World Test Championship 2021-23 : Bangladesh V/s New Zealand [ 2 test ]

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Bangladesh squad:

Mominul Haque (capt), Shadman Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Shohidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mohammad Naim, Fazle Mahmud

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Kriterion, what Mizanur, Zakir....needs to do to get picked in test squad.? BCB selectors are simply doing politics here

[cricket_22001]

By Mizanur, do you mean opener Mizanur Rahman? His career stats aren't breath taking but he had a solid season & in the current BCL zonal game he got a big 100 in a mammoth 327 run opening for Central Zone.
His partner was Mohammad Mithun Ali, who scored a career best 176.
Have we found a new test opening partnership?
Has Mithun Ali resurrected his career at the top of the order?
Will Mithun Ali get reselected (against Bangla selection policy) & continue to haunt Kriterion?
And Zakir Hasan scored 158 for South Zone. He seems to have relinquished the gloves as Jaker Ali is Sylhet's keeper & cricinfo has nominated veteran Anamul Haque as keeper this match.

[cricket_22001]

Regarding NZ, it is interesting times for them. Williamson seems to have a chronic elbow problem so if it doesn't get corrected, could it be something that starts winding down his career?
Taylor has, reportedly, had to have a conversation with the coach regarding his own future, his attitude & form. He's 37, done just about the lot & does deserve to go out on his terms. But he still has to contribute.
Nicholls reminds me of Asad Shafiq of Pakistan. He just doesn't seem to get difficult runs regularly. He's 30, averages 40 with the bat, has 7 centuries & has had the luxury of Williamson & Taylor above him. And Watling below him. No doubt he'll score heavily against Bangladesh. He's at home where he averages 50 with 6 centuries. He averages 23 away. He fails against Australia & India home & away & against England away. Not real flash against the Zimbos after 2 digs either.
Southee is 33, Boult is 32 & Wagner 35. Even permanent understudies Matt Henry & Lockie Ferguson are 30. All are performing but only Jamieson (27) has broken through the ranks.
Still, NZ invest in A teams/tours.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

By Mizanur, do you mean opener Mizanur Rahman? His career stats aren't breath taking but he had a solid season & in the current BCL zonal game he got a big 100 in a mammoth 327 run opening for Central Zone.
His partner was Mohammad Mithun Ali, who scored a career best 176.
Have we found a new test opening partnership?
Has Mithun Ali resurrected his career at the top of the order?
Will Mithun Ali get reselected (against Bangla selection policy) & continue to haunt Kriterion?
And Zakir Hasan scored 158 for South Zone. He seems to have relinquished the gloves as Jaker Ali is Sylhet's keeper & cricinfo has nominated veteran Anamul Haque as keeper this match.

Plenty of headache for Bangladesh to survive in WTC. In this sort of situation where they dont have Tamim & Shakib, selector should have gone for the experience of Naeem, Taibur,Raqibul, Imrul in NZ Tour. Shadman & Saif haven't looked like they could resist a top class opening spell in their short career.Shanto is no where after that ton, Mominul is in poor form. Whole team is now dependent on Liton & Mushfiqur to perform.

Selectors have backed wrong talents that batch of Soumya, Sabbir, Mosaddek, Nasir, Mithun even Miraz havent gave performances in consistent basis.

[cricket_22001]

I don’t think Saif is in NZ.
They are relying on Shadman, the new bloke Mahmudul Hasan & the t20 guy Mohammad Naim as openers. Shakib has dropped out & they brought in 34 year old Fazle Mahmud. He was the leading run scorer in the NCL.
I really hope their pace bowlers get a bit of success on this tour. Taskin, Ebadot & Abu Jayed toured NZ last time so they should know the conditions. And they are a bit more experienced.

[Kriterion_BD]

Plenty of headache for Bangladesh to survive in WTC.

WTC format is set for quite some time. It will be top 9 I think until 2031 I believe.

Bangladesh have competed in the past beating Australia/England at home and Sri Lanka away. They had a full strength side at that time. Now with Tamim and Shakib out, they have find a way to fight. Its more a mental issue IMO. They squandered an easy draw vs NZ in 2017 after scoring nearly 600 runs in the first test. They had a first innings lead against Pakistan a few weeks ago and made elementary mistakes to give Pakistan the advantage in the end. It was the same story vs West Indies a year ago...had a massive first innings lead, but poor bowling on a flat deck cost them the series.

In this sort of situation where they dont have Tamim & Shakib, selector should have gone for the experience of Naeem, Taibur,Raqibul, Imrul in NZ Tour. Shadman & Saif haven't looked like they could resist a top class opening spell in their short career.Shanto is no where after that ton, Mominul is in poor form. Whole team is now dependent on Liton & Mushfiqur to perform.

Selectors have backed wrong talents that batch of Soumya, Sabbir, Mosaddek, Nasir, Mithun even Miraz havent gave performances in consistent basis.

Mosaddek averages 41 from his 3 Test matches, so I would say he's been hard done by to not get more chances.

[jaybro]

Is it just me or does it feel like Bangladesh tour NZ every year now?

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Squad: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young

[Kriterion_BD]

Looks like this tour is going forward for now. My thoughts on the Bangladesh side...

This is going to be a brutal tour. Mushfiq is the only guy in the squad with a proven record of success in NZ conditions, with the other 19 players having had no experience here or varying degrees of failure. There's a decent mix of youth, seasoned rookies, and a few veteran players. Morale is near an all time low.

