Kenya in Bangladesh: 4 match ODI series

[TheWatcher]

A Kenyan fan blog

[cricketboy]

Kenya have recalled three players - Hitesh Modi, Collins Obuya and Martin Suji - for their four-ODI series in Bangladesh starting next week.

Suji, who was rested from the Zimbabwe tour while he recovered from a knee injury, is brought back as is allrounder Obuya, who spent some time in November being coached by Terry Jenner in Australia.

Modi was in England when the squad for the Zimbabwe series was named, but was left out when Cricket Kenya refused to pay for him to travel back to Kenya. An official explained that it was not for the board to fly players back to the country when they chose to be abroad.

He added that the captain Steve Tikolo, who had been playing club cricket in Bangladesh, paid his own way. But Modi is now in Kenya, returning a fortnight ago because of a family bereavement.

Brijal Patel, who was a surprise choice for the Zimbabwe tour, is dropped along with Josephat Ababu.

"We are confident," Tikolo told Cricinfo. "We did a pretty good job in Zimbabwe given that we have not been playing internationals."

Kenya Steve Tikolo (capt), James Kamande, Alfred Luseno, Tanmay Mishra, Hitesh Modi, Nehemiah Ngoche, Thomas Odoyo, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Peter Ongondo, Kennedy Otieno, Maurice Ouma, Kalpesh Patel, Martin Suji, Tony Suji.

[fwullah]

"Kenya has got a very poor first class or domestic facility and almost no finances in cricket."

I disagree with this.

Not the fact that Kenya have poor first class or domestic facility, but the fact is that, WE ALSO HAVE A VERY POOR FIRST CLASS OR DOMESTIC FACILITY.

And no finances in cricket did not stop Kenya from winning against West Indies, India (3 times?), Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe (full strength Zimbabwe side - with Flower brothers, Heath Streak in).

It is US, our team that have wasted money as well as broken a lot of fans' hearts by losing without any fight over the years.

[TheWatcher]

From Kenyan news media

On the tour Tikolo added: "Our chances of winning at least two games to bounce back into the One Day Internationals rankings are very good".

As for the tour, Tikolo, who has played club cricket in Bangladesh for several reasons said: " The wickets in Bangladesh are flat and they tend to favour batsmen as bowlers have to work very hard to get wickets."

Should we produce some surprise for Tikolo here?

[nayef]

Originally posted by TheWatcher
From Kenyan news media

Should we produce some surprise for Tikolo here?

hahah... yes... lets bounce them out... shahadat to asei

[sunniath]

Originally posted by gravitY

why not all of us send email to BTVWorld (if they have one:duh: )and ask them to telecast the match!! i know they'd not care, but lets take a chance.

Edited on, February 26, 2006, 3:15 AM GMT, by gravitY.

do they know what email is?

Edited on, March 12, 2006, 3:26 AM GMT, by sunniath.

[esteban_loaiza]

If kenya wins against us then they will same fun that we had against Sri Lanka...... If tikolo says they can win two games then it lloks ominous for us.... pitch sbould be made for spinners where Rana and Rafique can get big turns.... did they select Obuya?

[TheWatcher]

Bogra, Khulna, and Fatullah- more I think about it, clearer it seems to me that the management have fast-bouncy wickets in their mind for the Kenya series.

I hope it will be a real surprise for Tikolo. He played few matches on Fatullah, but high scoring nature of those matches suggest BCCB made some crapy pitches for the Dhaka league instead of letting clubs play on regular fast pitches.

If my assumption is right, our batsmen will be also tested little, but I don't see any reason to worry too much, they have already faced plenty of quality fast bowling.

Edited on, March 12, 2006, 4:46 AM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[TheWatcher]

Originally posted by esteban_loaiza
.... pitch sbould be made for spinners where Rana and Rafique can get big turns.... did they select Obuya?

Neither Rafique, nor Rana is a big turner of the ball, making spinning pitch thus will be westful. And, yes, Collins Obuya is in the Kenya squad.

[zakirc]

Originally posted by pagol-chagol

Mentally this team towers over the team that played the 2003 world cup.

The pace trio we have now+Aftab, give us the trump card that we didn't have then.

I can't wait for the series. I don't know why you guys are so afraid. Don't think like the 2003 world cup players.

Reminding me of the HORROR of WC '03. The Darkest Day in the history of Bangladesh Cricket.

The captain of that match Pilot showed awesome talent in how to make his team lose. I watched that match ball-by-ball twice and I am still convinced Pilot wanted BD to lose that. Here is why:

1. During Kenya Innings, Manjarul Islam and Tapash bowled beautifully .. they had overs left and yet Pilot bowled Ashraful for 4/5 overs in the last 15. Bowling figures in the end was,

Bowling O M R W
Manjural Islam 7 0 30 1 (5w)
Tapash Baisya 8 1 22 1 (1w)
Khaled Mahmud 10 1 39 1 (4w)
Mohammad Rafique 7 0 35 1
Sanwar Hossain 10 0 49 3 (1w)
Alok Kapali 2 0 9 0
Mohammad Ashraful 6 0 30 0

Why use your part time bowler when your main strike bowlers were bowling beautifully and had overs left?

