Cricket Tournaments

Two depleted teams face off in tomorrow’s marquee clash. Bangladesh takes on England in the port city of Chittagong, at the time when both of teams are in hot waters. The hosts suffered an embarrassing nine-wicket defeat in the hands of a weakened West Indies team a few days ago. While England, who seemed to have gained some momentum after the win against South Africa last Sunday have been dented with the injuries of Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad.

It remains to be seen who comes out on top; in a battle which could change the course of Group A. Bangladesh have only won 1 out of 3 matches that they have played so far in the World Cup, so this is a must-win game for Bangladesh or else they are virtually knocked out of the competition. England have also won 2 out of 4 matches so far, and a win here would assure them a quarterfinal berth. But if they lose, they have to beat West Indies in their last group match by a huge margin to qualify. So I am sure England would want to wrap it all up tomorrow itself.

If Bangladesh has to win, they have to rely on their bowlers to do major damage. England’s batting looks fragile without Pietersen and even if Morgan comes in for this game, it does not reduce the pressure on skipper Andrew Strauss to score runs at the top of the order. Their bowling might be hit severely with the exit of Broad, yet Bangladesh does not boast of a strong batting line-up and I would not be surprised to see England’s bowlers, especially Graeme Swann have a field day just as they did against the Proteas.

My hunch is that England are still the firm favourites to reach the victory post tomorrow. But, Bangladesh can never be counted out these days, so they can take advantage of England’s vulnerability as this World Cup has shown that anything is possible.

Bangladesh (probable): Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Shakib al Hasan (Captain), Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Shaiful Islam, Rubel Hossain.

England (probable): Andrew Strauss (Captain), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (WK), Eoin Morgan, Michael Yardy, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad.

The result of the two-Test series between England and Bangladesh was least surprising, with the home side overcoming a stubborn challenge from the least-pedigreed Asian Test team.

However, while the 2-0 scoreline seems impressive, it doesn’t reflect the underlying story, that of England’s struggles in between moments of domination. That Tamim Iqbal managed to register hundreds in both the Tests tells a tale in itself.

At the same time, England fought back well against the rest, and came out of the series with their reputation in tact. Still, keeping the next Ashes in mind, it is very much clear now that England have plenty to work on before taking on the Aussie challenge.

First and foremost, the English bowlers needed the help of murky conditions to unsettle the Bangladesh batting line-up. This has to be a major cause of worry for Andrew Strauss and co.

It is a given that Bangladesh’s batting is among the weakest in Test cricket. Despite this, there were a number of occasions when England just had no answer to Bangladesh’s onslaught, when they went on the offensive. On the contrary, they just sat back and let the drama unfold. Iqbal’s innings in the first Test left a scathing impact on the Englishmen. He batted with supremely authority in both Test.

It was only when the sun hid behind the clouds that their fortunes changed, and the wickets started tumbling. Suddenly, Steven Finn became unplayable, and James Anderson joined him in the second Test.

While it was great for England that they captured 20 wickets in consecutive days in the concluding Test of the series, it is also a fact that they wouldn’t be greeted by any such helpful conditions in Australia. And, that is when the true worth of Finn and Anderson will be tested.

The series also gave England a chance to test a couple of their other fringe players, and see how ready they are for the five-day game. Both Ajmal Shahzad and Eoin Morgan, who was a surprise selection considering his unorthodox game, did reasonably well.

Also, Jonathan Trott’s double hundred was a memorable effort. Of late, the batsman has been in the news for some wrong reasons, and it was good for English cricket that he silenced some murmurs with the bat.

England need him to be among the runs as, in his short international stint, he has shown the maturity of a proper Test cricketer, on more than one occasion. It also helped that skipper Andrew Strauss and the rest got among the runs. And, with Graeme Swann too returning to his wicket-taking ways, England had further cause to celebrate.

At the end of the day, though, one needs to keep in mind that this was Bangladesh, and so their performances can only be viewed as tiny indicators of their capability. It is all the more important that this same yardstick is applied to Finn.

One shouldn’t put too much pressure on the tall fast-bowler so early, hailing him as a prospective Ashes hero. After all, he is yet to achieve anything substantial against a decent side yet. It is the series against Pakistan in late July that will give us all a better idea of what to expect from England and co in the near future.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are ranked 9th and 10th in ODI cricket currently. Undoubtedly, they have been occupied the position of minnows since the last decade or so. It is a Himalayan task for both these teams to get to even the Top 8 of those rankings. And if Test cricket is taken into consideration, the less said, the better. Bangladesh is languishing at the bottom, whereas Zimbabwe is not eligible for Teststatus at the moment.

