Aritro
International Regular
Aftab at any position other than number 6 or 7 is a bit of a liability. In about 7/10 innings he is likely to contribute to a collapse. I'm pretty frustrated to see him back in the side now that we've finally escaped our tendancy to collapse and the contrast between him and the genuinely substantial batsmen we have now (Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah) just reminds me of the bad old days (or even worse old days if you prefer).
We all know about his mental failings, but the wonderful shots he plays seem to deflect attention from the genuine flaws he has as a batsman. Firstly, he has extremely shoddy footwork when it's on or outside off stump. Much like his other lunatic mate Ashraful, a life-time playing cricket with wonderful hand-eye co-ordination seems to have bred some rather poor habits when it comes to footwork, and he's usually nowhere near it when it's delivered outside off-stump. That perfectly timed drive he hit between the cover fieldsmen may have been easy on the eye but watch any replay and you'll see the way his feet were completely rooted to the crease. Against a swinging ball, or in more trying conditions, that's the exact sort of shot that's likely to get him out.
Secondly, he's also a rather poor player off his pads. He has a tendancy to play those shots with the bat right out in front of him, and with his head no where near it so he's rather feeling for the ball instead of watching it come onto the bat. I would say something like 20% of his dismissals have been bowleds or LBWs off deliveries that have seamed in from off stump. Every time he attempts to play off his pads I wince a little and it's always a relief when he's not out.
And finally, he can't nudge the ball around for ones and twos to save himself. Today's innings was a case in point, in that he and Imrul consistently failed to turn over the strike and then went for the big shots to try and get out of trouble. He got away with it today, but this is the exact reason why in the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi innings, Aftab is likely to do something moronic and hand his wicket to the opposition.
Other than that he is of course a truly superb timer of the ball, but at the same time he's an absolute mental midget and I'd really prefer it if he was used as a PP overs pinch hitter in the lower-order rather than as a number three, which is a position from which he's only likely to contribute to our regression to the days when we collapsed all the time.
It's no accident that he's never hit a century at any level of the game, including our utterly dire first class and List A competitions. That's not the sign of a frustrating batsman, that's the sign of a slightly crap one.
We all know about his mental failings, but the wonderful shots he plays seem to deflect attention from the genuine flaws he has as a batsman. Firstly, he has extremely shoddy footwork when it's on or outside off stump. Much like his other lunatic mate Ashraful, a life-time playing cricket with wonderful hand-eye co-ordination seems to have bred some rather poor habits when it comes to footwork, and he's usually nowhere near it when it's delivered outside off-stump. That perfectly timed drive he hit between the cover fieldsmen may have been easy on the eye but watch any replay and you'll see the way his feet were completely rooted to the crease. Against a swinging ball, or in more trying conditions, that's the exact sort of shot that's likely to get him out.
Secondly, he's also a rather poor player off his pads. He has a tendancy to play those shots with the bat right out in front of him, and with his head no where near it so he's rather feeling for the ball instead of watching it come onto the bat. I would say something like 20% of his dismissals have been bowleds or LBWs off deliveries that have seamed in from off stump. Every time he attempts to play off his pads I wince a little and it's always a relief when he's not out.
And finally, he can't nudge the ball around for ones and twos to save himself. Today's innings was a case in point, in that he and Imrul consistently failed to turn over the strike and then went for the big shots to try and get out of trouble. He got away with it today, but this is the exact reason why in the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi innings, Aftab is likely to do something moronic and hand his wicket to the opposition.
Other than that he is of course a truly superb timer of the ball, but at the same time he's an absolute mental midget and I'd really prefer it if he was used as a PP overs pinch hitter in the lower-order rather than as a number three, which is a position from which he's only likely to contribute to our regression to the days when we collapsed all the time.
It's no accident that he's never hit a century at any level of the game, including our utterly dire first class and List A competitions. That's not the sign of a frustrating batsman, that's the sign of a slightly crap one.
Last edited:
