Bangladesh a busy outfit

Well Bangladesh may not have been successful in drawing crowds to the stadium. Nor they might have been able to make betters have their say atleast as of now. Last but not the least, Bangladesh are one such team to have made life easy for teams who reserve all their experimentation to the matches against Bangladesh. One has to really pity the Bangladesh for this. None of the Bangladeshi players have been chosen for the third edition of the Indian Premier League atleast as far as my knowledge goes. I've heard somewhere that Bangladeshi players were in for an IPL bid and have not been able to keep a focus on that.

However, Bangladesh are one such team to have had a busy schedule in the early parts of 2010 whatsoever. It has not even been a week since the second test between India and Bangladesh got over with India as usual beating the hosts 2-0 in the two match test series. Now, they are scheduled to play their first and only T20 match on their tour to New Zealand. This would be followed by their 3 one day internationals starting on February 5^th at Napier. Following that would be the only test match against the same at Hamilton on 15^th of this month.

This would be for the month of February. After their tour of New Zealand, they'd be facing England for two test match series that would be followed by 3 one day matches and of course a T20 game to wind up their tour. However, if the ICC tour's table is given a close look at, Bangladesh will be the only team to have completed three of their full fledged tours in the first three months of the year. Of course, there has been Australia who would have played games against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand. But, none of them can be considered as full fledged tours.

The tour of Pakistan to Australia started in December last year, which will get over on Friday after the only T20 game gets under way. Then, West Indies' tour to Australia started in December, where West Indies played three tests. And, there is India who'll be playing South Africa who'll be in India for 2 test matches followed by three one dayers, before the IPL starts. But, that is not the case with Bangladesh. When most of the teams would be playing for the cash rich IPL, we can see Bangladesh cooling their heels on their international commitments. Anyway, the move can be justified, for, hardly the presence of Bangladeshi players would make any difference to IPL.

Where Will The 2011 Be Held?

Now that Pakistan has been excluded as the venue for the 2011 world cup owing to the security over that place, it would be nice to know where the games that were previously to be held in Pakistan would be held now. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh being the other hosts, hosting the Pakistan matches there would not be a good idea, for they are packed with enough number of games and having more games there would be saturation point in these countries. And not only this, but, even the other three venues are likely to cause some or the other security concerns for the players.

One has to recall the blasts in the Indian cities that the country has witnessed and no assurance regarding avoiding the same in future as well. So, India can be just be considered to be better than Pakistan. Despite these blasts that are more or less targetted towards people from the West, Australia and England in particular, it is a wonder that hardly anyone has made an attempt to reconsider their decision of touring India. Blasts keep happening in one or the other city in India atleast once in a month. So, do you consider India as a safe option?

One fears that Pakistan might influence the ICC regarding the security in India taking into account the blasts in Indian cities that have rocked them. But, why should Pakistan do that? The ICC can itself come to a conclusion when it analuses the security suituation in India. Indian newspapers would be the best judge for that. And then, Bangladesh is just another Pakistan, where even the situation cannot be considered to be different. For the moment, there might not be any problems. But, can the Pakistan influence upon the country be given a pass? May be by 2011, situation in Pakistan be well under control and not regarding Bangladesh or India.

And neither is Sri Lanka safe. Of course, the target of the bombers there in Sri Lanka may not be the West world. But, bombs are not gifted with brains to strike only the target alone. Security is making rounds in Sri Lanka equally as it is being done in Pakistan. At present, Sri Lanka is no different than Pakistan when it comes to security concerns. Both the Pakistan as well as the Sri Lankan captains have been stroke recently. So, if these issues cross the line, the ICC world cup 2011 might go the ICC Champions Trophy 2008 way. As a reminder, Australia/New Zealand have last hosted a world cup or an international cricket even way back in 1992 for the Benson & Hedges world cup.

Cricket Flourishing In Bangladesh?

Well the second one day international between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh might not have been able to evoke as much interest among the cricket fans whatsoever. However, if one goes by my opinion, this is one of the ideal one day match that is rarely seen in today's cricketing world. With the current one day matches being either one sided, like it happened in the recently concluded one day series between India and England, where India won all the five one day matches that were played and England had no option than to congratulate the Indians. Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag especially.

scorecard reading 6 runs for the loss of five wickets in their run chase? How many of us thought that This was not the case with the recently concluded tri series involving Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As expected by most, Sri lanka did win the finals against Bangladesh to lift the trophy. However, how many of us did expect Sri Lanka to keep their fingers crossed in the finals when they were chasing a modest total of 152 and in the process losing 8 wickets, with Sri Lankan scoreboard at one time reading 6 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. How many of us thought that Sri Lanka would lose the match to Bangladesh in the league stages? All these unexpected did happen, when most of us had termed this series to be a bored one and a predictable one.

All eyes were glued to and all minds thinking about the ongoing one day series between Australia and South Africa on the other side of the globe. This should have been the encounter that most of the cricket fans should have watched if at all they were really interested in watching an exciting game of cricket. But, to the best of my knowledge, this was not the case. Well, things might not be the same always. The next or the coming one dayers may be back to the old days of boredom.Even the Zimbabweans, who are found playing cricket once in a bluemoon were found to give the Sri Lankans and the Bangladeshis a run for their money.

