Good Criticism of BD Cricket from Ranatunga

[Ibrahim]

Ranatunga's verdict
Bishwajit Roy, from London

Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who is now an established politician, feels time is running out for Bangladesh to justify their inclusion in the elite league.

"You have to improve your performance to give the doubters a proper reply. But to do that, you will need the right team combination first. You must come out of this struggling phase fast because at the moment, the future does not look too good for Bangladesh," said Ranatunga who is here to commentate on television and also to act as an advisor to the Sri Lanka team.


There is a strong lobby forming in support of a two-tier system in Test cricket that will see away series' for teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe getting reduced. But Ranatunga thought that Bangladesh still had the talent to work with if they can see off this pressure.


"I still feel that Bangladesh got the Test status too early but at the beginning, they performed very well. But everything is going radically in the wrong direction now.

'Your players are mentally not strong enough to compete at the highest level but talent-wise they are not far behind from other teams."

Ranatunga, who is now the deputy minister for Investment, Tourism and Promotion & Industry in Sri Lanka however, questioned the commitment of the young players of Bangladesh having followed them in the Asia Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.


"There are some good young players but they hardly take any responsibility and appreciate the fact that they are playing for their country. Sometimes you have to be prepared to give your life for your motherland," said Ranatunga.


Ranatunga was confident that with the right people in the right places, Bangladesh could make an impression.


"Bangladesh can show their real strength sooner rather than later but you need some people with real vision to guide them. You have natural talent and you should allow that talent to flourish."

Ranatunga, who knows more about Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore than most people because of the Australian's long association with Sri Lanka, said that a coach alone can never achieve anything.


"Ultimately, it is the players' responsibility to perform in the middle. You can achieve anything if you have a good team work between the cricket board, the manager, the coach and the captain."

Sourc: http://www.dailyjanakantha.com/p1/kn.pdf [in Bangla]

http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/09/18/d40918040227.htm [in English]

Edited on, September 18, 2004, 4:21 AM GMT, by chinaman.
Reason: Title changed

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

prottekta bakko pungkhanopungkho bhaba shotto. kono bhul nai. ami ranatungar shathe akdom ak mot. bhaire bhai ato rajniti kore cricket follow korar time pai koi.

[shaoun]

i didnt no ranatunga is still the advisor for srilankan cricket. thas wat bangladesh could do bring akram khan or aminul islam to b our batting advisor. atahar could do that too. bc he is one of our best batsman of all time.

[fwullah]

Arjuna Ranatunga said that our younger players are not committed enough during the Asia Cup, which I didn't like at the time. I thought that he was not keeping any news of Bangladesh cricket more recently.

Now in today's papers (Daily Star, Prothom Alo) he has elaborated his point and I clearly agree with his viewpoints.

Warning:

feels time is running out for Bangladesh to justify their inclusion in the elite league.

Identifying the major problem:

you will need the right team combination first

Another warning:

the future does not look too good for Bangladesh

Logic:

"I still feel that Bangladesh got the Test status too early but at the beginning, they performed very well.

Reason for recent failures:

There are some good young players but they hardly take any responsibility

Who will that be?:

you need some people with real vision to guide them

(I thought it would be Whatmore, but Arjuna is meaning somebody in our board)

You can achieve anything if you have a good team work between the cricket board, the manager, the coach and the captain."

Lets see, cricket board = Lobby doesn't participate in any meaningful contribution except showing the same disappointment as the fans, the manager is an army man Col. Retired Lotif who's position is somewhat suspicious after he was taken ill and spoke in Urdu language, thereby (kind of lowering) his position as a manager to the players, the coach is a good one but has disgust over senior players - (now its Mahmud, who'll be next?), and the regular captain was injured for this ICC Champions Trophy and was also not in a good batting form.

Source: Ranatunga's verdict

[fwullah]

According to Bhorer Kagoj, it is very important to have a good relationship between the coach and the captain.

[fwullah]

Janakantha reports that Ranatunga also talked about having an 'A' team.

[Carte Blanche]

the coach is a good one but has disgust over senior players - (now its Mahmud, who'll be next?)

