Bangladesh's first world cup captain Aminul Islam believes Bangladesh can outperform India and they must take the advantage of relatively weaker Indian bowling.
"Our batting will be the key against India. They must take advantage of a slightly weaker Indian bowling attack. If we can upset either India or Sri Lanka, we can progress to the second round," observed Aminul Islam while talking to the journalists. Aminul is currently in the Caribbean to watch Tigers in action.
Aminul was also critical about India's poor show outside the sub-continent. He added "India will be playing outside their comfort zone. Their away record is not as great as their home record."
While he was in optimistic tune, he also found some weaknesses of Bangladesh team which their sub-continent rivals might exploit.
"The team has specialist players but lacks all-rounders, an essential feature of one-day cricket and it appears more like a Test outfit," opined Aminul. "Our bowling also lacks variation as both the spinners are left-arm spinners," he added.
Aminul also feels the team lacks an experienced pinch hitter. "Bangladesh lacks someone who can score a quick-fire 30 or 40 in the end to force the scoring rate, like Lance Klusener did for South Africa in the 1999 World Cup. However we don't have one. This might prove crucial while chasing high scores."
Wednesday, 14 March 2007
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Bashar Issues Warning To Opponents
Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar showed his calmly confidence about Bangladesh's world cup prospect in the ICC media conference. He believes that his side would be more than a match for their group mates from the sub-continent, India and Sri Lanka, when they play the group matches on 17th and 21 respectively.
"In one-day cricket, anything can happen. So we want to take our chances. Let's see what happens," observed Bashar. After beating New Zealand in the warm up match, Bangladesh have put India and Sri Lanka on a high alert. Indian Captain Rahul Darvid echoed Bangladeshi Captain and vowed to play their best to overcome potential challenge from Bangladesh.
Bashar was well aware that both India and Sri Lanka, placed alongside them in Group B, are playing fine cricket and would be difficult to beat. But, he is anticipating that his young side will do everything to propel themselves to the second round.
"They are playing very good cricket, but we have played them often enough to know of their strengths and weaknesses. There is no discernible weakness though but we are quietly confident," he added.
Bashar was keen to point out the factors which are working to his team?s advantage at the moment. "We have some decent spinners and as everyone feels the wickets here are going to be a help to them, I think we have an advantage in that area. We then have quite a few batsmen who have experience and promise and who are determined to do well," said Bashar. He believes the batting line up of Bangladesh with Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Sakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful can produce surprises in the world cup.
Sunday, 11 March 2007
Confident Bangladesh Raring To Go
After a triumphant World Cup warm-up campaign,
After gaining an unlikely victory over the rampant Kiwis, the Tigers are highly satisfied with their overall preparation. The team Management believes
After taking
"It's important for Bangladesh to win as many (matches) as we can. Against a good opposition like
"We're ranked ninth ... and most judges around the world would expect the opposition to beat
"(But) we're improving all the time and I just feel it's becoming more of a reality that
While Whatmore used the word Upset, his captain Bashar was more confident in his approach. "Before we came here for the World Cup nobody gave us a chance. That's fine for people to say, but we are looking at getting to the second round”.
"The morale of the team is very high. Everybody is in a positive frame of mind and that gives me a lot of confidence. "This time we are a team in a real sense. We have a reliable batting side and a good bowling side as well," captain Habibul Bashar added.
It is the belief that Whatmore succeeded to instill in the mindset of the young Tigers and it’s paying the dividend in the very right time.
Whatmore also believes the inroads made by the current crop of
"Just like
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Bashar Happy With World Cup Preparation
With everything going on according to plan, Bangladesh Captain, Habibul Bashar expressed his satisfaction about the overall preparation of his team ahead of the gala event. He repeated his optimism to reach second round while talking to the media after the second warm up match against Scotland.
