honestbharani said:
Well done BD too.. I like the fact that they basically have two 140 ish bowlers here and Mashrafe out injured.. That is 3 guys there plus the debutant in this game, who looked very good and they have a decent 4 man attack to choose from. The spinners can both bat and so can Mashrafe . This is a good base to build your side from.
Yeah, I wouldn't expect Mortaza to play too many more tests, there's a strong likelihood that he's going ot retire from that format. His knees are buggered.
Mushfiq now has 650 runs in his last night tests at what is by Bangladeshi standards a Bradmanesque average of 40. While a number of players around him continue to envoke well-meaning lamentations about 'talent' and 'wasted potential', this young man has quietly set about making thoroughly impressive improvements to his game and producing the sort of output that I suspect a couple of those other players will never reach.
However, I was completely disgusted by the shot selection from the rest of the lads. Tamim let me down in particular. After his 300 ball century in the Carribean I thought he'd finally acquired the discipline and composure to perform at this level but in light of the completely diabolical shot selection he displayed in this innings, I now know that my assessment was pretty bloody premature. He idiotically chased a number of balls outside off stump off the seamers, and then followed it up with an utterly clueless display off Mishra's spin bowling.
The kid is simply all at sea against slow bowling and has all sorts of trouble judging the pitch of the ball when the bowler gives it a bit of flight. He also struggles to decide when to go forward and when to go back, and also which balls to play at and which balls to pad up to, and then ultimately tries to hit his way out of trouble and fails. I had no idea he was so rubbish at facing spin. It was a real eye-opener.
Shakib is another who also disappointed me greatly. He destroyed every notion I'd developed about him being the most mature player in this side by recklessly and needlessly throwing his bat everything when all his team needed was for him to stay disciplined and make the most of the chances that would inevitably arise on what was a relatively placid pitch. The shot that got him out in the first innings was an absolute disgrace and it was fairly obvious long before a jaffa from Mishra removed him that he wasn't likely to stick around long in the second dig.
I won't bother commenting on Nafees and Ashraful because we all know they're crap, but I've come to expect certain standards from the two players I've criticised above and they were badly let down today.