2. Pilot dropped a few (At least 2) easy Catch/Stumping chances during the Kenyan Innings and with his high standard of keeping, anybody who follows BD matches would raise an eyebrow.

3. The way Pilot got out that match was also suspicius. Although BD batsmen have the tendency and record of getting out to nicks .... somehow that particular day Pilots dismissal did not look good .. espacially the way he was batting.

I remember that BCB (The BCCB) had a board of inquiry against Pilot and he received warning from the board for his actions in that particular match. I personally felt that March 01, 2003 BD Vs. KEN is a parfect example of how one person single handedly can make his team lose a match.

One should not think that I hate Pilot or something. I still believe he is the greatest w/k in Bangladesh and there is nothing to complain about him. His batting is also very good when comared with the performace of the other team members. I think I have made several postings about this.

My point is we should not even consider that '03 BD-KEN macth as a defeat.

This time, my only hope is that Bashar will be fit enough to captain the team for all the 4 matches. Despite his lack of killing instincts, he usually follows the norms and never fails to use his best bowlers when they are doing good.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details including ball-by-ball commentry of this match and all other Pool-B matches of WC 03 can be found at http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_data...ECARDS/POOL-B/

[Shafin]

Sounds like you are accusing him of match fixing.

[fwullah]

"Sounds like you are accusing him of match fixing." The rumours did come up in the following course of events. However, I think that it was nothing but 'narighotitho' byapar. - Remember the story of call girl in South Africa?

[zakirc]

Originally posted by Shark_fin
Sounds like you are accusing him of match fixing.

Yes Shark_Fin & fwullah, in my mind, I am convinced about that. Bangladeshi newspapers all reported about Pilot being warned ... if nothing was wrong ... why was the warning issued? Like most news in Bangladesh, this one died too without being more specific.

[roi]

Originally posted by fwullah
" Remember the story of call girl in South Africa?

I dont know anything about callgirl issue on Ban's SA tour.
Do you have any idea or what happened there?
could you give some detail on this.....sounds interesting...
damn...i should know about it...

Edited on, March 12, 2006, 5:46 PM GMT, by roi.

[Fortuner]

Pilot and call girl..is his wife not good for him????:P

[sar2005]

Originally posted by TheWatcher
A Kenyan fan blog

If some of you overlooked above link, I think you would enjoy reading it.

A Kenyan's point of view,

quote
Now that any semblance of overconfidence should be well and truly shredded, lets have a look at what might happen from a Kenyan point of view. Some things should be considered about this series that I don't think everyone who has commented so far has taken into account.

First is that our captain Steve Tikolo, plays his club cricket as a professional in Bangladesh. Not only does he know the strengths and weaknesses of their players, he was also one of the leading batsmen in their last season. He thinks Kenya will win a couple of matches at least. It would be a fool who takes his words lightly.

Second, Kenya always raise their game against Bangladesh. I don't know how or why this happens, but we seem to hold them in the same light that the Aussies and England hold each other - they are enemy No.1, and we will put in great efforts to beat them.

Third, we love being the underdogs and past history notwithstanding, in the eyes of the rest of the World, that is exactly what we are this series.

Fourth, Bangladesh have it all to lose: Test credibility, their position in the top 10 on the ICC table, their place in the first round of the Champions Trophy, you name it. Kenya have nothing to lose. We are not expected to win this series, many don't even expect us to be able to compete. If we win a match, we will put the heebie-jeebies on Bangladesh. Win two, and all sorts of questions are going to be asked of them. Pressure on the Bangladesh team will be immense. From their board, their fans, the rest of the cricket World, and of course our players. If I was neutral, and had to pick a team to play for this series, it would sure as hell not be the Tigers.

All the above being said, I think the cricket will be riveting. Bangladesh have a lot more talent than we are used to seeing from them, and Kenya are a better outfit than most give credit for. Both teams have potential match winners in their ranks, but both teams also have the capability to implode. Indeed, this may end up being the decider between the sides. If Bangladesh can withstand the pressure, they are going to be a very hard team to beat on home soil. If they let it get to them, or someone like Tikolo or Odoyo truly fires for Kenya, we could make it a very uncomfortable time for our hosts. Let's hope that the cobwebs were blown away in Zimbabwe and that it will be the latter. My prediction for the series? I would love to go with my heart and say 3-1 to Kenya, but realistically I will plump for a hard fought 2-2.
Unquote

Looks like they have a very calculative move, don't they? If they can see us as their greatest ribal, I don't know why we play our worst against them. This got to be a different show this time. We must need to demonstrate a clear difference in this series. Most important thing is, how our think-tank and the players are taking this series! Do they understand??

[Ahmed_B]

Originally posted by sar2005

If some of you overlooked above link, I think you would enjoy reading it.

Interesting find..