I think "disgust" is a tad too harsh. Whatmore is a professional coach, and I am certain that is not how he feels towards KM. True that he isn't very fond of him, and excluding him from the 1st CT match against SA was an odd decision. One that apparently raised the eyebrows of the big shots, and BCB intervention came forth. Apart from KM, I haven't heard of Whatmore having any clash with or despising other senior players. His decision of axing KM from the test side was indeed a bold decision, and it was done for the better future of our cricket. I personally don't see coaches like Mohsin Kamal making such bold decisions. You can argue that statements like "you can contribute as a coach" indicate that DW no more wants KM in the team. But then he has made his long-term intentions clear. If you look at the current state of our cricket, we need long term planning. Despite not having much success lately, he is walking the right path in terms of planning for the WC 2007. Irrespective of N-tier system, we will feature in WC2007. I personally think his approach is a correct one, to aim at a landmark event such as WC 2007. KM isn't getting any younger. Grooming the youngsters for the next WC is an ideal approach for us. Having said that, I don't appreciate the Board interfering with Dav's deicisions to cater for KM's whimperings. KM needs to grow up and take these decisions professionally. He missed his first chance of quitting honourably. I hope he doesn't fail the 2nd time. Anyhow, if an internal squabble or issue like this indeed exists, why not solve it after the tour is done? Why raise a row in between two vital games? One more thing, our press also has to take these seemingly harsh decisions constructively. I was reading the Prothom-Alo report prior to WI match. It seemed as though Mostafa Mamun was trying to make DW look like a dictator. Let the man do his job. The players also need to duct-tape their mouths. What's with all these whispers to the media in condition of anonimity? For now, they need to pull up their socks and display some inspiring performances before the worst possible scenario arises.

[TigerFan]

thank u Mr. Ranatunga and long live bangladesh cricket

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

Originally posted by fwullah
According to Bhorer Kagoj, it is very important to have a good relationship between the coach and the captain.

well i think this is a very common sense thing. i think bhorer kagojke alada kore mic a announce kora lagbe na je it is very important to have a good relationship between the coach and the captain. aita akta obvious jinish. aita alada kore bolar kisu nai.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

"the coach is a good one but has disgust over senior players - (now its Mahmud, who'll be next?)"

very baseless comment ami bolbo.

[rafiq]

Carte Blanche good comments. The team should have been allowed to prepare for the 2007 world cup after the failure last year - new coach, new players, and only those experienced players who could play for a reasonably long time at a high level. Sujon didn't meet those criteria in most people's opinions (not all mind you), yet he is still there. I wish this was Bulbul that we were having the issue with - at least he could play. Sujon has always been a hard worker and has many admirable characteristics, but why he chooses to hang on like this is beyond me. It's not clear whether Whatmore will axe him for the upcoming season, and the decision is obviously not whatmore's only. To give Sujon credit, he has had a decent year in ODIs and may be justified in thinking he should retain his spot on the team. But his inclusion seriously weakens our ability to take a stronger bowler or a stronger batsman, which I think is more needed now than an average allrounder.

[Ahmed_B]

Today's prothom alo published an interview of Ranatunga, the former SL captain, where he spoke about BD's current cricket performance.

I am translating one question from the reporter and Ranatunga's reply here(which sounded like the most important thing said by him):

Que : You(Rana) personally know Dave Whatmore, the current BD coach, for a very long time. His(Dave's) team is losing very frequenly now.. do you feel sympathy for him?

Ranatunga : Well.. how much can Dave alone do?? He can't play the match himself for the players! I've worked with him and I know he is a very good coach, and he is trying also. But everyone has to work for the developement. He(Dave) has to be supported. There has to be infrastructure. Domestic & Club cricket are also very important. These things hav to be made right.

Que: Do you think BD needs a captain with personality like yourself.. as Naser Hussain once had said?

Ranatunga: For real developement, right people have to be brought in every Position. Not just the players or the captain, rather efficient people have to be put in everywhere including the board-management... people who can take BD cricket to right track with their Merit & planning. I remind you again.. BD team is a much better than the way they are actually performing in recent times..

Ranatunga's Interview

Inspiring interview.. yet leaves my mind with some vital questions about BD cricket future!

My Question
Isn't BCB really ignoring issues like Conducting strong domestic leagues, systematic training of players from the age of 12 and onwards, forming strong 'A' teams and sending them to tours.. ??

Isn't it one of the reasons for which we are having to Introduce 'Underprepared' players to the national team too early?

Hiring a high-Profile coach for the National team is only a part of the whole job... what about the rest of the process??
:duh:
This lack of a fullproof approach in the Developement of BD cricket may just delay our way towards respectable success..!!



Edited on, September 18, 2004, 2:22 PM GMT, by crickethorizon.

[fwullah]

I don't if this news is related or not, just heard ntv news to say that the board will call upon the coach and the captain - probably to learn about what happened.

may be boarder kortabyaktider tonok noreche ebar - ei sob dakadaki ki aar ektu age kora dorkar chilo na?

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

Originally posted by fwullah
I don't if this news is related or not, just heard ntv news to say that the board will call upon the coach and the captain - probably to learn about what happened.

may be boarder kortabyaktider tonok noreche ebar - ei sob dakadaki ki aar ektu age kora dorkar chilo na?

well kharap folafol ar jonno na. akhon aita niyom korse je after every tour coach and captain has to come to a briefing. aita negative bhabe dekhar kisu nai.

[bourny3]

Maybe they will give them something that will make the batsmen try and get over 100 together.

[Sam]

"...Coach alone can never achieve anything. Ultimately, it is the players' responsibility to perform in the middle..."

Similarly, Ranatunga has evaluated our position. Ultimately, it is the Board's responsibility to take the necessary action.