“I have to say I am very satisfied with our preparation. We bowled and fielded well in both warm up matches and the batting has been impressive throughout. We did lose two early wickets in the second match but once again the middle-order never allowed any pressure to set in” said Bashar who is undoubtedly the most succesful captain of
He further added “Everyone is in touch and that gives me a lot of confidence. The World Cup matches will be a different ball game but if we can continue doing what we are doing at the moment then we can be a pretty tough opposition for any team”.
According to Bashar, the victory against New Zealand was a morale booster for the team as it was their first match against a top quality team after the ICC champions trophy. "Before we came here for the World Cup nobody gave us a chance. That's fine for people to say, but we are looking at getting to the second round. With Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza playing so well, this is a great boost for the World Cup. Their contributions were brilliant. We will do one thing, that is play positive cricket," said confident looking Bashar.
Bangladesh is now anxiously waiting to know the injury status of Aftab Ahmed, one of their batting mainstream. He suffered an apparent muscle injury in the waist while batting in the second warm up match and had to leave the field on streture.
Sunday, 4 March 2007
Bangladesh A in England : Tushar Imran Leads the Fightback to Draw the Second A Team Test
Captain Tushar Imrans patient knock of 126* ensured a draw for
Brief Score
Bangladesh A 152/10; Sagir Hossain 47, Enamul Jr. 24 ; Stuart Broad 4/72, Tim Bresnan 2/24 & 218/6 Over -84 ; Nasiruddin Faruque 31, Tushar Imran 126*; Tim Bresnan 2/36, Graham Onions 2/53
England A 251/8 (dec) Over -81 ; Nick Compton 92, Matthew Prior 37, Steve Davies 39; Mosharaf Hossain 2/59, Enamul Jr. 2/65
Saturday, 3 March 2007
Wolrd Cup Cricket 2007 : Bangladesh is aiming the launch of a world cricketing force
The memories of World Cup cricket brings some mixed impressions to the mind of Bangladeshi cricket fans. Before gaining full member status Bangladesh fought strenuously to feature in the world stages and only succeeded in 1999 after winning ICC trophy 1997 by defeating Kenya.
Bangladesh’s arrival in the World Cup cricket created more noise than expected. After narrowly defeating Scotland at Edinburgh, Bangladesh emerged as the better team in the famous clash against Pakistan at Northampton although the result has subsequently been masked in mystery.
Bangladesh hit their lowest in International Cricket at World Cup 2003. A hapless Bangladesh suffered hammering defeats against all oppositions including amateur Canada.
Bangladesh opted for Dav Whatmore, the mentor of Sri Lankan renaissance after the world cup to turn the fate around. Dav succeeded largely to make Bangladesh a more competitive side and earned crucial victories against World Champions India, Sri Lanka and finally Australia. Bangladesh received an unofficial breathing space of 10 months in 2006 when they only featured against minnow countries except ICC Champions trophy. It seemed to work for Bangladesh as they have won 17 out of 20 matches they have played against Zimbabwe, Kenya and Scotland.
Now, another world cup cricket is knocking at the door. Bangladesh is placed in group B along with Sri Lanka, India and Bermuda in the Caribbean edition of World Cup. Bangladesh has already reached the Caribbean and building up the momentum before playing the gala event. They started their campaign well after winning the tri-series involving Canada and their group mate Bermuda.
Most cricket pundits are taking it as quite obvious that Bangladesh will take the same fate like two previous outings where they failed to propel themselves beyond initial stages. On the other hand, Bangladesh is going to this world cup with a completely different frame of mind. For the first time, they are expecting to lift themselves to the next round. Their maverick coach Dav Whatmore and captain Habibul Bashar have already made their intention public.
Now, to progress into the second round ahead of either Sri Lanka or India might look fanciful but not impossible. Bangladesh is becoming a good ODI outfit and has good record behind them over the last one year. The only problem is the difference of level of cricket they played over this period and World Cup. Bangladesh achieved the confidence from their successes against relatively weaker oppositions. Now for world cup success; they have to use that confidence to change the gear in their pursuit of winning a second round berth. They have potential and players to realize their astounding dream. The big question remains whether they will be able to change the level of cricket and translate potential into performance?
