A difficult return awaits Tigers in Tests

[Banglaguy]

A lot more than usual will be riding on the Tigers' preparatory camp that begins on June 4.

The newly-appointed selection panel will call up 30 players to train at the Shere-e-Bangla National Stadium ahead of the nearly month-long tour to Zimbabwe that begins in the end of July.

It's safe to say that half of those 30 know they will be touring the African nation and would have to go through more than the normal fitness load and net sessions.

Under trainer Grant Luden, the Tigers will have to undertake all the necessary fitness routines as well as getting used to the red ball, the most crucial aspect of the camp.

Evidently, the senior members of the squad have expressed concern privately over their acute lack of preparedness when it comes to the game's No. 1 format.

The concern is quite obvious -- the Tigers haven't played a Test match since June 6 last year, and their next Test will be on the first week of August against Zimbabwe. Essentially, they will be playing a Test after 14 months, the longest break the Tigers have taken since becoming a Test-playing nation.

The last time such a break took place was between April 2006 and May 2007, a 13-month lull. There has been an eight-month break (between February and October, 2008) and several 6-month interruptions since the early days.

"It is always difficult for the team," said former national captain Habibul Bashar yesterday. "Everything starts anew and it is hard to adjust. It was particularly hard for us because immediately after we finished the World Cup, we had to play Tests against India."

Bashar, the country's highest Test scorer, is a selector now and believes that this team is in a slightly more advantageous position as they will have a two-month camp before they play the longer-version game. "They at least will have time to think. Sometimes a long, hard discussion also helps. Someone points out a mistake and you talk about it, things become slightly easier for the batsmen," he said, adding that Zimbabwe too will be playing a Test match after six years.

After the Manchester Test (which the Tigers lost by an innings and 80 runs) last year, the Tigers have played 26 ODIs, including series wins over New Zealand and Zimbabwe and the uninspiring World Cup at home.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cancelled a scheduled Test series against New Zealand last year, shunting it back by a year because it was at the top of the "run-up" to the World Cup. What difference would it have made if the Tigers had played Tests then is a question only the authorities would be able to answer; Australia, England, India and South Africa, the purported models for Bangladesh cricket, played Tests as late as January this year.

Barring injuries and other concerns, the Tigers' batting line-up will bear a familiar look when they take on Zimbabwe in August but even those in the top seven haven't played that many first-class games in the interim.

The chief worry is that the openers -- Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes -- haven't played a four-dayer since that Test last year while skipper Shakib Al Hasan's stint with Worcestershire last year was his last foray into first-class cricket (September 2010).

Shahriar Nafees, Mahmudullah Riyad, Junaed Siddiqui, Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim played in the latter stages of the National Cricket League, with Junaed and Ashraful batting out two innings in South Africa for Bangladesh A.

Bashar believed however that it would be tougher for the bowlers to adjust to five-day mode.

"They have to be a lot more patient. I think it is harder on the bowlers as they are used to operating differently. They are more focussed on line and length and bowl a smaller spell than they have to in Test cricket.

"They still have two months now, and with diligent planning, things can turn around," said Bashar.

LONG BREAKS IN TESTS

14 months -- June 2010 to August 2011
13 months -- April 2006 to May 2007
8 months -- February 2008 to October 2008
6 months -- July 2009 to January 2010
6 months -- January 2009 to July 2009
6 months -- July 2007 to January 2008
6 months -- January to July 2002

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig...php?nid=187706

[Night_wolf]

indeed it will...people will be more focused on zim saying they are coming back after 5years...but BD to is making a comeback after 14 months..it wont be easy..but we have to show our character..a lost in this test will be a huge blow and a buffet for the critics

[lamisa]

moreover, playing zim in their homeground will be a lot different and difficult as well

[Banglaguy]

Zimbabwe have a better pace unit IMO. Mpofu is better than most people give credit.

[nakedzero]

I hope and pray tigers won't let anything happen like those "58" and "78"

[Naimul_Hd]

This wont be easy ride for sure, but do not think this Zimbabwe side can do any upset. We may not have played longer version for long time but our players are in game. A team have toured to SA. National players played in NCL. Shakib has been playing in IPL, County. So, its not that we are completely out of touch. And, its not necessary that, we have to play for 5 days. The way both the team play, test match may last for only 3 days. Only thing worries me is that, Complacency of our players.

[al Furqaan]

Zimbabwe have a series against Australia A for a couple of 4-dayers so by the time they lace up their whites, they will have had some exposure. We will have to resist the urge to let them into the game at some point.

To really underline our improvements in Test cricket we need to win this game sometime on the 4th day. I don't think we are good enough to win by an innings, but if our bowlers get in their grooves we should take 20 wickets for around 400 runs.

[deshimon]

Our team is better side than Zim but negative point is lack of playing longer version for long time. So we have to be serious in practice & training sesion. If we will fail to win this test. It will bring a great impact in our cricket.