However.... there are some positives on BD's favor also in there:

Overall, Kenya holds a 6-1 advantage in terms of ODI wins, and they have also won the most recent meeting between the two countries. Sounds good doesn't it? The problem is, that last match was way back in 2003, during that wonderful couple of weeks where we made the World sit up and take notice as we qualified for the World Cup Semi Finals. Since then, Kenya have played a grand total of 6 ODIs, 4 of which were in the recent Zimbabwe tour. Effectively, Kenya has been out of International cricket for 2 years. In that time, Bangladesh have improved in leaps and bounds. They have now won ODIs against both Australia, and just recently Sri Lanka. They have been playing Test cricket, even winning their first ever match. So what if it was Zimbabwe; doesn't matter, it is still a Test win. They have an active national domestic league. The team we face over the next four matches is a very different one from the one we beat at the World Cup. Oh, and they will be playing at home. Most Bangladesh supporters seem to think Bangladesh will whitewash us, and several journalists around the World have expressed similar beliefs.

Interesting to see Banglacricket links in that blog site.

[TheWatcher]

Look at the List-A match scores for Kenya series venues-

List-A matches on Fatullah Stadium

List-A matches on Khulna stadium

I don't think there is any need to show stats for Bogura Stadium anymore

Very few matches on those venues are high scoring, and, in most of those high scoring matches, teams had weak pace attacks. I don't think pitches on those stadiums will be anything like the crappy Dhaka league pitches Tikolo handled.

Not saying Tikolo is a poor batsman on fast pitches, but he definitely does better on slow ones.

[Tehsin]

I just took some time to look at some of their scorecards against ZImbabwe, I wihs I had more information about those grounds or the condition of the pitch to get a better understading. However, here's what I found:

Average: Against ZImbabwe

We have seen them defend small totals in the recent series agsinst Zimbabwe, well guess what ? Seems like it's just how they like it. Check out the score against Zimbabwe A (a little bit stronger then the one they just played) from last October: scorecard. They won the match quite easily, defending 117 runs. We are very familiar with the fighting spirit of the Kenyans and looks like they have not lost it yet.

[ajithlalm]

I am waiting for the ODIs. Hope ESPN shows in television. These are certainly going to be a very good good and intense games.

Love to watch Kenya and Bangladesh play against each other.

I have read somewhere that Kenya will play a series of match against Zimbabwe in July. I am not sure about the details. Can anyone confirm it and tell me the details please. If its true or not..

[sar2005]

Originally posted by Tehsin


Average: Against ZImbabwe

So, we need to keep a special eye on main 3 batsman (KO Otieno, SO Tikolo and TM Odoyo) who are the regular scorers, right? But definitely the most dangerous man is Mr. Tikolo with his high strike rate. If this guy going to play a long innings, we really have a problem. He alone is capable to make the difference.

He alone scored 9/10 fifties in last seasson just finished and one of the key person to make DOHS champion. We MUST should have our own plan against him. Being the team mate of Tikolo just recently - Rajib, Rana, Razzak should know his weakness when they bowled him in the net. They should also know his strength very well. Perhaps Sujon and Akram also can be an inspiration for BD team by guiding them agains this guy.

[zakirc]

Originally posted by mahrookh
BTV only webcast these matches So , noone else on the internet

BTV will W E B C A S T??? :duh:

[Shafin]

Pre match interview of tikolo in CI

Kenya in Bangladesh 2005-06

Tikolo: 'Bangladesh are favourites'

Cricinfo staff

March 15, 2006



Steve Tikolo talks to the media in Dhaka © AFP
Steve Tikolo, Kenya's captain, admitted that at the moment his side were more concerned with playing international cricket than the results.

Speaking at a press conference after arriving in Dhaka for a four-match series against Bangladesh, Tikolo was clear that a lack of matches had seriously harmed his side. "We have had very little opportunities to play international games since our commendable performance in the last World Cup. We are hoping that our lack of exposure would be taken under consideration by the world cricket governing body.

"Once we were close rivals of Bangladesh in any competition. But this time Bangladesh are favourites. We're going to start as the underdogs but we are fully prepared to give good fight."

Tikolo has played club cricket in Dhaka for several seasons and is familiar to the conditions and the climate, but he warned that "domestic and international cricket are not the same thing." He was the leading run-scorer in the Premier Cricket League in 2005-06.

While his experience and pedigree are well known, Tikolo was keen to talk up some of the Kenyan youngsters. "The young guys are very much focusing on the series and are hungry to show their best. There are some new players who have the talent to put pressure on the opponents. We should have won 3-1 in Zimbabwe but cricket is such a game where one ball can change the whole scenario of the match,"

Tikolo's views were endorsed by Roger Harper, who took over as Kenya's coach less than two months ago. ""Kenya do not get enough opportunity to play international cricket, so we are happy that we've got the chance to play a few games after four matches against Zimbabwe. But we need more international exposure.

"Our captain knows the condition and the players and I believe it will help us. You will recognise some young faces. What impressed me most is the enthusiasm among the cricketers about the tour. We came here to play good and competitive cricket."

The series starts with an ODI at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium on Friday (March 17).

© Cricinfo