What's next, to win world cup or to win 1 match?

Do you want journalists to write 'glory of 2008/2010 victory'? (Means once BD defeated a big team 2 years ago or 4 years ago). Or you want them to win regularly? (Means no glory for 1 match)
Its time to decide such things.
If you want to win 1 match in 2 years then only all-rounder is enough for you. But if you want to win all matches & clinch world cup then you have to do a lot of works.

A balanced team:
We need specialists in most positions, not average player.
We need -
 1 pacer (ability to take 5 wickets)
 1 specialist spinner (ability to take 5 wickets)
 1 opener (ability to make centuries)
 1 mid-order batsman (ability to make centuries)
 1 finisher (ability to finish even at worse situation)

These 5 players must be great, adept, specialists in their positions and must be consistent. They must play good for match by match for years.
Among 3 batsmen, at least 1 must stand & make big innings like century or close to that.

Pacer - Mashrafee was our main strike bowler for long. Rubel can take the place when he retires, his swing & variations made him to lead. Al-amin & Taskin seem to be promising. Shahadat was a good bowler for test match (only test, not for one-day as he gives huge runs), can be tried for test matches.
* If these promising players could be trained under world's great pace bowlers in an academy then they can be world class bowlers. *

Spinner - Razzak is for one choice. Sohag gazi & Arafat are next leading spinners. They should be trained to be better bowlers. Sakib's spin is also good.
We have Mohhamad Rafiq, BCB should use this world class bowler to train & direct the spinners.

Opener - Tamim was constant for years. Anamul Huq can be the next big name if he can linger his thirst for big scores. If an opener makes a century then team's score simply excedes 250.

Mid order - Mominul can be next name. Mushfiq must continue his skills. One must have to stand & make big innings in every match.

Finisher - Nasir was a good finisher, but lost path. We badly need a good finisher who can lead to victory from whatever bad situations.


Hire players:
Domestic cricket league must be shaped & arranged regularly. BCB must make the league powerful, hire skilled people. BCB must use good budget in these tournaments instead using in tours.

Hire only those players who have played over 3 seasons and consistently have 40 average. Don't hire anybody who did well in last cup, because he'd hiccup soon as he hasn't proved consistency.
He must have couple of centuries and in every season.

BCB must raise the average age of players to 25. Because young players (like age-20) do well in early stage, make money & lost all thirst to do better.

Committed players must be trained well. BCB must send them to foreign teaching academies to learn advanced skills.
They have to arrange 1st class tournaments like County cricket or India/Australia league for some committed players. BCB must send players rotationally to play in 1st class tournament against reputed players.

Team captain should be appointed at age-27 and hands over at age-32. He reigns for 5 years, only skilled & committed people should be the captain.

Use our golden players. Md Rafiq is the only specialist spinner till date, BCB should use him to train present spinners. They can initiate an academy to train better players and use our golden players as trainers. Aminul islam bulbul claimed that he trains in Australia because they call him & use his talent, but his own country doesn't want him!


New players:
We have some new merits.
Anamul Huq impressed me. He made 77, but was not happy, showed his frustration to miss a century in field and in next match he made 100! He has the thirst to do better, to make more centuries, to make milestones. BCB should tend him, train him & raise him. If he can play for 5 years with this thirst then he'll brake many records and if plays for 10 years with this thirst then he'll brake all records.
Mominul Huq is another talented batsman. He needs to gear up.
Sohag Gazi is a very good bowler. But he has to be a specialist.
Taskin can be a good pacer, has fast bowling speed.


Follow Zimbabwe:
They raised their cricket dramatically. They stopped playing against big countries for 6 years. By this time they trained their players, got them played in more 1st class matches, long versions cricket and took some powerful steps. That's why they can beat present BD team.
BCB can follow their strategies. Instead leaving test playing, follow other positive steps.


Setup training academy:
BD needs to setup training academy where they can train new players as well as existing national players. India, Australia, South africa are so advanced teams because of their advanced training academies.


Powerful domestic 1st class tournaments:
If BCB failes to arrange powerful domestic 1st class tournaments then all our tries will end in smoke. Such tournaments must be advanced and coded with skilled people.


Bangladesh is there where they started:
BD team is still there where they started. Their mark didn't advance in 15 years after getting test status. At that time our journalists used to write 'glory of victory against Pakistan in world cup 1999', still today they write 'glory of victory against West Indies of 2008'. That means we didn't grow to big team and we can't beat other big teams regularly.


Goal for next 10 years:
BCB must set a goal for next 10 years. They have to evaluate their progress, necessary repairs & modifications to reach the ultimate goal.