Top Order Batting
The absence of Tamim is massive. He's just begun batting after recovering from a thumb fracture and missing out on the Pakistan series. The gap between Tamim's class and the next best opener is wider than the Tasman Sea. The top order averaged less than 8 in the Pakistan series. That series saw a lot of schoolboy run outs and other unbelievable dismissals by the top order. Fixing those is the first step to making a competitive Bangladesh side.

Shadman Islam - Had a woeful series vs Pakistan where he was completely outlcassed as he scored a mere 20 runs in 4 innings. His record in NZ is quite decent comparison, an average of 29 in 4 innings. He is going to have to improve his play against the outswinger if he is to have a chance of giving Bangladesh a solid start.

Mahmudul Hasan Joy - Forced into the other opening slot as a makeshift opener. He's done well in his domestic first class career so far, but batting in ZN will orders of magnitude harder. A strong performance here will put pressure on Shadman and fellow backup opener Saif Hassan.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto - Made his debut in NZ as an 18 year old, but now the 23 year old lefty has basically cemented his spot as Bangladesh's permanent #3. Averages 46 in away Tests to just 16 at home, but he seems to have made little progress overcome his biggest technical flaw of poking unnecessarily at balls well outside offstump. He will have plenty of chances here to demonstrate he's been working on that.

Mominul Haque - The captain has struggled overseas, famously so. There is no better time to turn a record around than a tour of the defending world champions without your two leading players.

Middle Order Batting
Shakib's absence is perhaps less damaging to the middle order than Tamim's is to the top, but no less conspicuous. Bangladesh will rely on Mushfiqur and Liton, the two best guys vs Pakistan to keep the scoreboard ticking. Rookie Yasir Ali Rabbi had spent a long time on the bench before earning his Test cap vs Pakistan and will likely find a place in the first XI as well.

Mushfiqur Rahim - Is now Bangladesh's all time leading scorer in Test cricket. He has been in this situation before and moreover this marks his 4th Test tour of New Zealand. He is nearly always dependable, but his job would be made much easier if the top order did theirs.

Liton Das - Had a breakout series vs Pakistan. The question is can he do it overseas in NZ conditions. If he can, it will go a long ways to solidifying the middle order.

Yasir Ali Rabbi - Looked solid vs Pakistan before a blow to the helmet ruled him out of the match and series. I was impressed and the onus will be on him to prove his worth, although he's only making the XI because Shakib is out.

Nurul Hasan - The best WK in Bangladesh, but his batting looks to be behind Liton Das' at the moment. Not a first XI player unless there are injuries so he is in the squad as injury/COVID backup. Still not a bad backup to have IMO.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz - His batting is slowly progressing and at this stage he's a solid #8 batsmen. If he can improve his technique a bit he can probably be a 25 average player, and if he really works on his game perhaps 30. Still a handy batter down the order, which is par for number 8 in today's era.

Fast Bowling
Bangladesh's ineptitude with seam bowlers is as obvious as it is embarassing. That Bangladesh's quicks will be ineffective is Test cricket's most certain assumption. The one statistic that says it all is that Robiul Islam's work from 2013 is the last time a Bangladeshi paceman took five wickets in a Test innings. You would have to go back to Shahadat Hossain's fiver at Lord's for the last time against a WTC opponent. That being said, Bangladesh have something to work with this time around. For starters, Taskin and Ebadat form the first ever Bangladesh duo capable of crossing 90 mph on a consistent basis.

Taskin Ahmed - Enters the series as the undisputed leader of the pace attack. NZ are masters of their own conditions, but Taskin has probably seldom gotten to bowl on such friendly pitches. Is excellent with the old ball, but needs to get consistent at utelizing the new ball better.

Ebadat Hossain - Bowled splendidly at times against Pakistan, but also tended to be erratic at others. He cannot bowl short unless its directed at the batsman's throat. Like Taskin can get a fair bit of movement off the seam. A very similar type of bowler to Taskin, so one hopes that if Taskin can do well, Ebadat should follow.

Abu Jayed Rahi - His ability to swing both new ball and old might be handy in New Zealand. But his form seems to be missing, and he was dropped for the Dhaka Test. Still he is the most experienced of the Bangladesh seamers, having played a massive 13 Tests.

Khaled Ahmed - Might crack the XI as the third seamer given he played in the last one and Bangladesh love continuity. However, if he cannot bowl a nagging line and length, then he has little else to fall back on. 135 kph pace won't scare anyone at this level so he must bowl as tightly as he can and try to jag the ball around off the seam.

Shoriful Islam - The youngster will mostly likely not get a chance to play and serve as backup. He can swing the new ball however, and bowl accurately for long spells.

Spin Bowling
Bangladesh's strength is understandably not expected to be much of a factor in these conditions. That the home team left out a man with a 10-wicket haul in his last series, underlines just how little the pitch is expected to turn.

Taijul Islam - Took the lead against Pakistan even when Shakib came back, he looked to be the most threatening of the spinners. His record overseas is poor but he is now an experienced veteran entering the second half of his career. Performance in unhelpful conditions is what separates the good players from the average.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz - Has been a decent bowler, but still hasn't had a real breakthrough performance with the ball apart from his debut series vs England on turning surfaces. Both he and Taijul will need to focus on supporting the spinners by at least keeping the batters quiet from one end. Variations in flight, speed, and angles will likely be more critical than just trying to turn the ball and beat the edges.