However, there is a ray of light in this darkness. Even today’s well-established teams like India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand took time to become what they are today. In the first ten years of international cricket, these teams didn’t make their presence felt at all. So the fact that Bangladesh, who is ten years old in international cricket, is a growing child and soon will become an adolescent, who will make an impact soon on the game.

It is understood that in a competitive market, a new firm will take time to settle and compete with firms which are large, having a huge market share. This is practical economics. However, Zimbabwe has been in international cricket since 1983. It is a shame for the nation not to advance year after year.

The country has been affected severely by their President Robert Mugabe. The external environment hasn’t helped groom the players to play for the national team. The situation is so pathetic that the country lost their Test status in 2005 and has to play most of their ODIs against Bangladesh!

Though, all is not lost. Bangladesh has a bright future ahead of them, looking at the better quality of cricket they have produced in the last one year or so. Although they have won just 9 of 66 Tests that they have played so far, yet they are growing well as a team with a positive, fine-quality player like Shakib al Hasan as their captain.

And also Jamie Siddons is their coach. In Tests, they have a good opening pair in young Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes. Altogether, their batting in Test cricket looks impressive. Their captain is an all-rounder too. Bangladesh’s batting was one of the reasons of them winning the Tests in the West Indies last year. Though they lost all Tests at home last winter, they did win a few sessions comprehensively.

This was huge, considering the opponents were India and England. The most memorable being when Bangladesh bowled India out for a paltry 243 in the first Test at Chittagong, after Virender Sehwag said in a press conference that Bangladesh was an ‘ordinary’ team, which couldn’t pick 20 wickets in a Test match. And how wrong he was!

Also, in the second Test, Bangladesh was facing a huge first-innings deficit. But Tamim Iqbal showed his talent, by hammering 150 in the second innings on a crumbling pitch. The way he dominated Zaheer Khan and co was outstanding. The series against India prompted England’s stand-in captain Alastair Cook to say that Bangladesh are no more the underdogs.

Fortunately, even in the shorter formats of the game, the team is no longer dependent on Mohammad Ashraful, their most experienced player. This is a good sign for a united team. This team could go all the way and create more upsets against top teams just like they did against India at home in 2004, a much famous win against Australia in 2005 followed and a win against an in-form Sri Lanka in 2006.

However, the team has been impressive in world events too. They beat Pakistan in one of the most famous upsets in international cricket in the 1999 World Cup in England. India was once again beaten in the first round 2007 World Cup, effectively knocking them out of the tournament. And in the same tournament, Bangladesh also beat South Africa in the Super 8s stage. In the same year, there was the T-20 World Cup in South Africa also.

West Indies was beaten by Bangladesh comprehensively by 6 wickets, which allowed them to enter the Super 8s again. So if Bangladesh look to make a team which goes steady at least for the next two years, they could give the big guns a run for their money, as the team’s current average age is a mere 22!

Zimbabwe doesn’t have to face the pressures of Test cricket, although they might return to the format in one year’s time. So they can focus on rebuilding themselves in the ODI and T-20 formats. Like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe too has had some good outings. But it hasn’t been good going for the country against the top teams, though.

However, it seems that the country is going in the right direction, and wanting to emulate the achievements of the team of the 90s which had famous players like Heath Streak, the Flower brothers, Guy Whittall, Henry Olonga, Alastair Campbell and Douglas Hondo.

The racial quota system seems to be forgotten these days and as a result, players who had retired earlier have come back into the current team. For example, Andy Blignaut, Tatenda Taibu and Ray Price are a few talented players who have returned to play for their country.

And with a good amount of experienced players such as Prosper Utseya, Hamilton Masakadza, the captain Elton Chigumbura and wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor, the team looks set to bloom under the guidance of national coach Alan Butcher. Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach and Zimbabwe captain, is also taking huge interest in the activities of the High Performance Centre at Harare, which will allow aspiring players get some advice on the tricks of the trade.

This team can start its recovery through the T-20 format. They beat Australia in 2007 in the first round of the T-20 World Cup. They also beat them in the warm-up match of the 2009 T-20 World Cup, alongside defending champions Pakistan. And can their future get much better with Harbhajan Singh, donating branded cricket kits to the current team, courtesy Reebok?? Well, that remains to be seen in the immediate future.

Post achieving Test status over a decade back, there has been a significant improvement in Bangladesh’s cricket. However, following yet another Test defeat, the latest against England at Lord’s, one is forced to believe that they still have miles to go before being seen as a force to reckon with at an international level.

The major issue with Bangladesh’s cricket has been their inept bowling, which was exposed once again. While the spinners can come in handy on home pitches, the bowling doesn’t really make much of an impression when they go abroad.

And, this one area the Asian minnows would really have to work hard upon in the years to come, if they aim to be consistent in the longer version of the game. In both the innings at Lord’s, the English batsmen looked in no trouble at all, and eventually romped home to victory, which should worry Bangladesh no end.

Of course, when a side amasses 700 plus, they must have played some exceptional cricket. Jonathan Trott’s double hundred was a classic Test match innings, and the Bangladesh batsmen can learn a lot from his knock.

In contrast, Andrew Strauss’ trouble-free half-century in the second innings only reaffirmed what the opposition’s weak link was.

Bangladesh’s bowling effort stuck out like a sore thumb more so since their batting was equally praiseworthy. Tamim Iqbal, in particular, registered an outstanding century, which clearly frustrated the English bowlers.

There were moments when Iqbal looked in total command of the innings and literally toyed with a bowling, which was more than decent by international standards. Again, like their bowling, Bangladesh have plenty of scope for improvement in their batting.

When the conditions were bright and sunny, Bangladesh’s batsmen were on top, but when the sun hid behind the clouds they were miserable, which was primarily responsible for their loss. Their batsmen thus need to be physically as well as mentally tough to cope with varying situations.

Despite the impressive eight-wicket victory margin, England also had their share of troubles amidst the glory, not least of was their inability of make an impression on the batsmen when there wasn’t must assistance from the pitch. If they can be torn apart by an average side like Bangladesh, imagine the havoc that Australia can cause on batsman-friendly pitches.

This should be a strong cause of worry for Andrew Strauss and his men as they head into the second Test. The think-tank of Andy Flower and co need to sit down and analyze how they can improve on this aspect in the coming games.

Graeme Swann had an off game, failing to pick up a single wicket. But, one shouldn’t read too much into it as there was hardly anything on offer for the spinners, as the pacers made merry.

Among the positives for the home team, there were quite a few, expectedly considering the opposition was Bangladesh. Even so, Steven Finn’s nine-wicket effort on debut has to rated as a top-notch performance.

Demonstrating a Glenn McGrath-like accuracy in his first Test, Finn was unplayable under cloudy conditions, an effort reminiscent of Graham Onions during his debut last year.

While he was lethal under helpful conditions, his real test would come when the circumstances get tougher, and there isn’t enough on offer from the surface. For now though, he can enjoy his moment in the sun whilst preparing for the bigger battles ahead.

England would undoubtedly take the momentum from the win into the second Test. And, while Bangladesh can pat themselves on the back for putting up a tough fight, sooner or later, they need to realize that the transition from being brave losers to becoming competitive to the extent of winning needs to take place soon.

Else, the frustration levels of not only the cricketers, but those of the country’s fans, as well as the ICC will be tested.

There was a huge amount of hoopla leading up to the first test of the Idea Cup between India and hosts Bangladesh. From India’s loss in the recently concluded tri-series final against Sri Lanka, to Virender Sehwag’s comments that Bangladesh is an ‘ordinary’ team who cannot win because their bowlers can’t take 20 wickets.

Bangladesh had every right of believing that they can prove Sehwag wrong. And the first day itself lived up to all the hype when Shakib al Hasan, the Bangladesh skipper won the toss and elected to field first in murky conditions at Chittagong. Gautam Gambhir and the stand-in captain Sehwag were up for the opportunity to get India off to a flying start against an inexperienced Bangladeshi pace attack.

The Delhi duo put on 79 for the first wicket until Shakib al Hasan trapped Sehwag with a short delivery on the leg side only to be caught by Tamim Iqbal for a well-deserved and nearly a run-a-ball half century. The celebrations were wild among the Bangladesh players as the captain led from the front, anchoring an ‘ordinary’ bowling attack. Lanky fast bowler Shahadat Hossain then picked the wickets of Gambhir and Dravid in quick succession.

And when VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply to the superb bowling of the Bangladesh captain, the world’s No.1 Test team was reeling at 160/6 at tea on the first day with Sachin Tendulkar holding fort at 50 and Mishra who had just entered the crease following the wicket of the Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. Game on! Certainly, even after tea, there was no respite for the Indian batsman as the lower order crumbled like a pack of cards. Tendulkar batted exceptionally well to remain unbeaten on 76 as he ran out of partners from time to time.

