Bangladesh make changes to avoid whitewash in the ODI series

Bangladesh think tank has opted for couple of changes in the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in a desperate bid to avoid whitewash. Sri Lanka have already gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match Laqshya series by defeating Bangladesh comfortably in the first two ODIs.

Mahmudullah Riyad, can a new face help saving blushes? © Cricinfo

To bring solidity to the top order batting, Bangladesh have picked veteran opener Javed Omar in place of struggling Shahriar Nafees and Tushar Imran, who made a duck and 9 in last two matches, is also dropped in favour of uncapped off-spinning all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad.

Bangladesh have shown some improved performances in the bowling and fielding departments in the ODI series, but top order batting has let them down throughout the tour.

Bangladesh pace spearhead Mashrafe Mortaza failed to recover from his sprained right ankle and is ruled out of the third ODI. The match will be played tomorrow (Wednesday) at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Squads

Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Javed Omer Belim, Mushfiqur Rahim, Aftab Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Farhad Reza, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain Rajib, Syed Rasel.

Sri Lanka (From) : Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Chamara Silva, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Upul Chandana

Bangladesh look to youth in the first ODI against Sri Lanka

Bangladesh team management have announced a youthful playing XI for the first one day match against Sri Lanka leaving out veteran opener Javed Omar and lanky pace bowler Shahadat Hossain. The match will start tomorrow (Friday) at 4:30 GMT at P Sara stadium in Colombo.

The average age of the Bangladesh squad is only 22 in which left arm spinner Abdur Razzak is the oldest at the age of 25. The fearless attitude of Bangladesh youth brigade earned significant respect after defeating

Bangladesh look to youth in the first ODI ©Cricinfo

India and South Africa in the last world cup, and team management will be hoping a similar performance to salvage the pride after a poor Test series.

Bangladesh were completely outplayed by Sri Lanka in the Test series and lost the series 3-0. Bangladesh is desperately looking for some credible performances from the young guns to turn the table around in the ODI series.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful wants to build on the ODI success achieved over the last 12-13 months and is confident to put up a much better performance on the field compared to the Test series.

"We have played a lot of one-day matches over the last 12-13 months and have a good success rate. I am confident that we will put up a much improved performance in the ODI series. We want to win at least one match”, said Ashraful.

"We want a good start whether it is in batting or bowling. I think if that happens then that will set us up nicely for the rest of the match as the players would feel a lot more confident", he added.

Squad

Bangladesh: Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Tushar Imran, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shakib al Hassan, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad Reza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak

Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Chamara Silva, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Upul Chandana

Where do we stand now? Part -2

Quote:

Bangladesh started their campaign in international cricket through 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 win, 14 loss, 1 no result) and equal number of ODIs with even lesser success (3 win - Pakistan, Kenya, Scotland and 38 loss), 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.

Quote:

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 fifth 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.

Quote:

In batting, Bangladesh must find suitable alternatives to veteran Javed Omar, Alok Kapali and Tushar Imarn. 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 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 saw Bangladesh paid dearly in some matches. Like 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 in 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. Mashrafee 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 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 long cherished 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.

Read full

This is what I wrote in February 2007 and was published in my column "Ray of Light" at BanglaCricket. After todays loss I was revisiting the column and really disappointed to find that situation hasn't improved at all.

Some thing changed like captaincy and coach, but the overall performance of the team have probably dipped alarmingly low.

Bashar forgot to score runs, Rafiq has lost his touch, Masharfe is looking simply ineffective. There goes all the hope. Rajin is tirelessly proving his inability and SN is losing his temperament. Aftab has lost his place in the Test team.

The only change is probably Ashraful who secured his place and became captain. Another development can be Mushfiqur Rahim, a more capable wicketkeeper batsman.

The most frightening part is the last paragraph where I mentioned that the young generation will see us through Test cricket. and will do the rescue act. It looks they are not ready yet to play Test cricket. It's early to comment but both Sakib Al Hasan and Mehrab Jr. looks shaky as a Test player. Razzak is not at all penetrating in Tests like ODI, and Enamul Jr. is appeari8ng as a completely different bowler compared to what we saw in 2005.