[roman]

This wont be a piece of cake. Zim will give their best against us. Lack of tests for the last 14 months will be vital.

[Rabz]

What difficulty ??
If anything, we could not have asked for a better opponent than Zimbabwe to make our own comeback after the long hiatus. Remember, they sucked so bad at test last time they played that they completely stopped playing at all. In ODI's, we have managed to beat them 4-1 regularly for the last five billion series we've played against them.

There should not be any difficulties. They should take a leap out of Eion Morgan's book and learn something from him. Its not about the transition or the sudden switch that matters, its the application and the dedication, and the focus to do it. The guy was playing in T20 one day, catches a flight the next and then scores a brilliant 196 to push his way back to the national team.

For all that matter, our boys would start a new season against the easiest of opponents they could have wished for. If we haven't played for 14 months, they didnt for about 6 years !! All of our boys have test experience, they have very few or almost none. Tamim, Imrul and Co have played test matches before and knows how to handle the tricks of the trade. Its not something they'd have to learn afresh.

We should stop the culture of finding excuses and start performing on the field.

[al Furqaan]

i don't think it should be a close Test...i.e we should aim to finish the game in at most 12 sessions, and lose no more than any 3 sessions in the game. 9-3 in other words which should equal a comprehensive win. here are the factors:

lack of Tests/FC experience:

BD has 14 month drought, so advantage is even.

batting strength:

Bangladesh has the more skillful and temperamentally sound batsman at pretty much every position, with the exceptions being Taylor (more talented than Imrul) and Taibu (more temperamentally sound than a few of our bats). That being said, Taylor, Taibu, and SC Williams can all score big ones. The others can be ignored. All in all the firepower of Tamim, Shakib, Mushy, and Riyad should be more than adequate.

Pace bowling:

Bangladesh has the advantage. Shahadat has experience, and I back him to rattle his most familiar opponents a fair bit. Shafiul is the most dangerous of the lot when he lands it in the right place. If Rubel continues his improvements, he will be a handful as well.

Spin Bowling:

Zimbabwe's strength (and ours too). Price and Cremer will likely start, and they will be very solid. I expect young Cremer to take a bit of a beating though in time, he will become a fine wrist spinner. Shakib has ran through every Test side he's played against, and he could do it here too. The backup will hopefully be either of Enamul Haque Jr or Shuvo. We'll have to wait to see how they do. This is the most even matchup. Will ZIM make a spin friendly track given their weak pace attack and open a door for us also remains to be seen.

Hence I think we should be able to push ZIM aside relatively easily IF we bring our A game.

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by Rabz
What difficulty ??
If anything, we could not have asked for a better opponent than Zimbabwe to make our own comeback after the long hiatus. Remember, they sucked so bad at test last time they played that they completely stopped playing at all. In ODI's, we have managed to beat them 4-1 regularly for the last five billion series we've played against them.

There should not be any difficulties. They should take a leap out of Eion Morgan's book and learn something from him. Its not about the transition or the sudden switch that matters, its the application and the dedication, and the focus to do it. The guy was playing in T20 one day, catches a flight the next and then scores a brilliant 196 to push his way back to the national team.

For all that matter, our boys would start a new season against the easiest of opponents they could have wished for. If we haven't played for 14 months, they didnt for about 6 years !! All of our boys have test experience, they have very few or almost none. Tamim, Imrul and Co have played test matches before and knows how to handle the tricks of the trade. Its not something they'd have to learn afresh.

We should stop the culture of finding excuses and start performing on the field.

Perfectly put...word by word.

[Ace of BD]

Originally Posted by Rabz
What difficulty ??
If anything, we could not have asked for a better opponent than Zimbabwe to make our own comeback after the long hiatus. Remember, they sucked so bad at test last time they played that they completely stopped playing at all. In ODI's, we have managed to beat them 4-1 regularly for the last five billion series we've played against them.

There should not be any difficulties. They should take a leap out of Eion Morgan's book and learn something from him. Its not about the transition or the sudden switch that matters, its the application and the dedication, and the focus to do it. The guy was playing in T20 one day, catches a flight the next and then scores a brilliant 196 to push his way back to the national team.

For all that matter, our boys would start a new season against the easiest of opponents they could have wished for. If we haven't played for 14 months, they didnt for about 6 years !! All of our boys have test experience, they have very few or almost none. Tamim, Imrul and Co have played test matches before and knows how to handle the tricks of the trade. Its not something they'd have to learn afresh.

We should stop the culture of finding excuses and start performing on the field.

The first highlighted statment suffices to end this worries, the next highlighted statement is what has kept us from achieving the greatest thing in cricket, or simply put, the WORLD CUP

[Gowza]

i guess zimbabwe are the best opponents after a long break from test cricket due to the circumastances but regardless of where zimbabwe are at with test cricket atm it's still tough to come of a break that big so it will be hard to go right in and win smoothly.