A match that was termed as an obvious Sri Lankan apple pie finally had to be grabbed by SriLankans. Probably, the Sri Lankans would have defeated some stronger teams like India, England, West Indies and New Zealand more convincingly than they did against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. It is high time that teams like Bangladesh try and win games against other teams as well and in other counteies as well, so that the world of cricket would be gifted with another major team to watch out. And the sub continent would have four nations which are equally competent. If the current form of the Bangladeshi players is taken, they stand as a better team compared to West Indies and New Zealand. But, still more is expected.

A Nightmare For Sri Lanka?

Well..at the end of the day, the Sri Lankan team looked somewhat relieved, after winning the second test match against Bangladesh. This was however expected. Meaning a Sri Lankan win was expected and not a Bangladeshi fight back. On one hand, if there is a team in Australia who are found to lose their fearsomeness, Bangladesh on the other hand are coming up with surprises in test cricket as well after some amazing ones in one day internationals. Anyway, lets keep that aside for the moment. Coming to the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh tests, I feel Sri Lanka would be saying a "Oh! no never again". That was the trauma that the Sri Lankan team had to go through the series against Bangladesh.

Of course, Sri lanka would have never expected Bangladesh to come back so strongly at them whatsoever. But, Bangladeshis are no morons to not take the advantage of the over confident Sri Lankan team. I still cannot recall as to hoe the Sri Lankan team could manage a win in the first test against Bangladesh at Mirpur, when Bangladesh had gone past 400 runs. Finally, the Sri Lankan team had to rely on their old war horses Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis to register a win at Mirpur. Not to forget Sangakkara and Jayawardane who did the job with the bat for Sri Lanka.

After this match, Sri lankan captain Mahela Jayawardane never repeated the mistake what he did at Mirpur and was over cautious so as to settle a win in the second test without any trouble. Of course, the captain can never ever afford to forget this nightmare, which didn't even win the man of the match award for any of his team mates.However, the approach to the second test was not at all satisfactory. For, against a team like Bangladesh, the other teams take as much chances as possible, so as to bring in the lesser experienced ones to face the challenges of the international arena. But, Jayawardane went in with a full strengthed team to face Bangladesh in the second test.

The same old faces of Mahela and Dilshan batting and the same Murali bowling. And look at the target what Sri Lanka imposed on the Bangladesh team. A whooping 624 runs! For, a total of just above 400 would have been more than sufficient against Bangladesh, Jayawardane took no chances absolutely to put pressure on the bowlers. It would not be wrong to say the Mahela Jayawardane didn't have enough guts to dictate the bowling on the Bangladeshi batsmen. Jayawardane never wanted to take chances against even Bangladesh, fearing a major upset to him and his team. A fear of losing a test to Bangladesh was always there in the minds of Mahela Jayawardane. Mahela's efforts to win the test against Bangladesh would have even outclassed Smith's efforts to win the ongoing test series against South Afrcia.

Cooool Sri Lanka!!!

Something that is to be noticed in the ongoing test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, wherein, a day of the test match was called off owing to elections in Bangladesh. Not at all. This is of course not at all a big issue, not it is made into one. All such things are part and parcel of the game. However, Sri Lanka does need some justification as to why the players of the caliber of Muttiah Muralitharan are still leading the Sri Lankan bowling party, even against a minnow team like Bangladesh? And much to their fortune, the major wicket takers in the ongoing first test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are Chaminda Vass and Muttiah Muralitharan. The two bowlers who have been known to international cricket since the last decade or so.

And the major run contribution coming from the blades of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane. Of course, not to forget the 90 contributed by Thilan Samaraweera in the first innings. Jayawardane scores 166 and Sangakkara 67 in the second innings. The same two batsmen who put up a world record of 624 runs against South Africa some three years ago. It is as though that Sri Lanka has not realized that a cricket team consists of 11 players, as against some five to six of them saving the face or winning matches. If this is the case against a team like Bangladesh, one would imagine the fate of the same, given their run against other major teams like India and South Africa.

Its our fortune that Sanath Jayasuriya was not recalled once again for the second time, after he bid aideu to test cricket last December after the test series against England. A target of 521 runs is imposed on a Bangladesh team. What for? Are the Sri Lankans afraid of a major upset in test cricket? No doubt that Sri Lanka will for sure win the test series 2-0. But, the standard of the team as well as his ability of taking chances will surely be under question. Every test match, in addition to the result of the same, also hints the capability of the team to face bigger challenges. The common names in Sri Lankan cricket, Jayawardane, Sangakkara, Murali and Vass have been their major match winners in test cricket.