Now who is around the corner to rescue? I don't see many assured faces. I hope the series against Sri Lanka is really a one off one, transition period after Dav Whatmore, new captaincy and tough opposition, all contributed for the downfall.

I would like to believe that situation will only improve from here, but to be honest, it's looking more ominous than ever before.

Where do we stand now?

Bangladesh aim to restore pride in the dead rubber

Bangladesh, mauled by the Lankan Lions in the first two Test, are desperately looking for some rescue act by top order batsman to restore some pride in the thirst and final Test match of the Laqshya series due to start tomorrow in Kandy Asgiriya Stadium.

Bangladesh have flown in A team captain Tushar Imran to stabilise the fragile middle order who had an excellent Sri Lanka tour

Tushar Imran is flown in to perform rescue act © Cricinfo

with Bangladesh A team in early this year. Mehrab Hossain Jr. who made his debut in the second Test lost his place to make way for Tushar.

Bangladesh is approaching the match with three pacers and left arm paceman Syed Rasel finally received the nod of the team management ahead of out-of-sort Mohammad Sharif who played in the first two Tests without any success.

Traditionally the wicket of Kandy is pacer friendly and offers movement in early hours. Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful is expecting to win first toss as Captain to exploit the condition. Bangladesh lost the toss on previous occasions and were blown away in their first innings in both Tests played in Colombo.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka are aiming the whitewash to keep the momentum going. Sri Lanka have brought in all-rounder Farveez Maharoof in place of Chaminda Vaas who was released after the second Test for his county duty with Middlesex.

Upul Tharanga, who suffered a hairline fracture on the left foot during a practice session, is set to start in the third Test and Sujeewa De Silva might get the chance to impress as Sri Lankan management wants to explore the reserves in the dead rubber match.

Teams:

Bangladesh from: Javed Omar, Nafees Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Tushar Imran, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Syed Rasel, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Rafique, Shahadat Hossain.

Sri Lanka from: Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sujeewa de Silva.

The untold story of Mohammad Ashraful, the flag bearer of Bangladesh Cricket

On a winter day of 1993 at the Sidhdheswary cricket training ground, one of the breeding grounds of many national cricketers, a couple of net practices were going on. Former Bangladesh skipper Khaled Mahmud Sujon and Imran Hamid Partho were doing serious net practice for Amarjyoti, a club that used to play in the second division cricket league. Mohammad Rafique, ace spinner of Bangladesh, had played for Amarjyoti in the previous season and was also there to share the net practice. Cricket in Bangladesh in those days were easily outclassed by football and Bangladesh were only playing ICC Trophy without any apparent success.

A young boy of about 9-10 was a regular feature at the net practices. He always arrived in time dressed in cricket whites; a bit oversized on his lean body. He was happy to work as a net boy, nothing more. Day after day, month after month he continued to be a regular feature of the practice session of Amarjyoti club. The club completed one season in the second division league, net practice stopped and the boy was not seen anywhere near the Sidhdheswary ground for the rest of the year.

Next year, the net session started and everyone was surprised to see the boy, back again to perform his duty with religious regularity. Almost nothing changed; the same face, the same whites and the same dedication. One day Khaled Mahmud, captain of Amarjyoti club, asked him, “Do you want to be a cricketer”? Yes, the answer was very prompt from him. “I can bowl a bit, leg spin bowling. If you allow me, I can show you some,” said the boy who looked no more than 9-10 years old. Surprisingly enough, Mahmud listened to the boy's appeal.

Imperial Ashraful

The first batsman in the net was Imran Hamid Partho, a dashing left handed opener who later played for Bangladesh A and Abahani. At that time he was a leading performer for Amarjyouti and was particularly merciless against spinners. With all the concentration in the world, the young boy delivered his first ever ball in the competitive world of cricket. The ball, which could have disappeared from the small field, deceived Imran with turn and bounce and Imran missed it completely. In utter disbelief everyone witnessed the incident, Imran was shaking his head. The same thing happened in the next ball and the boy continued to cause all sorts of trouble for Imran. Batsmen came to the net one after another, and the magic continued. After the net session, they boy with a smiling face said, “See, I can bowl leg spin a bit”. He was very happy to become a part of the net session that he had witnessed for years with a dream to participate.