But in Shahriar Nafees, they have uncovered an opener who is more than capable of the anchor role with controlled aggression required to allow the likes of Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed to extravagance the batting display. They are taking a gamble with boom boom Afridi style opener Tamim Iqbal who can turn the match around in his days and can be destructive in small Caribbean grounds. Captain Habibul Bashar and young all-rounder Sakib Al Hasan are hitting the form in right time. Inclusion of former U19 captain Mushfiqur Rahim as wicket keeper gave the side much needed balance in batting.
Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain are providing a little of the new-ball pace and aggression they lacked for years. The slow left arm army of Bangladesh are keen to exploit the slow surfaces expected in the West Indies. Mohammad Rafiq and Abdur Razzak are two world class spin bowlers and Sakib Al Hasan is becoming increasingly confident in his bowling. The lack of variation is a real worry against spin maestro nations like India or Sri Lanka, still they have got the much needed disciplines of one day bowlers.
Having said these, it is highly probable that Bangladesh will make early exit from the world cup but taking them lightly will turn the world cup dream of one of the title contenders into nightmare.
Photo : Tigers have to do everything right on the field for WC success.
The truth about Bangladesh cricket is undeniably that their paramount is becoming more visible after each and every series. A young side with average age of 22 and so much potential can only get better. A country with 150 million population and crazy fan base for cricket will be a powerhouse of world cricket in time. Bangladesh is rescheduling their emergence time every year and will be required to do so until they frame a standard domestic infrastructure. Until then, patience is the key with perseverance and discipline. Whatmore, or one of his successors, will need ample more of that endurance before the incentives become evident. Before reaching that mark, they have to do everything right on the field and expect others to make mistakes to extract some gold on the way.
Bangladesh’s arrival in the World Cup cricket created more noise than expected. After narrowly defeating Scotland at Edinburgh, Bangladesh emerged as the better team in the famous clash against Pakistan at Northampton although the result has subsequently been masked in mystery.
Bangladesh hit their lowest in International Cricket at World Cup 2003. A hapless Bangladesh suffered hammering defeats against all oppositions including amateur Canada.
Bangladesh opted for Dav Whatmore, the mentor of Sri Lankan renaissance after the world cup to turn the fate around. Dav succeeded largely to make Bangladesh a more competitive side and earned crucial victories against World Champions India, Sri Lanka and finally Australia. Bangladesh received an unofficial breathing space of 10 months in 2006 when they only featured against minnow countries except ICC Champions trophy. It seemed to work for Bangladesh as they have won 17 out of 20 matches they have played against Zimbabwe, Kenya and Scotland.
Now, another world cup cricket is knocking at the door. Bangladesh is placed in group B along with Sri Lanka, India and Bermuda in the Caribbean edition of World Cup. Bangladesh has already reached the Caribbean and building up the momentum before playing the gala event. They started their campaign well after winning the tri-series involving Canada and their group mate Bermuda.
Most cricket pundits are taking it as quite obvious that Bangladesh will take the same fate like two previous outings where they failed to propel themselves beyond initial stages. On the other hand, Bangladesh is going to this world cup with a completely different frame of mind. For the first time, they are expecting to lift themselves to the next round. Their maverick coach Dav Whatmore and captain Habibul Bashar have already made their intention public.
Now, to progress into the second round ahead of either Sri Lanka or India might look fanciful but not impossible. Bangladesh is becoming a good ODI outfit and has good record behind them over the last one year. The only problem is the difference of level of cricket they played over this period and World Cup. Bangladesh achieved the confidence from their successes against relatively weaker oppositions. Now for world cup success; they have to use that confidence to change the gear in their pursuit of winning a second round berth. They have potential and players to realize their astounding dream. The big question remains whether they will be able to change the level of cricket and translate potential into performance?
