's, as the middle overs field set doesn't allow for free flowing boundaries. No.1-3 can get away without relying much on singles-two's simply because they have better opportunities for boundaries. So, by theory, a no.4 must be a great runner, quick on his feet, has the ability to play with soft hands and play to the field, so the RR doesn't suffer based on the start given by no.1-3. I am not sure SN is good at either. He never struck me as a busy cricketer. Can you imagine a partnership of Juna-SN in the middle ? Oh..how many dot balls ? and, since both are lazy runners, run outs are just inevitable.

So, he needs to re-invent his game if he has a future at no.4, and must do those things above before I can judge him . In other words, he can no longer play like a no.3. I will not even take into account the 37 against the Dutch he scored. That bowling was awful when he came in ( 92/2 ) and we basically needed 70 odd runs with tons of overs left! So, really, it was no barometer.

If you ask me, who is a better no.4 between SN and Rok. I will say, it's still Rok, because he simply is more suited for that slot. If you ask me who is better at no.3 between SN and Rok. The answer is obviously SN. But, we are dissecting the no.4 position. Its a shame that we can't find one. Rok, SN etc are not the answer, but if you ask me to pick one from the two, I will have to pick Rok, despite of him not getting runs at the moment.

Also, five lefty in a row is not tactically a good thing. But, will do at the moment. I will pay close attention to how he plays this position now. For example : 35 runs of 45 balls next game will actually be better than , say, a 50 in 75+ balls.

I agree, just to add abit more if I may, the Netherlands had their field up to Nafees and after a period of dot balls he was able to relieve the build up in pressure by piercing the field to score a boundary- Nafees scores most of his runs via boundaries and for a no. 4 spot he needs to add to this skill the ability to rotate the strike(which to be honest is poor among most bangladeshi batsmen-our cricket is less death or glory than it used to be but we still have that tendency now and again). In cases where the field is not up and boundaries can't be scored, a series of 4-5 dot balls followed by singles will build pressure on his partner at the crease. That's when our batsmen play kamikaze shots unfortunately.

I wouldn't like to see junaid and nafees together during the 20-30 over mark say facing spinners and trying to work singles, but we'll see what happens. The potential reason Nafees may not be included could be because of 5 lefties but if Nafees is in much better form than roquibul I personally would take the risk of including nafees-technically I can see Nafees edging to slip or playing a cut in the air to point off Morkel and Roquibul losing his offstump to steyn in a similar manner to Shahzad. I think both of these batsmen have to change their styles a bit because it will be difficult for Nafees to come back as an opener. But the number 4 spot may potentially be alternating between Nafees and Roq based on the types of attack we play, Nafees as a former opener you'd expect him to be agood player of pace.

In saying all this however, Roqibul in my opinion is not the best player of pace although in my opinion he can probably work the spinners around for ones and twos better than Nafees. Against South Africa Bangladesh will be up against perhaps the 2nd or even the best pace attack in the world. I would find it difficult to choose between the two. However if Nafees is chosen it would be great if he could score big. Seeing him in the field I think he's worked pretty hard and improved alot.


Just a general statement. Whoever gets chosen, hope they pay well and help bangladesh secure a QF spot because as fans we shouldn't be forming factions based on our favourite players but rather hope the country does well in general.

[mar umpire]

Originally Posted by Musfique
He has done the best he could do, so no complaints. Now that he is in the team, he must get an extended run (up to the end of Aussie series).

Agree with DB about spending sometime with Siddons; I also think that he can benefit from some technical modification. But you must understand, even a small change to technique TAKES MONTHS to perfect, so don't expect instant result from Sid.

When Cook was strugling with his balance at the crease, Gooch worked with him for about a year to fix, and although Cook imporoved a lot and got bucket full of runs against the aussies, he still has problems with it.

Great assessment, I like Dhakablues, beamer and Zunaid's analyses as well(and any other ones that are along similar line i guess)-constructive and rational, although I think we have to stick with junaid as no 3. He's not ricky ponting or trott but IMO he hasn't done a bad job, plus as a former opener he should be ideal in taking on the pace attack should an early wicket fall. I dislike the way he throws his wicket however.
although in most teams they'd stick with the player for a while, I have a feeling the team may be chopped and changed based on the type of attack we face(just based on the observation how we have been using Mahmudullah, Naeem and shuvo rotating)