Javed Omar Analysis and some questions

**Zunaid** · #1 April 28, 2004, 05:06 PM

I have not had the pleasure of watching most of the current crop of players - so my perceptions are based on what other people are saying of these players.

While doing some research on Javed Omar for our profiles section, I was mightily impressed with his tenacity. From just the stats, he appears to be the best opener for Bangladesh in Tests. If both Hannan and Javed can click, we may have a fairly potent Test opening pair.

Anyway, going deeper into my analysis, I was looking at his mode of dismissals and who got him and how.

He has been out 37 times. Three bowlers got him thrice and four got him twice (Streak, Waqar Younus, Shoain Akhtar and Cairns, Ntini, Gillespie and Umar Gul respectively). All fast bowlers. Inspecting the list, I see mostly fast bowlers with just a few twirlers in there (Price, Murali). I was wondering if he has a known failing to pace and if so particuarly what? Of course, being an opener he is facing pacers and so the chances that more pacers get him are high - but on the other hand he often has batted for long periods of time and so should have been facing spinners.

Looking further into the mode of dismissal reveals this interesting fact - caught or caught and bowled (24 out of 37), LBW (10) and bowled (3). Do the number of LBWs point to a particular deficiency in his batting? Interestingly he has never been run out.

So can people who have seen him bat comment? I recall fwulla saying he might not do well in WI because of the bouncy tracks.

TIA

**Zunaid** · #2 April 28, 2004, 05:11 PM

Did a quick look at Hanna's stats - similar preponderance of getting out to pacers but a larger fraction to LBW's (9 out of 27 dismissals). What is his problem?

chinaman · #3 April 28, 2004, 05:30 PM

I'm sure, our members will shed more "expert opinion" on these issue. From what I gethered over media and match reports, the weakest points of the two, and of the others as well, are poor shot selection and rush shot. Javed also reportedly has limited footworks. Apart from these, there seems to be some problems with controlling reflexes which invariably makes them poking indiscriminately at the outside off balls.

One other interesting factor that I personally consider to of a temporary nature for most of our batsmen is the "Whatmore Factor". Being already a batsman, most of these players developed their own techniques, whether right or wrong. Whatmore made corrections to these habits which inavitebly brought some temporary (1-2yr) discomfort to them. Hopefully our U-19 players will not have these problems.

tnb · #4 April 28, 2004, 06:51 PM

Did not watch a live match for long time. But, from my memory, JO's problem is his tendency to chase the ball outside the off stumps, which is an indication of not knowing where his offstump is. In fact many of his four comes from 'khocha', that the slip fielder misses. Another problem, he used to get committed on front foot too early; as a result for short-piched balls, he was in trouble. The other thing, even though he is tenacious, he does sometime try to whack balls, piched wide of off-stump. Hoping to see some comments from members who saw him batting recently.

Piranha · #5 April 28, 2004, 08:45 PM

I agree with all of Javed Omar's deficiencies mentioned above. But you have to remember that most of our batsmen have exactly the same problem. In fact, I really cannot think of anyone except Rajin Saleh who has solid technique.

I'm not a fan of chopping and changing as well as going back and forth over selection, but I think Omar has been too harshly dealt with. He could have done with more chances.

**Zunaid** · #6 April 28, 2004, 08:48 PM

I think, for Tests at least, in Hannan and Javed we have the makings of a good opening pair. As Piranha said, the shot selection deficiency seems to be pervasive for everyone. We should just let these two persist until some outstanding talent demands to be given a shot.

Zobair · #7 April 28, 2004, 09:29 PM

Hannan Sarkar had a problem with his footwork (or lack of it) in the beginning of his career but has gotten better now. That may explain his high LBW rate.

fwullah · #8 April 28, 2004, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Did not watch a live match for long time. But, from my memory, JO's problem is his tendency to chase the ball outside the off stumps, which is an indication of not knowing where his offstump is. In fact many of his four comes from 'khocha', that the slip fielder misses. Another problem, he used to get committed on front foot too early; as a result for short-piched balls, he was in trouble. The other thing, even though he is tenacious, he does sometime try to whack balls, piched wide of off-stump. Hoping to see some comments from members who saw him batting recently.

As I've read all that tnb said, in more recent times, I haven't seen our players, especially our test cricketers not making those mistakes. Shahriar Hossain's arrival after 3-4-year break has also made me realize how the current Test cricketers of Bangladesh who have been playing since almost the beginnning of our gaining test status has improved (tremendously). Their shot selection is way better than before, their judgement on the balls outside the off stump is far better than before.

There are still sometimes when they forget about their new learnings and make the earlier mistakes (sometimes), but I'm sure if we see a video of all the outs of a particular batsman, then I'm certain that their most recent out-rate is improving day by day (one at a time).

Beamer · #9 April 28, 2004, 11:32 PM

Hannan shuffles across too much as well, leaving him susceptable to lbws. If he can rectify that, he could be quite a good test opener in the future. In Zimbabwe, during the test match I think, he got bowled around his leg stumps( excessive shuffling ). He was in whatmore's doghouse, was left out of the ODI games until the last game, when he reclaimed his spot due to injury.