Suddenly the club officials became very interested in the boy and wanted to make sure that he turns up the very next morning. The next day was a busy day for him; the club officials took him to the BCB office of the Bangabandhu National Stadium to get him registered with the club. After searching all available sportswear shops, they somehow managed to find him proper cricket whites, which after a good amount of tailoring, fitted the lean body of the boy.

In the next seven days he bowled as many balls as he wished, and all the players knew they had a match winner in their team. He got the first opportunity to bat in the net after 8 days; it was the day before the first match. More surprise was waiting for everyone in the field; this time the balls were disappearing everywhere with some sweet sound from the willow of the boy. He was playing every type of shots present in the coaching manual with unbelievable ease. Khaled Mahmud, the captain of Amarjyoti, exclaimed in surprise, “You really bat well, exceptional”. “I am basically a bowler who can bat a bit”, was the modest answer from the boy.

Match day. Everyone in the field was very astonished to see the name a very young boy in the playing XI of Amarjyoti. After first 10 overs, Mahmud turned to the young prodigy. The umpire asked the name of the bowler. "Ashraful….Mohammad Ashraful," was the answer. The leg spinner Ashraful won the match for Amarjyoti.

A talent was born and history was being made. Ashraful got the return of all his dedication and sincerity. A net boy, who passed days after days collecting ball from the net without any return, became the most valuable player of the team at the age of 10.

At that time, former spinner and Mohammedan player, Wahidul Gani was a leading mentor of young cricketers. Mahmud took Ashraful to Wahidul Gani to show the talent he had discovered. On the very first day Gani realized the arrival of a star in his training camp. Ashraful became a very special student of Wahidul Gani, and the mentor used all his expertise to shape up the future of Bangladesh cricket.

Ashraful stayed with Amarjyoti for only one season. In the very next season he moved to Victoria Sporting Club who were playing in the first division cricket league. Time started to pass very quickly for Ashraful. He was called for Bangladesh age group teams starting from U-13 to U-21’s. A leg spin bowler soon turned into the mainstay of batting in every team he played. In 16th January 2000, he made his debut for U-19 world cup at the age of 15 years and made his first class debut for Dhaka Division in 22nd November 2000.

Within one year, he played for Bangladesh U-19’s in ICC U-19 world cup, Bangladesh U-17’s in ICC U-17 Asia Cup, Dhaka Metropolis in National Cricket League and Bangladesh Cricket Board XI against Australian Academy. After showing his brilliance everywhere, Ashraful finally made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in April 2001 at the age of 16 years. In September 2001, he made his historic Test debut against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship and hammered a brilliant century to become the youngest player to make a Test century.

Now I will take you to May 1, 2003. Bangladesh were playing the 2nd Test against South Africa in Dhaka. After reducing South Africa to 63-4, Bangladesh failed to keep up the pressure . Rudolph and Boucher were repairing the South African innings and formed a 107 run partnership to lift South Africa to 170-4. Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud turned to Mohammad Ashraful and he repaid the faith immediately. He lured Rudolph out of the crease and wicketkeeper Mohammad Selim did the rest. It was like the action replay of something that happened 8 years ago when Amarjyoti captain Khaled Mahmud turned to the unknown 10 year old boy to spin some magic. The characters were the same but the arena was vastly different. Ashraful completed the first cycle of his cricketing career, from a 2nd division club net of Siddheswary ground to the Test match gournds of Bangabandhu National Stadium.

In his roller coaster international career, Ashraful produced some magic with the bat but failed live up to the expectations on numerous occasions. In spite of all of his failures, he was always regarded as the best batsman of Bangladesh cricket, someone who can turn the table around for Bangladesh. Whenever bad days came, he turned to his mentor Wahidul Gani. Gani eagerly waited to see his student and the pair worked hard to see off the hard times. Ashraful's sincerity and dedication always brought him back from the brink of failure.