Win world cup after 15 years:
When we can win world cup? After 15 years or 20 years?? Or never???
BCB has to set a big target, because we want our cricket team to win world cups.

What to do to make Bangladesh a balanced team?

After closely watching last few months activities of BD team, I came to conclusion that there's a mighty group in the team.


Captain's role:
Mushfiqur Rahim is a young team captain of BD team. He was appointed at younger age due to some critical reasons. We hoped that he could learn quick & become a good captain. But it seems that he failed to advance.

Mushfiq can't decide when to use a pacer and when a spinner.
In Asia cup BD made 317, Pakistan came close, in slog overs Afridi was beating spinners but he could not handle pace ball. Mushfiq used Sakib & Rajjak in last overs, everybody was beaten mercilessly. And the match dropped down. He should have used pacers at that moment. If he did, we could have won.
In T20 world cup against Pakistan he made same mistake in reverse order. Paki batsmen adapted to pacers & made boundaries, but they could not beat spinners. In last 4 overs, Mushfiq should have used spinners, not pacers.

Razzak is our best spinner, can swing any ball, old or new. But he was dropped in first 3 matches (super 10) of T20 world cup. How can a captain drop his best spinner for no reason?
He often mistakes to choose right player for the best 11, needs to gear  up.

His fielding positioning seems to be poor, can't conclude when to arrange attacking fielding & when to go defensive.

Tips - Follow MS Dhoni closely.
- Talk to your seniors like Akram Khan, Habibul Bashar. Ask them how to overcome it.

* Right now, we don't have any alternative to Mushfiq as captain. He must have to improvise, and all must have to help him. *


Grouping:
There's a group inside BD team.
2 persons are untouched, never dropped though their performance is more than horrible.
Mahmudulla Riad played all 7 matches of T20 and consistently playing for years. But he never made anything impressive. And he's never dropped. Moreover he's a vice captain!
Tamim Iqbal flopped in T20, can't do well for last 2 years, hardly he could make a big innings. As other groupies, he's never dropped.
For Tamim - He needs to focus, needs concentration. I'd suggest him to take a brake from team for 6 months, practice hard in home tournaments or County or 1st class cricket, and return when you can handle things. And talk to Atahar Ali & Sourav Ganguli, they can help you a lot.

* Some players get just 1 chance to survive, if can then play for some matches; and if fail then removed immediately. But some players consistently get chances over and over but never can prove themselves.*

Mashrafee jokes:
Mashrafee issue needs to be reviewed. BD team must decide either to keep him or drop him, but this injury joke must be stopped.
i] Mushfiq announced Mashrafee can't play against West Indies as his lungs is full of water. I guessed he's in hospital as lungs-water is a serious health trouble. But amazingly, Mashrafee played & scored 2nd highest run for the team.
ii] Mashrafee took 3 wickets in 5 matches (not good) & made 42 runs in 3 matches (2 match unbeaten). He's a all-rounder & still performs better than many players. He gave 63 runs in last match & dropped out immediately.
iii] He's in the 'Ashraful state', means 'come & go format', called after intervals for 1-2 matches. And he's dropped immediately if he fails in a match.

He’s at his last few playing years. Its BCB who has to decide any of the 2 options
i] Let him play for more time as a senior player. So that he can set a milestone for new players.
Ii] Bid goodbye in a respected way. At least stop this injury jokes.



Only all-rounder:
Some people cried when Sakib lost his world ranking. Some said if Bangladesh played more tests then he must be #1.
Remember he plays for team, not total team plays for his ranking.

Fact - Only all-rounder can play good for 1 match, max 2 matches. If you need to win all matches then you must have 4-5 expert players.



Senior players are at exile:BCB always tend to cut off senior players.
i] Habibul Bashar was dropped before he retired. He could give lot more.
ii] Ashraful was dropped. If he played he could set a milestone to others.
iii] Mashrafee is about to drop.
iv] Razzak is about to drop.
v] Mohammad Rafiq's case is li'l different. He was not called for test matches at first stage though he's our only spin specialist. If he could play more years, could set a high milestone.

If senior players can play longer then they can
- Make records & set milestone for others. New players could follow them & do their best to brake records.
- Now players have no target. If milestones were set, they got some targets.

If milestones are to be set, you must use good players to play for long term.
BCB hires players at 20 and cuts at 30. Instead they should hire at 23 (praticed & consistent players) & cut at 33-35.
I have some questions to BCB, need answers.1) Why did Srilanka keep Dilshan in team though he can't perform for about 2 years?
2) What do you want? To win 1 match or to win all matches & take the cup?
3) Do you want journalists to write 'glory of 2008/2010 victory'? (Means once BD defeated a big team 2 years ago or 4 years ago). Or you want them to win regularly? (Means no glory for 1 match)
4) Why all big team's average age is 27+ while our's is 22 only?

