jaybro wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:04 am
I wonder at what point BD realised they made a mistake picking Safiul Islam and even Muztafizur Rahman for that matter. An extra spinner or batsman would have been handy.
Or we could have picked the batsman who top scored in the practice match and has the highest average on the team. The selectors and coach have some answering to do.
It would have probably worked better had we gone with an all spin attack as the corollary to the Windies 4 man pace attack (did India ever field an XI without a single specialist seamer???). Then again, what could a 4th spinner do that the other 3 didn't already?
But maybe the Windies also never had promising spinners back in the 70s...
But Mustafiz had to make the XI since he averages under 25 with the ball and bowled the match winning spell vs SL in Colombo. Granted he's only played 4 Tests so that average isn't signficant, but its still better than say a Rubel Hossain who averages nearly 80. Plus, you'd reckon he could be a handful on a turning pitch with his cutters. Only conceded 21 runs off his 9 overs, so he could have bowled a bit more particularly to the tail to pick up some cheap wickets perhaps. But its not like he bled runs. He's our best seamer, and you have to play him. Hazelwood didn't do much, but you can't imagine Australia leaving him out even if Starc and Pattinson were fit.
Shafiul was a questionable pick. I think he can be a good 4th seamer, but when would you ever pick 4 quicks? Did beat the bat of Warner and/or Renshaw a few times in the first innings without really threatening. So he too didn't look totally hopeless. I'd have picked Taskin every day of the week...his pace and bounce could have prised out a wicket or two and also changed things up a bit when the game drifted.
The really poor decisions - so poor that I expect and hope its strong enough to break the "winning combo" concept - is the omission of Mominul. Soumya's fielding and talent with the bat warrant more chances, IMO, but I would also understand if he was to be dropped. Imrul should either open with Tamim or ideally be left out as we've outgrown whatever his utility is. Sabbir is NOT a longer form batter. Doesn't even have a score bigger than 64 in ODIs. I like Nasir Hossain, but I'm not sure we have room for him in our best XI.
Soumya, Imrul, Sabbir, and Nasir scored a combined 70 runs in the match at an average less than 9, and they are all specialist batsmen. Surely Mominul who averages 45+ for his career can come in place of one of those, form and "technique" notwithstanding.
My ideal side for Tests in the SC would be:
Tamim
Soumya (Imrul only fits as an opener but has less upside than Soumya)
Mominul
Mosaddek (can bowl some useful off spin as well)
Shakib
Mushfiq (his WK in the last two Tests has been superb)
Nasir
Miraz
Taijul
Taskin
Mustafiz
Maybe I'm sleep deprived but I can't think of who ought to be our #7, so I guess Nasir would take that spot for now. I think he needs a long run in the side having been left out for so long. He deserves it as he got the Mominul treatment before Mominul. Damn Hathurasinghe.
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My analysis of this Test in specific, but our cricket in general:
1) We've been resilient. England had raced away too 100-0 chasing 273 and then lost all 10 wickets in a session. Australia's fall wasn't as dramatic, but they were 158-2 at one stage and then found themselves at 199-8. This fact is probably paramount, and is the one that most makes me proud.
2) Lower order batting: virtually non-existent. None of our bowlers can consistenly score 15 runs, nor can they consistenly face 30 deliveries. By contrast, Cummins batted solidly in both innings and put our batsmen to shame.
3) Close in catching: piss poor. In SC conditions slips don't get many chances to catch off pace, but when we were in NZ at least a couple of regulation chances were put down. Our bat-pads and slips have fared better at home, but when you see the sheer number of fumbles, lucky ricochete catches, you realize we have no one near the sure hands of a Rahane or a Smith or a Williamson (more of a gully fielder but still). Soumya took some amazing catches, but part of the novelty was the fact that he juggled fairly straightforward chances.
4) Shakib's frustrates with the bat. Threw away a sure fire draw in Wellington at the start of this year after his epic 217. Threw away the match with the bat in Mirpur as well. Only this time the conditions allowed him to fetch it back with the ball.
5) Tamim might just be one of the finest openers going around. He scores in all conditions he's faced, and looks equally solid vs both pace and spin. His twin 70s here were just as important as Shakib's 10-fer to our win, and his century on an identical minefield vs Engalnd last year won us that match. I'm speechless really.
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Interestingly, Bangladesh has now not been beaten in a home Test series since May 2015. With our next two series being Sri Lanka and the West Indies, we might be able to push to at least 3+ years without being beaten at home. Of course we've hardly played any matches, but I reckon we wouldn't have lost to SA in 2015, had it not rained, and would have probably beaten Australia in 2015 when they had a far less settled side than they do now.
With Hazelwood out, we might just take this series 2-0. Then again, Australia, did very nearly beat us in our tailor made conditions.
On the other hand, I reckon Cartwright has a great shot at coming in for Khawaja.