On June 2, 2007, the Bangladesh Cricket Board appointed Mohammad Ashraful as Bangladesh captain. On the very first day of his glory, he returned to the Sidhdheswary ground, the birth place of the cricketer Ashraful. The lean young boy, who waited for months with sincerity and dedication to get his first chance in the nets, went back to the same field as the flag bearer of Bangladesh cricket.

"Bangladesh will do better in Sri Lanka" - Ashraful

Bangladesh's newly appointed captain Mohammad Ashraful believes Bangladesh will start performing in the test arena from starting with the upcoming Sri Lanka series. According to Ashraful, Bangladesh will perform much better compared to their last outing in Sri Lanka in 2005, which was dubbed as the worst test series played by Bangladesh.

After returning to the test arena after a 13 months break, Bangladesh managed to draw one test and lost the other in the recently concluded two match test series against India.

Bangladesh enter into Ashraful era through Sri Lanka tour © Cricinfo

Ashraful, in his first assignment as a captain, wants to work hard to extend each test match to five days with some good batting display.

"My personal team target is to play throughout the five days in all the three tests. We have emphasized on our batting in the practice sessions. All of us have batted for a long time in the nets and the centre wicket. We have been playing good cricket in the ODIs for the last 12-13 months. That is why there is more confidence is the team," said a confident looking Ashraful during the final press briefing before leaving for Colombo.

Despite suffering heavy defeats against the islanders on all previous occasions, the Bangladesh captain is confident of putting up a good fight against Sri Lanka in the away series.

Most teams have struggled there in recent times. We toured Sri Lanka four times but could not play well. But this time I see more self-confidence in every player. Also we have plenty of international experience. That gives me reasons to feel optimistic about this series," said Ashraful.

Ashraful was critical about the form of the top order batsmen in recent times, but remains hopeful that they will learn from their mistakes.

"We did not play well against India in the tests. But after that we practiced a lot in the nets. Our batsmen have a problem with ball selection. We have been working on this for the last seven days. We hope that we will not repeat the same mistakes in the upcoming series."

He was also keen to utilise the three-day warm up match before the test series to acclimatize to Sri Lankan conditions.

"We have a three-day match prior to the test series. We will try to gain more confidence by putting up a good show in that match. We will probably go into that game with the best squad we have."

Most of the Bangladesh?s current crop of players came through age-group cricket and Ashraful, the youngest test captain of Bangladesh, is optimistic that the team spirit of the young Tigers will help each other to lift their game.

"There are a number of players in our team who have been playing together from the under-13, 17, 19 levels. We have also played with the senior players for the last five-six years in the national team. So there is a very good understanding between us. I think it is a plus point for our team".

Bangladesh leave for Sri Lanka on June 17, and the three match test series will kick off on June 25 with first test to be played in Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

Bangladesh cricket at the crossroads : change of vision required to lift the bar

Bangladesh cricket has entered into the most crucial period after gaining the Test status. A team which progressed significantly over the last few years under the guidance of Dav Whatmore, need some new directions and fresh thoughts to make it to the next level of cricket. With the completion of the current series, Dav Whatmore has already left Bangladesh cricket. He paired with Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh skipper, to lead the renaissance of Bangladesh Cricket. Bashar has already stepped down from ODI captaincy and may find the same fate with Test captaincy. The two person, who were at the centre of Bangladesh cricket over the last four years, are leaving the stage almost simultaneously, and Bangladesh cricket must select right persons to fill their shoes.

The extent of achievements of Whatmore and Bashar can be debatable, but undoubtedly during their tenure, Bangladesh made giant strides in right directions, especially in the shorter version of the game. To translate the successes of the shorter version into the longer version, Bangladesh need a change of guard, not only in the management but also in the thought process.

Now, it's hight time to take some crucial decisions which will determine the fate of Bangladesh cricket over the next few years.