T20 world cup 2014 'tukitaki'

This world cup is different from previous versions. Sub-continental low-bouncy pitch gave it a whippy look. Some matches impressed me.

Women's team achieved 2 victories:
Bangladesh women team won twice, against Srilanka in group match and against Ireland. They placed 9th defeating Ireland. Salma, Romana performed consistently.

Dutch flavor:
Nederland played outstanding throughout the tournament. In qualifying round, they chased an impossible target against Ireland, made 190 in just 13 overs! Guess what they could do if had played full 20 overs, 300 was possible. In super-10, they played awesome, beat England massively and cornered South Africa to an extreme close match (SA won by only 5 runs).
3 Dutch players did superb performance. 2 of them scored over 200 runs, tops total scores of the tournament till semi-final, named Tom Cooper and Stefan Myberg. And Ahsan Malik took 12 wickets, tournament highest till now.

Glenn Maxwell aggression:
I didn't hear his name till this world cup. After falling quick wickets against Pakistan, he began to stand, and beat Paki bowlers like Veem, made big sixes in a row. He alone trembled the opponents, during his batting you can't shift your eyes. He scored in 3 matches, played bowlers at ease.

Hales stretched a broken innings to victory:
Alex Hales made outstanding show while England was about to loose against Srilanka. Nobody ever hoped that they could win, but Hales made it possible. He made his 1st T20 century, England lost 2 wickets at 0 run, Hales brought them up since then.

Herath took Srilanka to semi-final:
Rangana Herath pulled a sinking ship to bay. His amazing bowling figure 4-0-3-5, 5 wickets for only 3 runs made him the man of the match. Srilanka scored only 118, but still beat Newzealand using this 1 man.

Yuvraj is back:
Yuvraj, the man of the tournament of 2011 world cup is back. He suffered from cancer & returned after hard work, but didn't get runs in this tournament. He got himself back against Australia, beat them alone by scoring 59.

Dhoni magic continues:
What's the magic of MS dhoni? I don't know, but he has something special that made him outstanding & most successful captain. In just previous Asia cup India sank, but currently playing impressive, till now they didn't loose a single match. No doubt, Dhoni is behind this, they tied all 4 opponent teams below 140 runs.

Sangakkara & Jayabardhana trouble persists:
Sangakkara & Jayabardhana both are Srilanka's all-time  leading players. They usually play awesome in group matches & all sorts of series. But their main trouble is that they flop in big matches like semi-final or final. When the team need them most, they loose their path. They both lost in 3 worldcup finals (2 one-day [2007, 2011] + 1 T20 [2012]).
I like Sangakkara for his outstanding consistency & Jayabardhana for his grammatical batting.
And I hope that they'll recover their frustrations & clinch the trophy this time.

Sakib's outstanding stupid interview and few issues

I'm really sorry to write on this issue as I don't have anymore option to avoid treachery to my nation. I'm really sorry, because next 3 blog posts including this one will curve some people's satisfaction to a level of anger.

I had no intention to write anything on this T20 world cup cricket 2014, so avoided posting any words on my blog or twitter. I was in peace; but a stupid interview published on front page of a delicious daily newspaper forced me to write, I can't help reviewing.
I was your fan but I'm to do this...
Anyway, I have to defend 90% non-patriotic (!) people.

On 1st April, April fool's day, Prothom alo published an interview of our only all-rounder Sakib al hasan. By default I don't read such interviews, read only a fraction to get the summary.. So did I, engaged my eyes on just a few words to get an overview of the topic. But accidentally my eyes viewed some unpleasant words that compelled me to read the interview thoroughly.

Let me break down few sections of the GREAT interview:

1) Sakib claimed that we, people of Bangladesh expected too much from them. And they broke down due to our excessive expectation.

But did we? For me, NO, I didn't expect a single victory against any country in 2nd round. Because I noticed that Newzealand isn't in our group and Bangladesh team has the ability to beat only Newzealand in our home ground because they can't face left hand spin.
So, I didn't hope such stupid ideas like to beat ALL countries & clinch the trophy.

I believe that nobody did except Sakib himself & his family & his OILER circle.

What we expected from them, is to play well & make some honorable scores, so that defeats become prestigious. But no more than that.

If Sakib thinks that the whole nation is looking for this team to win world cup, then my humble request for him is to see a psychological doctor. He/she can solve his trouble.