But in Shahriar Nafees, they have uncovered an opener who is more than capable of the anchor role with controlled aggression required to allow the likes of Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed to extravagance the batting display. They are taking a gamble with boom boom Afridi style opener Tamim Iqbal who can turn the match around in his days and can be destructive in small Caribbean grounds. Captain Habibul Bashar and young all-rounder Sakib Al Hasan are hitting the form in right time. Inclusion of former U19 captain Mushfiqur Rahim as wicket keeper gave the side much needed balance in batting.
Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain are providing a little of the new-ball pace and aggression they lacked for years. The slow left arm army of Bangladesh are keen to exploit the slow surfaces expected in the West Indies. Mohammad Rafiq and Abdur Razzak are two world class spin bowlers and Sakib Al Hasan is becoming increasingly confident in his bowling. The lack of variation is a real worry against spin maestro nations like India or Sri Lanka, still they have got the much needed disciplines of one day bowlers.
Having said these, it is highly probable that Bangladesh will make early exit from the world cup but taking them lightly will turn the world cup dream of one of the title contenders into nightmare.
Photo : Tigers have to do everything right on the field for WC success.The truth about Bangladesh cricket is undeniably that their paramount is becoming more visible after each and every series. A young side with average age of 22 and so much potential can only get better. A country with 150 million population and crazy fan base for cricket will be a powerhouse of world cricket in time. Bangladesh is rescheduling their emergence time every year and will be required to do so until they frame a standard domestic infrastructure. Until then, patience is the key with perseverance and discipline. Whatmore, or one of his successors, will need ample more of that endurance before the incentives become evident. Before reaching that mark, they have to do everything right on the field and expect others to make mistakes to extract some gold on the way.
Bangladesh Cricket: Where Do We Stand Now?
Bangladesh started their campaign in international cricket with a 22 run victory in a low scoring match against Fiji in 1979 ICC Trophy. After playing 41 ICC trophy matches with mixed success (26 wins, 14 losses, 1 no result) and an equal number of ODIs with even less success (3 wins - Pakistan, Kenya, Scotland and 38 losses), Bangladesh was awarded test status in June, 2000.
Bangladesh played first ever test match in November 2000 against India at Bangabandhu National Stadium. After gaining test status they played 44 test matches with a solitary win against Zimbabwe and lost as many as 39 matches. We enjoyed some reasonable successes in ODI and managed 25 wins out of 102 outings.
Awarding test status to Bangladesh is one of the most heavily criticized decisions of ICC and Bangladesh still remains under the microscope of cricket pundits as a test nation.
After obtaining the elite status Bangladesh suffered hiccups with religious regularity raising constant concern about the future of Bangladesh cricket.
After the infamous debacle in 2003 world cup, Bangladesh cricket went for a major overhaul. Dav Whatmore, the mentor of Sri Lanka's resurgence in world cricket was handed the coaching job to lift the sinking Bangladesh cricket. He took charge in June 2003 and since then Bangladesh started to make slow but steady progress in both forms of the game. The improvement is more noticeable in the shorter version of the game (25 wins in 72 matches) compared to the test matches (1 win, 3 draws in 25 matches).
Dav appeared to find success in injecting some confidence in the struggling team.
Bangladesh's cricketing success in 2006 is considered as an indication of definite improvement in the right direction. After taking world champions Australia to the wire at Fatullah test in April, Bangladesh ended 2006 with 18 wins on their side out of 28 ODI appearances. While current achievement is encouraging, the end of Bangladesh’s misery against the top teams remains largely to be seen.
The Bangladesh team is still fragile and can suffer regular defeats against quality oppositions. The success against quality oppositions in ODI's is not really consistent. Apart from the wins against Zimbabwe and one win each against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia, we lost all other matches and in many cases without putting up a tough fight. In test matches, the results are even worse. Except for the Fatullah and Multan tests, we continued our failure in taking initiatives and struggle predictively.
According to Dav, the mentor of the team, Bangladesh has a bright future in international cricket and he has already found the core nucleus of the team. It might be true for the ODI but for tests it is still a far cry.