[Ace of BD]

Originally Posted by Gowza
i guess zimbabwe are the best opponents after a long break from test cricket due to the circumastances but regardless of where zimbabwe are at with test cricket atm it's still tough to come of a break that big so it will be hard to go right in and win smoothly.

In the end, we SHOULD win

[sujan91]

We usually enjoy many dreams in our life, some are day-dream & some are nights. Some dreams are enjoyed keeping our eyes open & some dreams are dreamt keeping eyes closed. What type of dream we have to dreamt to see that Bangladesh has won the World cup?

By the way Zim is coming. I hope like other times we will win all the matches though Zim are going to become a strong opponent.

[Banglaguy]

Well, the transition shouldn't have such a major issue surrounding it. We are a test playing nation, so suck it up.

[Avik]

We need to play a first class match in Dhaka first of all, against Rajshahi. then, we also need to play a match in South Africa if possible. finally, a match at the beginning of the Zimbabwe tour would do it.

[Tiger444]

This is a test match we should win. In all the departments we are better then them. If our boys play up to their potential then we should be able to win. Question is, will they? I believe that's the key. They have to show up and perform. The 2 things I want to see in the match, put 400+ scores twice and take 20 wickets. I think at the end of the day, it won't be a complete blowout but it should be a comfortable win. That's IF we show up.

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[deshimon]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
i don't think it should be a close Test...i.e we should aim to finish the game in at most 12 sessions, and lose no more than any 3 sessions in the game. 9-3 in other words which should equal a comprehensive win. here are the factors:

lack of Tests/FC experience:

BD has 14 month drought, so advantage is even.

batting strength:

Bangladesh has the more skillful and temperamentally sound batsman at pretty much every position, with the exceptions being Taylor (more talented than Imrul) and Taibu (more temperamentally sound than a few of our bats). That being said, Taylor, Taibu, and SC Williams can all score big ones. The others can be ignored. All in all the firepower of Tamim, Shakib, Mushy, and Riyad should be more than adequate.

Pace bowling:

Bangladesh has the advantage. Shahadat has experience, and I back him to rattle his most familiar opponents a fair bit. Shafiul is the most dangerous of the lot when he lands it in the right place. If Rubel continues his improvements, he will be a handful as well.

Spin Bowling:

Zimbabwe's strength (and ours too). Price and Cremer will likely start, and they will be very solid. I expect young Cremer to take a bit of a beating though in time, he will become a fine wrist spinner. Shakib has ran through every Test side he's played against, and he could do it here too. The backup will hopefully be either of Enamul Haque Jr or Shuvo. We'll have to wait to see how they do. This is the most even matchup. Will ZIM make a spin friendly track given their weak pace attack and open a door for us also remains to be seen.

Hence I think we should be able to push ZIM aside relatively easily IF we bring our A game.

Bangladesh has more skillful and tempermentelly suond batsmem who are habitute to be all out ''58'' & ''78''. So careful. Don't be more confident.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by deshimon
Bangladesh has more skillful and tempermentelly suond batsmem who are habitute to be all out ''58'' & ''78''. So careful. Don't be more confident.

Sri Lanka just got out for 82, should they be careful about losing to Zimbabwe?

[beshideshi]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
Sri Lanka just got out for 82, should they be careful about losing to Zimbabwe?

Line of the year? Yes?

The Srilanka game shows that screw up happen, Australia once got bundled for 88, England got bundled for 50odd a year back. They hardly measure the quality of the team.
Bangladesh right now should score 230-240 against any test attack in almost any condition, barring a gloomy, muggy day at Old Trafford. [in ODIs] so as long as our bowlers can restrict the opponent within that, we will win, unfortunately that does not happen too often. A test team on average will score 270~ against us, the closer the gap the more chances we have of winning.

And about Zimbabwe, we should give them as much respect as they deserve, no more, no less.

[M.H.Rubel]

Originally Posted by Tiger444
This is a test match we should win. In all the departments we are better then them. If our boys play up to their potential then we should be able to win. Question is, will they? I believe that's the key. They have to show up and perform. The 2 things I want to see in the match, put 400+ scores twice and take 20 wickets. I think at the end of the day, it won't be a complete blowout but it should be a comfortable win. That's IF we show up.

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (Blackberry)

I have the same feeling.Yes it will be a tough call as a return from long break.But we ll come back strongly than Zim as we have become a semiprofessiocl team.

Posted via BC Mobile Edition

[Banglaguy]

England got routed for 46 against West Indies.
Shakib himself said that the ''58'' and ''78'' all our rubbish will happen once or twice in countries history. It has happened twice, don't expect it again. If you do. . . Well then God help us all

[lamisa]

^^^twice in the same month and at such an important time. God, that was a nightmare!