Bangladesh Watch 2015-2019

[Kriterion_BD]

Lol.

It isnt the same word in Arabic as it is in Hebrew. Rabbi in Hebrew means "teacher" if I am not mistaken. In Arabic it means, "Lord" ie God.

Most Bangladeshis dont have any grammatical knowledge of arabic, treating it as a purely liturgical language. Hence you see odd names that dont make any sense, from a purely grammatical sense.

Every now and then you get a name actually makes sense like Mominul Haque (Pakistani version = Momin-ul-Haq). That means "Believer of the Truth".

[Mr Twig]

No the home Aussie tour would replace the one scheduled in Aus in the FTP. Bangladesh lost one series vd Australia which is the tour of Aus.

Its because Bangladesh arent viable.

I don't think this is right. Australia might postpone Bangladesh's tour to Australia but it won't be replaced. It's a signed deal.

Otherwise Australia wouldn't have signed the agreement in the first place (like with Zimbabwe not getting tours to Australia).

[CrimsonAvenger]

Pretty miserable end to what was a sensational effort on the first 3 days. I was a bit iffy when they declared in the first dig, with Shabbir batting well. They could have just continued on at that stage. But yes, a positive decision at that stage that you can't blame and an unfortunate turn of events with injuries and second innings collapse (which was always round the corner) led to a result which is a bit unfair for BD given how well they contested.

BD must be proud of every one of their last 11 tests though. I would still feel not coming away with a draw here is less painful that losing to England in the first test at home, but things are improving all the time.

[Kriterion_BD]

Pretty miserable end to what was a sensational effort on the first 3 days. I was a bit iffy when they declared in the first dig, with Shabbir batting well. They could have just continued on at that stage. But yes, a positive decision at that stage that you can't blame and an unfortunate turn of events with injuries and second innings collapse (which was always round the corner) led to a result which is a bit unfair for BD given how well they contested.

BD must be proud of every one of their last 11 tests though. I would still feel not coming away with a draw here is less painful that losing to England in the first test at home, but things are improving all the time.

Yes my thoughts exactly. Although I had predicted this collapse...I still thought you'd get a draw out of it because NZ would have to chase 750 to win. Problem is NZ scored at 4.5 an over. The 2nd innings collapse was an odd one because the pitch was still good to bat on, there were loose shots but not things you don't see in Test cricket, and there was a general lack of confidence during our 2nd innings. Tamim was beaten by unexpected turn, can't fault him. Mahmudullah is the weak link in the top order...no hundreds in 7 years (his only Test ton was in NZ back in 2010) and an average of barely 30. Mominul played a rare loose shot, so again I won't fault him. But Shakib...man on man...words can't describe the shot he played. Ashraful, Vusi, and Elton couldn't have played that shot even if they put their brains together and tried to come up with a dumber shot.

But kudos to Mushfiq for batting with possibly broken fingers when he got struck on the head. He had been ducking the bouncers well till then and because of his injured hand was not in position to pull them away and force NZ to chance their strategy. Sabbir did very well as well, but again a poor shot from him potentially cost us a draw. Kudos also to Imrul for keeping wicket and then coming out to bat when he couldn't even walk.

And kudos to the NZ team for never giving up. Conceded 600 in the first innings and still beleived they could win. You can't coach that, you can't teach that. Like talent, you either have it or you don't and the Kiwis proved why they can compete despite having the smallest talent pool in the game.

Hoping for a good show in Christchurch, but I reckon that pitch will be a real greentop.

Chasening experience for Taskin. He will learn and get better with time. Bowled on mostly a dead pitch, but it was heartening to see him bowling at 140 clicks with reverse swing on Day 5. Should have had 4 wickets, but instead finished with figures of 1 for 179 at just over 5 an over.

Hopefully Mustafiz returns for the 2nd test.

[Kriterion_BD]

No the home Aussie tour would replace the one scheduled in Aus in the FTP. Bangladesh lost one series vd Australia which is the tour of Aus.

Its because Bangladesh arent viable.

I don't think this is right. Australia might postpone Bangladesh's tour to Australia but it won't be replaced. It's a signed deal.

Otherwise Australia wouldn't have signed the agreement in the first place (like with Zimbabwe not getting tours to Australia).

The current FTP has 2 BD-AUS tours.

2015 in BD and 2017 in AUS.

Now there is only one tour which is 2017 in BD. So, the other tour has been lost. Its, as of now, gone. So instead of 4 tests versus AUS this cycle we only have 2.

Hopefully the new Test league will sort these issues out.