Firstly, coach selection. When Dav Whatmore took the charge of Bangladesh cricket in 2003, he was unambiguously the perfect person to fit the shoe. Bangladesh cricket was hit at the rock bottom, and we needed someone like Dav's stature to lift the image of Bangladesh cricket. He was the ideal person, who could stand firm against fierce criticisms from the world media and instill positive mentality within our cricketers and motivate them despite countless failures. He has done his job; Bangladesh team is now known for its fearless attitudes and has built a positive image. Now it's time to appoint a technical coach. A professional coach, who will work with the techniques of our boys and will be hard working. Not necessarily he has to be high profile coach, but he must be able to stand firm in difficult times and convert Bangladesh to a technically correct team.

Secondly, change in captaincy. When Bashar took over captaincy from Khaled Mahmud, it was one of the most hailed decisions of Bangladesh cricket. He was only consistent performer of Bangladesh team, and performance earned him captaincy. He was never a captaincy material and made numerous tactical errors in both forms of the game. He took "safety first" approach regardless of prevailing situation, the unpredictability and inconsistency of youngsters contributed a lot in his defensive approach.

Bashar and Dav, with support from the selectors, managed to inject some young blood into the team, and these new generation of players have a completely different set of mentality. To be honest, Bashar led the rejuvenation of Bangladesh cricket, but it was the crop of these youngsters attitude coupled with their performances. Ironically, Bashar failed to adapt himself with the new situation and lost his touch completely. He finally decided to quit ODI captaincy, and it's also the time to leave the test captaincy. Intellectually he has nothing left to offer for Bangladesh cricket. He carried the burden of Bangladesh test batting single handedly over the last few years, he should take some time to assess his Test batting and make honest decision for the best interest of Bangladesh cricket.

BCB must appoint a new captain for both forms of the game. A new pair, coach and captain, with bold and positive visions can only take Bangladesh cricket to the next level. It can be either Ashraful or Mashrafe, both positive player and proven performer. It's the high time to make the decision.

Thirdly, the composition of the team. Time has come to take some strong decisions about some of players. We are carrying them for years without reasonable explanations. Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud has nothing left to offer for Bangladesh team in both forms of the game, same applies to Habibul Bashar in ODIs. We should thank them for their contributions for Bangladesh cricket and move on. Only performance should be the criteria for selection, whether it’s Test or ODI. We have heard enough about experience, only experience cannot buy any success, it must be accompanied by performance. Everyone must understand, it's the young blood who changed the Bangladesh team in ODIs, and only they can change Bangladesh in Tests. We need players like Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim in the Test team, who can take oppositions to the wire with their aggressive intents. Test cricket has evolved a lot along with ODIs. Now, teams play for win, aggressive players like Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen, Mahendara Dhoni are ruling Test cricket. Timid approach can only hold us back, time has come to open the eyes and change the thought process.

Lastly, change in the domestic structure. BCB have taken couple encouraging decision to develop domestic cricket and establishment of National Cricket Academy is one of them. A fully functional academy can only groom the youngsters for the future Bangladesh team. Now, in addition to basic skills training, National Academy should be able to cover the following aspects of modern cricket to cope with the evolving cricketing culture, both on and off the pitch.

- Sports Psychology and Visualization
- Addressing issues such as self and group dynamics and self management
- Critical thinking and Problem solving
- Media Relations and how to deal with the press
- Players' contracts, Sponsors and sponsorship

Apart from the academy activities, a major overhaul is needed in the wicket types. Keeping the natural sub-continental wickets in some first class venues, BCB must prepare some sporting wickets which will offer pace and bounce. Only then players will be exposed to different level of challenges and will be able to acclimatize to different conditions. Financial security of the first class cricketers is another important issue which BCB must deal professionally. First class players should be able to earn their livelihood through playing cricket, so that they can fully concentrate on the development of the game which in turn will enhance the quality of the domestic cricket.

Finally, If we want to progress as a cricketing nation and solve our Test woes, we must take correct decisions about these issues. Bangladesh Cricket Board want to follow Australian model to raise the standard pf the game. I hope they will truly follow the system and will take decisions which will lift the bar and Bangladesh will come out of the dark old days of Test misery.