But we all made a mistake.
We hoped that they can make 150. But their ability is to make 70! If Mashrafee (in 'Ashraful state', come & go format) was not there, 70 would be their score against West Indies. He stretched the score to 100 by scoring 2nd highest run of the team.

They can score 70 runs, then why we hope double (70*2=140+) from them? Yea, definitely it's our fault!


2) Sakib said that BD can't win because our players lack proper nutrition & ample physical power.

I believe that the players get more than sufficient food as daily diet. And if there's any lack, they can fill it up themselves as they earn more money than they need. But it can't be an issue.

To win a game in cricket, players need proper skill, tactics, motivations, take decisions on the fly & make creative solutions to dynamic troubles & patience.

If power is the only issue, then USA should win world cup football. They win athletics championship by using powerful athletes, but they can't play football better than Brazil because it needs creativity, not power.

I can't understand after playing international cricket for years, a player can't understand the difference between creativity & power. Smoking funny! Isn't it?
Dear ONLY ALL-rounder, why don't you join Mirakkel???

He mentioned 2 names- Gayle & De-villiars and cried that they get most bucks for their power. But if you take a look at this T20 world cup, then you'd find that both of them are flop in this tournament.
ONLY ALL-rounder forgot to mention some names like Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Ahmed Shehjad. None of them have much power, but they are the most consistent & successful players of the time.

If any member of BCB reads this blog, then pls request them to use any of these 2 options -
i] Call fat Wrestlers or Sumo players to play cricket & replace them with these existing thin players. They can take big sixes!
ii] Employ some gym trainers to transform our players into 6-pack or 8-pack, so that they can get enough power & win games.


3) Sakib said that he's not a match winner.
I too know this from the very beginning. I know that he can bowl & bat to some average levels, he's not a specialist and most importantly he's not a match winner. History says that he left the team to defeats many times, but he could finish if he could stand li'l longer. But he failed all the time.


4) He said that our pipeline is very weak & less than average. 
I do agree with this concept.
He also said that our batsmen need to acheive 40-50 average runs if we need to defeat big countries. I too agree with it.

BCB needs to arrange strong domestic cricket tournaments and pick up only those players who consistently played for at least 3 seasons with 50+ average runs.


5) ONLY ALL-rounder claimed that our 90% people escape when they need to prove their patriotism.
Just these arrogant & nonsense words stormed me to sit before pc & write.

A group member told me that the government forced 2 lakhs garments workers to attend in parade ground on 26th March to make guines record. I wanted to trust it though my inner self said its a 'NO'; but the news channels showed that the gates closed after 3 lakhs people entered and more than 4 lakhs people were waiting for hours outside the ground. They lipsed all the time. And more than crore people lipsed with the rest at the same time throughout the country.
Probably its not patriotism.

The whole nation sits before tv to see matches of our cricket team leaving all their jobs. They sing in chorus, cheer up every good move, step on the road, create mob, paint their organs, tremble galleries, weep when loose. They do these shiets only to inspire our players.
Its not patriotism!

Our poor people & those 25% who live below poverty level, work hard to raise our economy. And our cricket players get huge salary from those people’s hard labored contribution to economy. The mid class families pay taxes though they struggle hard to afford their daily expenses. They never ask why they're doing this?
This is not patriotism!

More than 30 lakhs people sacrificed their lives to make this country independent. Nobody can even imagine how much pain they had to face, how many women had to lead inhuman lives.
Again its not patriotism!

Then what is patriotism to his eyes, our ONLY ALL-rounder?
Putting one leg in this country and putting another leg in USA? You grab big money from this land and spend it in USA's nightclubs, casinos & beaches.  Probably this is called patriotism to you? Isn't it??
How can you understand if our people are patriot or not?


To make you only all-rounder we had to sacrifice a lot. First Ashraful was terminated, now Mashrafi is in pipeline. Don't know what's waiting for the next?


Sakib's previous special acts:
- He criticized his ancestors (our past cricketers for whom Bangladesh achieved test/one-day status) in disguised way after making record-breaking shameless 58 score against West Indies in 2011 world cup.
- Sakib pointed his nasty move towards the TV camera. This sheer shameless act roared throughout the world.


Role of Prothom alo:
Prothom alo is a leading daily newspaper of our country. Hence it has the responsibility to create readable content and censor those things that are unethical. To ensure readability, every newspaper conveys page editors whose sole responsibility is to edit all content of his corresponding page.
But after reading our ONLY ALL-rounder's interview, I'm shocked. I can't understand how this content was approved by the page editor in Prothom alo!
Day by day this newspaper is loosing it's morality.