On a rare occasion, as it happened against India, Ajantha Mendis did the job. Else, taking the recent past of Sri Lankan test performances, its been Jayawardane and Sangakkara in the batting department, followed by Murali in the bowling. Now one can realize as to why the selectors had to go in for retired Jayasuriya for the test series against England. If this continues, one could even see Murali playing until the age of 45 so will Sangakkara. The only trump card being that of Mendis. This is also the case when it comes to their one day and T20 games. One cannot forget the way Murali single handedly winning the third test against England in Nottingham where he took 8/70 to see England succumb fo 104/2 to 190 all out.

If this continues, one has to wonder as to how long can Sri Lankan cricket go, once these legends call it a day. Keeping the fact of the present Australian team, after the retirement of Warne & McGrath.

At Times Luck Favours South Africa

Well as I would love to call it, the South African cricket team is a mixture of good and bad lucks. This was after all of us saw them as to how they were found to make a mess of their own game in the world cups from 1992 to 2003.And then in the inaugural edition of the world T20 Championship at home,which South Africa lost after losing to India, which was their first ever defeat in that tournament.Well I don't intend in going to the details of the same.At times, despite their wonderful performance, South Africa are found to make a mess of their own game, like it happened in the world cup 2003, where South Africa got itself omitted itself from the tournament, citing a calculation mistake as a reason.

Well, despite all these at times, there are silver linings in South Africa's cloud.On two occasions, South Africa emerged as the top team in the ICC one day rankings, and this time South Africa have regained the second position in the latest ICC test rankings, overtaking India.In the year 2007, just prior to the world cup at the caribbean,South Africa topped the ICC one day rankings, courtesy-Australia's consecutive five match loss to England and New Zealand just before the world cup.And earlier, when South Africa beat teams like West Indies and Bangladesh to be on par with the Aussies-who were still at their peak in March earlier this year. All because of the Australia's loss of the Commonwealth Bank series to India.

And imagine how! South Africa beat Bangladesh in the two test series, both of them by an innings.And this was enough for the Proteas to get on the top of the ICC test rankings after Australia.Well if India beat a no 1 team in Australia to move up the rankings in the ICC test points table, South Africa beat the weakest team in the game to surpass the same India. Howzaat!This hapens as long as there are teams like Bangladesh and West Indies playing test cricket out there.

Bangladesh Is No Australia!

Hmm..Australia banned Andrew Symonds from the tour of India and Bangladesh earlier,for opting to fish rather than attend the meeting with the board officials. Though the Australian team misses this lad,they have not got anything to repent with the decision taken by the committee members,for there are remaining eleven players in the squad ready to put in an extra effort in order to fill the void created by Andrew Symonds. The decision of leaving Symonds out of the Australian squad is equivalent to drawing a bucket of water from a sea.And Australia need not pay a heavy price for ommitting Symonds from the squad.With star batsmen like Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Ricky ponting,the Australian batting line up is quite safe I suppose.

On the other hand,Bangladesh Cricket Board bans players who join the rebel Indian Cricket League for 10 yrs.Joking!When the Bangladesh Cricket Board is not sure about the present scenario in the team,I wonder as to how it managed to take a decision for ten years altogether?The team which I wrote about previously is the strongest team in the world,but,the team which is now under consideration is placed at the bottom of the ICC points table.Isn't the Bangladesh Cricket Board unaware of this?Can Bangladesh afford to do such a blunder?Well..if the Bangladesh thinks it won the first game against New Zealand at Dhaka,it is mistaken!It was New Zealand who lost rather than Bangladesh winning.

When cricket is just rising in Bangladesh,giving the players some liberty would have been much more sensible rather than taking drastic steps and imposing harsh rules upon its national players. Is Bangladesh ready for a mass boycott of its players from the national squad,given the money that the ICL offers?If this happens,what about the status of cricket in Bangladesh and test cricket in particular?The number of question marks in this post is equal to those being faced by the cricket board of Bangladesh.I feel it is the players delight that they have been recognized by the ICL and offered big bucks.

Finally the Bangladesh Cricket authorities know their limits and then take such steps, steps,for,it is not Indioa who can boast of big money in its cricketing board,nor Australia who have a sea of talent in cricket.

Bangladesh Shows Some Teeth

Well after the series against New Zealand-where Bangladesh lost the series 2-0,both the test matches being over in less than three days,I had written a post regarding the ICC granting them the test status.And even in the one day series',their performance being under par compared to other test playing nations,they were according to most of them not fit to play international cricket.But,I wonder what should I say about my fortune that the Bangladesh cricket team showed some signs of improvement in the on going series against Pakistan.If not for the first game-where Bangladesh were found at their ,the second and third one day matches things were different.

A score of 285/7 in the third one day international at Lahore witnessed some appreciable improvement from the Bangladeshi batsmen,after some fighting score of 225 put up at Faisalabad in the second one day international.And not to forget the fourth one day international where Bangladesh reeling at 109/8 and the final score reading 210.A crucial 97 run partnership between Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan saw that even Bangladesh is now taking the game of cricket seriously.

If this continues,ICC is a step ahead in globalising cricket,with Bangladesh being one of the better opponent than it used to be and also some hard work for other teams even when they face Bangladesh.