FaltuRidwanBhai · #10 April 29, 2004, 12:06 AM

jaihok,
javed omar belim golla, ak shomoy kintu take ami protidin dekhtam jokhon tini buet ar mathe practice korte ashten tar friend der ke niye. tobe tokhono kintu tini khub akta bhalo khelten na. tai tokhon kintu take amar khub akta ahamori kichu mone hoto na. tobe take dekhe ja mone hoto tini kintu akjon very dedicated player. kothor onushilon korten ebong nibirbhabe aktana onushilon korten. prothome kintu cholto tar jogging ebong tarpor shuru hoto catching ebong fielding ebong ar por tini kintu batting practice korten. shai shomoy kintu ami ar amar friend ra tar khela dekhtam. tobe jodi jantam je pore tini ato boro akjon player hoten tahole kintu tar autograph nawar kotha kintu bhultam na. dannabad.

sujon · #11 April 29, 2004, 12:31 AM

i havent seen golla playing a lot recently. i guess last time i saw him playing an ODI against australia at Cairns. I have seen a lot of him in the Dhaka League in the 90's. He was really pissing me off in the Aussie match. It was a difficult pitch for sure, the suddies didnt score too many. But the approach that Golla took was way too bad. He was just playing for survival in the opening overs. That puts a lots of pressure on the other batsman and eventually something happens.

For ODI, I would like to see Golla out of the team. In test matches, may be worth giving him a chance again.

RazabQ · #12 April 29, 2004, 01:08 AM

Some ppl may recall, a month or so ago, I had posted a question on why Bangladesh does not produce off-sided players.

Zunaid bhai's question is kinda related to the same topic. I have seen both Hannan & Javel bat (I've seen Shahriar to but I forget his specifics). They both almost exclusively play everything on the on-side. This necessitates the shuffling across the crease that other posters allude to, and hence the proclivity for LBWs.

Both are fairly diminutive as well. This is possibly a contributor to their caught out. When you shuffle accross, and happen to be short, you have a tougher time dealing with unexpected bounce. Those of you have plaid tape tennis on concrete know what I'm talking about right? The ball hits the splice or edges.

I honestly feel if only Al-Shariar had got his shot selection straight, he'd have been a fine fine opener. He's fearless. Has the height and reach, and lovely timing on the off-side.

After all that "bakko baey", I do have to agree that Hannan & Golla are our best Test opening bat. LOL

*AsifTheManRahman* · #13 April 29, 2004, 10:41 AM

I have had the luck to watch Javed play in a couple of matches. In fact I have watched each and every international match that he had played upto the one in the Pakistan tour where he scored a century last year. I came to Canada the night before he scored that century, so that when I left he was something not out after the first day. I think he has very good selection when it comes to leave the ball. He also seems to manage bouncers pretty well. I remember once the Pakistani bowlers were coming round the wicket and bowling short towards his body, with a short square leg in place. Yet, he went on playing the ball into the ground and away from the reach of the square leg fielder. However, they soon got him.
Yes, he has a weakness against fast bowlers. In fact, sometimes his footwork is messy, i.e. he does not move very well. His main problem is that he gets out early on most occassions. This is sad, since, being an opener, he should be able to play fast bowlers a lot better than he does.
Having said that, I should also mention his temperament, ideal for test cricket. He is determined and really hard working. A perfect match for Hannan in test matches.

[Edited on 30-4-2004 by AsifTheManRahman : typo]

*AsifTheManRahman* · #14 April 29, 2004, 10:48 AM

As for Hannan, he has been around for a while, but he had come to the limelight a long time after Javed had. Therefore, I haven't seen much of him, but, like in Javed's case, I have watched all of his international matches. He seemed to have problems with his footwork, getting out leg before on numerous occassions. He seems to have come out of it, and his technique seems to have improved, although it's not as good as some of the younger players in the side. However, his half centuries against Australia and South Africa at their grounds proves his ability to survive bouncy tracks and quality bowling. He should definitely be Javed's partner in tests.

*AsifTheManRahman* · #15 April 29, 2004, 10:54 AM

However, probably the biggest shuffler across the stumps among all time Bangladeshi batsmen was Athar Ali Khan. I remember watching him play and praying under my breath that he did not get out. He used to take a step back, and then a couple of steps towards the stupms(well, at least that's what it looked like). In the end, he came up with one of the better shots of the day. Simply amazing!

[Edited on 30-4-2004 by AsifTheManRahman : typo]

*AsifTheManRahman* · #16 April 29, 2004, 10:58 AM

In my opinion, the main reason for Bangladeshi batsmen being weak against pace is the lack of quality quickies in the country. Sharif, Talha, Tarek and the others have a long way to go before anyone considers them as world class. Mashrafee is probably the best in the lot, but has been out of injury for a long time. Besides, our pitches are not fast bowler friendly. Under these circumstances, weakness against fast bowlers can only be dealt with by playing overseas against the Australians, South Africans and in the Carribean.

[Edited on 29-4-2004 by AsifTheManRahman : typo]

Ahmed_B · #17 April 29, 2004, 12:59 PM

Javed Omar is possibley the most 'CONFIDENT' BD opener in recent times..
nevertheless.. he is not also completely free from the very 'common' faults that our openers, even all our batsmen hav.. (like impatience, wrong choosing of shots, bad footwork..)
But even after all of these.. i will say that he is one of our 'Mr. Dependables'

Welcome back from injury and best of luck to this guy!

FaltuRidwanBhai · #18 April 29, 2004, 01:08 PM

ji bhai,
ami kintu apnar shathe akmot. javed hoito tini one day doler jonno upojogi na. kintu ami kintu mone korbo je test doler jonno tini kintu akjon oporiharjo shodoshho. karon amar kintu mone hoi je doler onnanno playerder tulonay tar patience kintu onek beshi. ebong tini kintu onek dhirsthir bhabe khele thaken. dekhe shune khelen. tobe ami bolbo na je tini perfect batsman kingba akjon perfect opener. tobe perfect opener bolte kintu amader dol a ar keo nai. dannabad.

Huda · #19 April 30, 2004, 04:14 AM

ive seen javed omar play in pak vs bd series and he is a dodgy player.He pklays across the lines quite alot although he seems to be a good player of the slow palyers. He also doesntget runs for long periods of time and doesnt rotate the taking singles which puts pressure on the other batsmen