Bangladesh as an ODI team has quite a few quality players in Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohmmad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Mortaza. Captain Habibul Bashar largely failed to translate his test form into ODI arena. Sakib Al Hasan and Shahadat Hossain are two promising talents who have been slowly but surely establishing themselves into international cricket.
While the bowling strength of the ODI team shows palpable improvements, a brittle middle order continues to expose the batting limitations. A capable opener alongside Shahriar Nafees at the top with some improvements in the middle together with a competent wicketkeeper batsman can push the limits of any ODI team.
The picture looks gloomier in the longer version of the game. Apart from Shahriar Nafees and Habibul Bashar in batting and Mohammad Rafiq and Mashrafe Mortaza in bowling, we really don't have players to challenge quality opposition, let alone winning. Habibul Bashar scored about one third of all the runs Bangladesh scored in test cricket while Mohammad Rafique took more than one third of all the wickets Bangladesh took in test matches he played.
These simple stats only illustrate the poor show by the rest of the players. Bangladesh showed some encouraging performance in the four tests they played in 2006 but always crumbled under pressure. We almost won a test match against mighty Australia though Mohammad Rafiq's determined fight saw futile end due to the familiar lack of support.
In batting, Bangladesh must find suitable alternatives to veteran Javed Omar, Alok Kapali and Tushar Imran. Neither of them returned enough to keep the faith on and their inclusions make the fragile test batting even more brittle. Mohammad Ashraful must improve his consistency to keep his place in the side.
Aftab Ahmed has so far failed to take the responsibility of test batting. And the rookies Sakib Al Hasan and Farhad Reza lack technique and experience to seal a deal. Rajin Saleh looks gritty at times but again lacks both consistency and technique which cost Bangladesh dearly in some matches. Like the ODI team, Bangladesh must find a decent wicketkeeper batsman.
As mentioned previously, bowling is a major concern in our test side. Apart from Mohammad Rafiq no single bowler has the bite to their bowling to win test matches. Enamul Huq Jr. is a very good bowler but still lacks wicket taking ability against quality oppositions, more so on foreign grounds. Mashrafe Mortaza's success in ODI never really translated in tests mainly due to his fitness problem. There is some real hope in Shahadat Hossain who showed the aggressiveness required to be a successful test bowler. The situation looks even ominous unless someone comes up in style and takes the candle from aging Rafiq on time.
The overall situation might look depressing but it is the painful reality. In this situation the ray of light is the young generations who started playing competitive cricket knowing that one day they will feature for Bangladesh in tests. These young players have dominated their counterparts in age group level and they believe they can continue dominating them in the world arena.
They are declaring their emergence in the domestic circuit as well. It is really encouraging that we have emerging players in almost every discipline. Bangladesh Cricket Board has already taken initiatives to improve domestic infrastructure and formed the Cricket Academy for potential young players. Now, it’s very important to guide and nurture them properly before throwing them in the deep. They are the ray of light, the future of Bangladesh cricket.
Bangladesh played first ever test match in November 2000 against India at Bangabandhu National Stadium. After gaining test status they played 44 test matches with a solitary win against Zimbabwe and lost as many as 39 matches. We enjoyed some reasonable successes in ODI and managed 25 wins out of 102 outings.
Awarding test status to Bangladesh is one of the most heavily criticized decisions of ICC and Bangladesh still remains under the microscope of cricket pundits as a test nation.
After obtaining the elite status Bangladesh suffered hiccups with religious regularity raising constant concern about the future of Bangladesh cricket.
After the infamous debacle in 2003 world cup, Bangladesh cricket went for a major overhaul. Dav Whatmore, the mentor of Sri Lanka's resurgence in world cricket was handed the coaching job to lift the sinking Bangladesh cricket. He took charge in June 2003 and since then Bangladesh started to make slow but steady progress in both forms of the game. The improvement is more noticeable in the shorter version of the game (25 wins in 72 matches) compared to the test matches (1 win, 3 draws in 25 matches).
