ZCZC
BSP-13
CRICKET-BASHAR-SUMON
Bangladesh cricket in quandary after debacle against Afghans
DHAKA, July 22, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh A team’s meek surrender against Afghanistan A in two-match four-day series and subsequent one-day game left the team management in a spot of bother as they looked worried about the future of the cricket.
Afghanistan which has no long cricket tradition, infrastructure and culture like Bangladesh showed more composure in all aspect than the Bangladeshi players, showing that they have enough good cricketers in their pipeline.
Their A team, considered as the second string side dominated the Bangladeshi counterpart in four-day game before winning the two-match series by 1-0.
They have also come up with disciplined performance in the one-day series and won the first two matches by 10 wickets and four wickets, showing an unwavering resolve.
With three matches still left the Bangladeshi team management seemed not to have belief on the side that they could turn the things around by winning the three matches in a row to win the series eventually.
“Rather Afghanistan looked more compact, “Habibul Bashar Sumon, the member of the Bangladesh national selection panel, said here on Monday.
“They have come up with a plan and played their cricket in methodical way. I didn’t expect them to play such good cricket but they surprised me.”
Four national cricketers- Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahman, Anamul Haque and Rubel Hossain- who will take part against Sri Lanka in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka took part in the opening two games against Afghanistan as part of preparation but despite their presence it hardly had any impact on their fortune.
”Our main problem is that national players didn’t perform well here. We expected far better performance from them. Mithun scored runs in one innings but others didn’t do well. They didn’t do well in the four days match too, obviously, Imrul Kayes is also our national player. Anamul Haque Bijoy scored many runs last year. In the premier league and also in the first-class cricket,” he added.
”Of course it’s embarrassing. But it’s more concerning. It’s difficult to describe. I said the same thing yesterday that A team is a second string team. Sometimes we can’t measure their performance based on the domestic league. Many of them play well in domestic cricket. At the A team their real test begins. None of them did well in this test,” he said.
According to Bashar it can be the side effect of not having the service of the senior cricketers but insisted on the same note that it clearly show the vacuum that is needed to be filled when there is no availability of the fabulous five-Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad.
”Of course, I am worried about the future. But if we don’t play them I won’t understand how they play. If we want to prepare the future player we have to let them play. Win or lose we have to play them. If we don’t play them then we won’t understand who is ready and who is not. Did you understand? If I don’t play them how will I know,” he opined.
“It’s a headache for everybody, yours and mine. We know this. When they won’t be here, then we will have to move forward. But with whom we will do that, if we don’t play them how we will know. We have seen a clear picture in this series. If we didn’t play them then we wouldn’t be able to see this. The matches they have played in the domestic league and in the first-class cricket, their performance is really well. But if we don’t play them we won’t be able to know how to prepare they are to move onto the next level,” he said.
BSS/SMP/SMM/1835 hrs