The scramble starts in earnest: Cricinfo preview of BD V West Indies, by Andrew Miller

[Zunaid]

A very good and fair preview. Nicely written.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cric...ry/504119.html

Some quotable quotes:

It's not yet a knockout contest, but the loser of this one will require a standing count.

Realistically, this one is too close to call. Both teams have begun with a win and a loss apiece, but if West Indies' dispatching of the Netherlands was eye-catchingly comprehensive, with Kemar Roach's hat-trick setting the seal on an excellent day's work, Bangladesh's self-belief in their out-muscling of Ireland was no less impressive. Strength in adversity has rarely been Bangladesh's strong-point, but right from the moment Mohammad Ashraful reduced the Irish to 75 for 3 in the 19th over, their body language was that of a team that knew it would win. In a tussle between two teams ranked eighth and ninth in the world, such displays of belief will be critical.

[IanW]

Part of me hopes for a great game.

Most of me hopes we bowl first, with Shaiful getting Gayle cheap, and then the West Indies falling like a house of cards to our spinners, and then knocking over the runs in 20 overs.

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by IanW
Part of me hopes for a great game.

Most of me hopes we bowl first, with Shaiful getting Gayle cheap, and then the West Indies falling like a house of cards to our spinners, and then knocking over the runs in 20 overs.

Love the support Ian. Just curious, how did your love for BD cricket start?

[Murad]

Vs India?

[Night_wolf]

It should be BD VS WI...thread title i think got a typo

[kalpurush]

I want a win even it is by one run!


I believe in you TIGERS

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Night_wolf
It should be BD VS WI...thread title i think got a typo

yeah... thanks, fixed

[Zeeshan]

Neel dekle khayia falabe....after all we were merciless about star cricket's honest mistakes. At the end of the day, these are what they are.

[Jonas]

I love reading Andrew Miller's articles. He is the second best cricket writer in the world -- behind Michael Atherton. He is also a big fan of Bangladesh, and Bangladeshi cricket.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Jonas
I love reading Andrew Miller's articles. He is the second best cricket writer in the world -- behind Michael Atherton. He is also a big fan of Bangladesh, and Bangladeshi cricket.

Agree 100% about Andrew. Good guy - not just for being a fan of Bangladesh but for being a very good sports writer, uses just the judicious amount of color and doesn't go overboard like some of the other sports-writers.

[Neel Here]

Originally Posted by ZeeshanM
Neel dekle khayia falabe....after all we were merciless about star cricket's honest mistakes. At the end of the day, these are what they are.

I saw that ! now what do people say about obsession and the sub-conscious ?

on topic though, I'm excited about the lara clone everyone is talking about, missed the highlights of their WI matches. and best thing is I get to watch good quality espn streaming from cricinfo itself !! for a lara fan life doesn't get better than this.

[rinathq]

Facebook match preview

So far we have seen some thrilling match ups in world cup 2011. Bangladesh Vs India, India Vs England, South Africa vs West Indies, Australia Vs New Zealand. Well today we have another very crucial and a thrilling match up. Bangladesh Vs West Indies! An even match up and a fight of these 2 teams to reach quarter finals, today’s match might put one of the teams a huge step closer while the other will be on danger zone. So who will be the successful one? Will West Indies re gain their position in the ODI ranking or will Bangladesh finally display the performance they promised but yet to be seen! Well, lets think this through shall we?

Team Talk

Bangladesh:

 Bangladesh looked much more relieved after a close victory against Ireland. Yes, an associate team Ireland might be, but their excellent bowling display nearly did the trick on creating the first world cup upset which they accomplished against England later on. However, Bangladesh can barely relax. Their batting attack failed to capitalize at all and the extra batting attack did not benefit the team for a batting advantage. On a high scoring surface set up, a much more dominating performance was expected by the batsmen. However, after a disastrous bowling performance against India, Bangladeshi fans finally saw a strong and dominating bowling attack. The seamer Shafiul Islam looked as though he did not remember any memory from the opening match and started fresh! The spinners are yet to make a dominating play and little could be blamed to them and more to the management team for setting up the arena for the tigers but with no food for them to help them get strong! However, with talents like Shakib al hasan and Abdur Razzaq, it is expected that they will still be effective against a side that is weaker facing slow bowlers.

West indies:

 Coming into the world cup, this year’s West Indian attack looked weak and non-threatening.  After heavily losing a series against Sri-Lanka, their struggle in sub continental condition was evident. The theory was aided by South Africa when they beat them by a heave margin and the match barely had the sense of competition. However, they regained some momentum after a minnow bashing performance by them against the Netherlands. Thanks to Kemar Roach’s hattrick and wonderful bowling display, they had no reason to walk off the field that day with a big smile. But now, things is expected to get difficult. Having “Bangla washed” by the Bangladeshi tam in 2008, this team will seek revenge in this game. Although, that West Indian attack and today’s attack is far different, they cannot be to relaxed as the Bangladeshi side have come a long way as well. The team will look upto the heroes Chris Gayle, Sarwan, Chandarpaul, Pollard and Roach to lead the side and dominate the day. Their strong and aggressive batting order will give West Indies the edge over the Bangladesh batting attack. However, can they overcome the world’s best spin attack?

 

Team Weakness, strength, what to do and what needs to be fixed?