On the next day, Tendulkar completed his 44th hundred in majestic fashion when he hit Shahadat Hossain, the tormentor-in-chief for two boundaries in a row. Yet Bangladesh had the upper hand in the game when India was bowled out for 243 with Tendulkar unbeaten, in what was perhaps one of his best hundreds away from home. Hossain along with Shakib al Hasan achieved five-wicket hauls in a bowling performance that proved that Bangladesh were no underdogs.

Bangladesh started off superbly with the openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes smashing the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground and in the process, bringing up their 50-run partnership until Zaheer Khan struck with the wicket of Kayes who was out lbw for 23. He then bagged the wicket of Iqbal. It was then the turn of Ishant Sharma to do some major damage when he got the wicket of ICL returnee Shahriar Nafees cheaply as Day 2 ended.

Ishant on the next day continued the form he was in the previous day when he picked Mohd. Ashraful’s wicket. India was back in the game in style! Clearly, Bangladesh was losing its way like India did when Shakib al Hasan, who dazzled with the ball, fell for 17 and incidentally was caught by the Indian captain Virender Sehwag off Zaheer Khan’s bowling. After Raqibul Hasan fell of Sreesanth’s bowling, Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim and up-coming all-rounder Mahmudullah forged a 118 run partnership, bringing the hosts close to the Indian total.

However Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra finished off the Bangladeshi tail. Bangladesh ended their first innings at 242, just a run behind India. A considerable improvement from a precarious position of 98/6 at one stage!

It was after tea on day 3 that India began their second innings. Once again, Gambhir and Sehwag gave India a good start until Sehwag fell for 45. However, this time there was no collapse as India batted merrily till the end of the day’s play with the scoreboard reading 122/1 with Amit Mishra in at No.3 as night-watchman. Day 4 clearly belonged to India as Mishra made a surprise half-century as well as an in-form Gambhir slamming 116 of just 129 balls, in the process scoring his 5th century in as many tests, and breaking Dravid’s record of 4 centuries in 4 Tests in 2002.

Unlike the first innings, Tendulkar didn’t have a great second innings when he was partly responsible in running out a well-set Dravid for 24 as well as he was given out lbw at 16 off Rubel Hossain’s bowling. However, teams around the world have discovered over the years that when one Indian batsman fails, usually the other stands up for him.

That’s exactly what Laxman did for Tendulkar’s failure. Laxman showed how vital he is for India’s batting when he scored 69 and remained not out till Sehwag decided to declare the innings at 413/8, a far better performance the second time around. The positive aspect about this innings was that the lower-order batted well. None of Bangladesh’s bowlers impressed, therefore making people believe that Sehwag was right in his perspective that their bowlers cannot take 20 opposition wickets, which defines the lowest-ranked test team.

Bangladesh had to chase a massive target of 415 to win the Test, which was near to impossible considering India’s potent bowling attack. Yet, the war of words continued between the two teams when Shakib al Hasan believed at the end of the 4th day’s play, that the target was achievable. Despite the fact that Bangladesh were reeling at 67/2 with Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, continued from where they left off, picking early wickets.

On the final day, Tamim Iqbal showed the talent he possesses by smashing a valuable half-century until he played a silly attacking shot of the bowling of the Indian captain, giving an easy catch at first slip to Rahul Dravid, when there were just 8 minutes left before lunch. Thus Bangladesh suffered a major setback in their run-chase. Mohd Ashraful also looked promising and back in form, but Ishant made full use of the life in the pitch by bowling on good length outside the off-stump and as the ball hit Ashraful’s outside edge, Dravid accepted his second catch gleefully.

Shakib’s poor run with the bat continued when he was undone by a Amit Mishra delivery, helping Sehwag take a simple catch again at silly point, resulting in Bangladesh being in deep trouble at 145/6, with India needing just 4 wickets to win the Test. Mahmudullah and Shahadat Hossain lost their wickets due to poor footwork and shot selection, even as Mushfiqur Rahim was fighting hard at the other end.

Rahim, like Tendulkar in the first innings, was the lone warrior for Bangladesh as he didn’t get enough support from the tail enders and yet he scored his maiden test century. This century would be special for the Bangladeshi wicketkeeper as it was not only his 1st in test cricket, but also against the world’s best test side. The Indians had taunted him as ‘school-boy’ and how did he transform into a man!

Eventually, Bangladesh went on to lose by 113 runs with Rahim the last man out. It was a fighting effort which went down in vain. India would be happy with their team effort, yet their performance and their credibility as the world’s ‘numero uno’ team remains a lot to be desired.