[Kriterion_BD]

Someone was asking recently if any of the Bangladesh seamers can reverse swing the ball...can't remember who it was.

Of course Mustafiz, who doesn't really swing the new ball can get reverse swing. When he picked up those 3 Test wickets in an over against Amla, Duminy, and QDK he was reversing the ball at around 138-140 kph. So obviously he can reverse the old red ball.

Taskin, who I had never seen bowl with a red ball (last FC match played was in early 2013) I had no clue if he could reverse it. Although I did seem him bowling at the death in the recent ODIs vs Afghanistan or England he did get the white ball to tail in sharply at the end of the innings. But not sure if that was a one off.

But now we have confirmation...just watched him bowl the 36th over and he was reversing the ball at around 140 clicks. From cricinfo:

35.3 Taskin Ahmed to Taylor, no run, an appeal for lbw, umpire Erasmus shakes his head. 140ks, tinge of reverse, tails in sharply and strikes the inside of the pad. Taylor was late on it. Probably grazing leg. Good shout, but Bangladesh don't review. The tracker shows it would have carried onto hit leg stump

[Kriterion_BD]

Still cant get over us blowing a chance to draw this Test. Shows how hard it is to draw a Test match, no matter how flat the wicket!

Was really hoping we'd only lose 1-0 and move further up the rankings.

Pakistan already caught up in ODIs!

[Kriterion_BD]

Bangladesh squandered another chance to compete losing inside 3 days.

Some good positives to take from this tour, although there are some question marks as well.

1) Most important thing is the emergence of Taskin as a potent new ball seamer. Solid debut for him, especially since this was his 1st first-class match in 4 years. He was only bowling 132-137 kph in his first spell at Wellington, but in his final spell yesterday was averaging around 140-142 and even cranked it up to 145.9 although I missed that delivery. More important were the bounce, and seam movement he was getting on a helpful surface. And the reverse swing he got in Wellington on the 5th day.

2) Mahmudullah and Rubel have hopefully be exposed as the hacks they've always been. I doubt its the last Test they will ever play, but I'm hoping the end is that much closer for their red ball careers. Mahmudullah in particular has 30+ caps, has been around for 10 years, and is almost 31 years old...he ain't gonna get any better folks.

3) Mosaddek and Nasir Hossain should have been in the squad and should have played over Nazmul Hossain Shanto, most likely.

4) Nurul Hasan is a pretty solid WK, and decent batsman as his under pressure 47 proved in his debut innings. I hope he takes the gloves from the injury prone Mushy permanently.

5) Shakib for all his heroics, let us down big time. And he did it twice. Should probably be demoted to #6 until he can prove he's responsible enough for a top 5 slot.

[cricket_22001]

I watched a bit of this series on Fox sports with NZ commentators & Athar Ali Khan. Whilst the commentators were in praise of Bangladesh & conceded they deserved more overseas tours, the collapse at Christchurch left former NZ wicketkeeper, Ian Smith, seething.
He stated that serious questions had to be asked when they returned home concerning an apparent attitude to accepting defeat & an apparent lack of fight. Both occurring when NZ ramped up the pressure. Mental toughness was lacking.
But, as stated, Taskin Ahmed was a success & deserved better. Kamrul Islam Rabbi exceeded expectations. Both would have had better figures but a dozen chances were dropped by Bangladesh.
On another note, while the main team hadn't played overseas in a while, I see that, apart from 2015/16 where Bangladesh sent 'A' teams to India & Southern Africa, they've done almost bugger all since 2011/12. Only 4 other games 2014 & 2014/15 then nothing. Bangladesh had previously been very pro active in arranging 'A' tours. I don't know what message this is sending to players who feel they could be in the mix. Particularly when a player like Rubel Hossain gets a run with little performance.
At the time of this post, I am unaware of the squad for the Indian test. I note the zonal BCL first class competition has started & tourists from the extended party to NZ, Shafiul Islam, Mossadek Hossain, Taijul islam, Ebadat Hossain, Tanbir Hayder & Shuvogoto Hom are playing. Coach Hathurusingha has requested selectors not to make many changes so I presume the main squad is in camp. Which means Mahmudullah & Rubel get a guernsey.
Good luck for this test.

[Kriterion_BD]

^Yeah there has not been much in the way of A team cricket. Since our domestic pacers don't bowl much, A team tours are needed to build up their stamina for the Tests. The number of injured players who then fall of the radar is shockingly high. Rabiul Islam and now looks like Mohammad Shahid going the same route.