 

Well for Bangladesh, they will need to put a much stronger and perhaps more aggressive batting display to match with the West Indies, because if they think they can get away with an odd 200 runs against this side, this will be a sad day of cricket in Bangladesh. Batting against this West Indian bowling attack shouldn’t be much threat except for Kemar Roach who will try not to remember his performance against them back in 2008! So it all comes to the point that Bangladesh should look to bat in a moderate fashion and utilize their powerplay. Alas! Its power play! Bangladesh and the power play does not have any bonding between them as the side is yet to make any international standard knock from that advantage. Even though Mohammed Ashraful was brought in to solve this issue, he was in a hurry to leave the field as he did not get chance to play until the PP! Having said that, the direction is clear, bat first, set a target above 260 than get rid of Gayle early and just bowl accurate to win the game!

 Even though the seamers have been putting a much better display than usual, it is the spinners that can gain the advantage against this side. The strong spin attack has added even more variation by including the part time Mohammed Ashraful into the attack as he played crucial role with the bowl. So, Naeem, Ashraful, Razzaq, Shakib…….. How many can West Indies over come if any?

 

For West Indies, the team known for excellent pace attack and produced fast bowling legends in the best, is going to do something unusual! They are starting with a spin attack! Yes you heard me right, due to the fact that Shere Bangla has very little to offer for the pacers, West Indies have chosen to start with a spinner this year! However, are they trying to use their enemy’s weapon against them? How much will it work? We will have to wait for that but despite of their bowling confusions, their batting attack is a “Holy cow!” As mentioned before, their attack consisting of Gayle, Sarwan, Chandarpaul has talent, experience, aggression and resistance all in one package! While PP is a problem for Bangladesh, it is run booster for West Indies! With the ferocious Pollard at the job, who is also one of the most aggressive batsmen in the world, Bangladesh will need to be wary of this guy! Although, it’s not all nice for them as they will miss the key figure all rounder Bravo who has been ruled out of series due to injury. So can the other players make up for this position? Or Will this gap be Bangladesh’s solution?

 

Teams!

 

Bangladesh:

 Although lots to be fixed for this side, Siddons have his own solution for this, it is called “Winning combination” !!!! It is unlikely that the Bangladesh side will be changed at all and all those players that failed will get a second chance to prove themselves. This game will be crucial for Mohammed Ashraful who is yet to score a double figure in last couple of series. He has it all! But he barely brings out his talent to benefit the team. Although, after his unusual bowling display, Ashraful’s confidence problem might be solved and just might do it! Along with him, Junayed Siddique will also need to focus on his batting because his mediocre performance is not contributing to the team much and with a player like Nafees benched, his position is in danger! Regarding bowling, a more sensible move would have been to play 2 offspinners or to say include Mahmudullah Riyad due to the fact that the West Indian attacks is loaded with left handers. Other than that, it would be sinful to change the bowling attack that clinched the last victory

Lineup:

Tamim Iqbal

Imrul Kayes

Junayed Siddique

Shakib Al Hasan

Mushfiqur Rahim

Roqibul Hasan

Naeem Islam

Mohammed Ashraful

Abdur Razzaq

Shafiul Islam

Rubel Hossain

Note: there is a slight possibility that Siddons would change his mind and play Mahmudullah!

West Indies:

After their dominating performance, West Indies is unlikely to change the confident squad today. Well is there anything to change anyways? They might play all the spinners they have but other than that, all they need to do is stay focused and be careful of the side that is rather unknown to them. Their biggest weapon is their aggressive approach which is the opponent’s weakness so expect a batting line-up that has it all!

Chris Gayle

Devon Smith

Darren Bravo (the batsman)

R. Sarwan

Kieron Pollard

DGJ Sammy

S. Chandarpaul

DC Thomas

Sulieman Ben

NO Miller

Kemar Roach

 

Watch out For!

Abdur Razzaq: The base of the Bangladeshi spin attack who has not been struggling but been less effective lately. However, he is very confident about his comeback through this match where spin is the key. It won’t be surprising to see him early into the attack for a break through preferably Chris Gayle. An excellent leg spinner who has it all, the flight, line, length, spin, variation. If he can utilize all his skills, than West Indies can go home early!

 

Sarwan: an excellent batsman that has been quiet lately. There has been rumours lately that its Pollard and Gayle that can be dangerous, however, an aggressive batsman is far easier to remove than a moderate one. If there is a batting collapse for West indies, it could be Sarwan to take guard. Now when I say he is a moderate batsman, he is someone that can adapt quickly. He can play spinners, he can play aggressive if need, he can provide resistance if that’s what the situation requires. On his day, he can be a “big fish”

 

Interesting Fact: All those talks about the subcontinent condition being favored for spinners is slowly fading away. Although spin attack was expected dominate, so far it has been the seamers. Even for Bangladesh both Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam seems to play a much more crucial role than they used to. Is Bangladeshi management being too modest or simply foolish to give a pitch that our players can’t benefit from?

 

This will be the last game for Bangladesh in Dhaka until they meet South Africa in their last match of this round. By then, Bangladesh might reach the conclusion about whether they will make it to next round or not. So, Bangladesh team will want to leave Dhaka with confidence at the same time give back to the crowd that has been amazing so far!

 

 

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