Dav appeared to find success in injecting some confidence in the struggling team.
Bangladesh's cricketing success in 2006 is considered as an indication of definite improvement in the right direction. After taking world champions Australia to the wire at Fatullah test in April, Bangladesh ended 2006 with 18 wins on their side out of 28 ODI appearances. While current achievement is encouraging, the end of Bangladesh’s misery against the top teams remains largely to be seen.
The Bangladesh team is still fragile and can suffer regular defeats against quality oppositions. The success against quality oppositions in ODI's is not really consistent. Apart from the wins against Zimbabwe and one win each against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia, we lost all other matches and in many cases without putting up a tough fight. In test matches, the results are even worse. Except for the Fatullah and Multan tests, we continued our failure in taking initiatives and struggle predictively.
According to Dav, the mentor of the team, Bangladesh has a bright future in international cricket and he has already found the core nucleus of the team. It might be true for the ODI but for tests it is still a far cry.
Bangladesh as an ODI team has quite a few quality players in Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohmmad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Mortaza. Captain Habibul Bashar largely failed to translate his test form into ODI arena. Sakib Al Hasan and Shahadat Hossain are two promising talents who have been slowly but surely establishing themselves into international cricket.
While the bowling strength of the ODI team shows palpable improvements, a brittle middle order continues to expose the batting limitations. A capable opener alongside Shahriar Nafees at the top with some improvements in the middle together with a competent wicketkeeper batsman can push the limits of any ODI team.
The picture looks gloomier in the longer version of the game. Apart from Shahriar Nafees and Habibul Bashar in batting and Mohammad Rafiq and Mashrafe Mortaza in bowling, we really don't have players to challenge quality opposition, let alone winning. Habibul Bashar scored about one third of all the runs Bangladesh scored in test cricket while Mohammad Rafique took more than one third of all the wickets Bangladesh took in test matches he played.
These simple stats only illustrate the poor show by the rest of the players. Bangladesh showed some encouraging performance in the four tests they played in 2006 but always crumbled under pressure. We almost won a test match against mighty Australia though Mohammad Rafiq's determined fight saw futile end due to the familiar lack of support.
In batting, Bangladesh must find suitable alternatives to veteran Javed Omar, Alok Kapali and Tushar Imran. Neither of them returned enough to keep the faith on and their inclusions make the fragile test batting even more brittle. Mohammad Ashraful must improve his consistency to keep his place in the side.
Aftab Ahmed has so far failed to take the responsibility of test batting. And the rookies Sakib Al Hasan and Farhad Reza lack technique and experience to seal a deal. Rajin Saleh looks gritty at times but again lacks both consistency and technique which cost Bangladesh dearly in some matches. Like the ODI team, Bangladesh must find a decent wicketkeeper batsman.
As mentioned previously, bowling is a major concern in our test side. Apart from Mohammad Rafiq no single bowler has the bite to their bowling to win test matches. Enamul Huq Jr. is a very good bowler but still lacks wicket taking ability against quality oppositions, more so on foreign grounds. Mashrafe Mortaza's success in ODI never really translated in tests mainly due to his fitness problem. There is some real hope in Shahadat Hossain who showed the aggressiveness required to be a successful test bowler. The situation looks even ominous unless someone comes up in style and takes the candle from aging Rafiq on time.
The overall situation might look depressing but it is the painful reality. In this situation the ray of light is the young generations who started playing competitive cricket knowing that one day they will feature for Bangladesh in tests. These young players have dominated their counterparts in age group level and they believe they can continue dominating them in the world arena.
They are declaring their emergence in the domestic circuit as well. It is really encouraging that we have emerging players in almost every discipline. Bangladesh Cricket Board has already taken initiatives to improve domestic infrastructure and formed the Cricket Academy for potential young players. Now, it’s very important to guide and nurture them properly before throwing them in the deep. They are the ray of light, the future of Bangladesh cricket.
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