Skip to main content
ZCF

Home of cricket conversation, community and memory

ZCF Join ZCF
Menu
Board index » Other Cricket Forum

Discussion

Bangladesh Pace Attack

Other Cricket Forum 63 posts 223 views

Discussion

Latest Login to reply
Show flagship post
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

Opening post

Focus rarely shifts to a Bangladeshi fast bowling corp, but with a tour of New Zealand (3 ODIs and 3 Tests) and the World Cup less than 5 months away, Bangladesh's seamers will need to step up.

With the injury to Taskin, the uncapped Ebadat Hossain gets a maiden call up for the Test squad. Sylhet natives are excited because for years our local team has been the worst domestic side in Bangladesh. I think across all formats, Sylhet has only won a domestic championship once. For the first time, 3 Sylheti fast bowlers (Ebadat, Abu Jayed, and Khaled Ahmed) will make a Bangladesh squad.

The following is my summary of the current BD pace attack:

Mustafizur Rahman (left arm fast medium, height: 5'11", hometown: Khulna)

Everyone knows the Fizz by now. Canny bowler with an action that resembles that of Mohammad Amir, but a totally different type of bowler. Has lost a bit of pace recently, but can still clock up to 140 during most of his spells. His reliance on various cutters might hamper his effectiveness in Tests outside Asia, but in ODIs he has proven to be one of the best in the world going around (73 wickets at 20 with an economy rate of just 4.58 runs per over). He is the undisputed leader of the attack.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (right arm fast medium, height: 6'1", hometown: Khulna)

This man is now entering the 19th year of his international career after no fewer than 7 operations. A true bagher bachcha (Bengali for "son of a Tiger") he is the most inspirational man and captain Bangladesh have ever had and is now a sitting Member of Parliament as well, representing his native Narail district in Khulna. Although he has refused to give a precise timetable, it is widely expected he will retire from cricket at the conclusion of the World Cup. Bangladesh may never see such a strong cricketer ever again. He is now reduced to being a 120 kph trundler, but knows his game well and uses his vast experience to remain an effective 4th bowler for his side.

Rubel Hossain (right arm fast medium, height: 5'9", hometown: Khulna)

The most experienced of the quicks, apart from Mashrafe. He has struggled of late. When on song, he can be a lethal death bowler, but he's had a horror show in the recent past. If he can get back to his best form, Bangladesh will feel much more confident about their chances in England this summer.

Abu Jayed Chowdhury (right arm medium fast, height: 5'8", hometown: Sylhet)

The slowest bowler in Bangladesh's arsenal but almost surely the most gifted swing bowler the country has produced. Generally bowls around a gentle 130 kph pace, but can move the ball consistently through the air. At this moment classed as a Test specialist, he impressed during the abysmal tour of the Caribbean last summer with 7 wickets and could enjoy the conditions in New Zealand.

Syed Khaled Ahmed (right arm fast medium, height: 6'2", hometown: Sylhet)

Although a fellow Sylheti, I was not at all a fan of this guy as I was under the impression that he was just another 5'8" 125 kph trundler. Myself being 5'8" tall, I don't hold that against anyone personally (lol), but that is not what a fast bowler should look like. Khaled has a decent action and run up, has a bit of pace, clocking up to 141 on his debut Test and has no glaring weaknesses. Despite ending his debut wicketless, he did produce 3 or 4 genuine chances and looks like a fairly good prospect for Bangladesh. It is very rare to see a Bangladesh fast bowler getting a 10 wicket haul in a domestic first class game, but Khaled did just that at the end of the last NCL season, paving the way for his Test debut against Zimbabwe late last year.

Ebadat Hossain Chowdhury (right arm fast, height: 6'1", hometown: Sylhet)

A bit of bad luck for Taskin Ahmed got Ebadat a belated call up to the Test team. Has an action and physique almost identical to Brett Lee, only about 10 kph slower. Hits the deck hard, consistently bowling above the 140 kph mark he is widely suspected of being amongst the quickest bowlers in the country. Like his fellow Sylhet Division teammate, Khaled, Ebadat also recently took a landmark 10 wicket haul in first class cricket and coupled with figures of 4-17 in the last BPL match, proved impossible to ignore for the selectors.

Abu Hider (left arm medium fast, height: 5'11")

Pegged as a LOI specialist as of now, he will feel hard done by after being dropped (unfairly IMO) from the squad for the NZ tour. I believe he is a must for the World Cup with his ability to swing the new ball, bowl yorkers at the death, and generally outsmart the opposition. All in all we have the ingredients for a well balanced attack in the not too distant future I hope. Fizz provides guile and variation, Jayed is a swing bowler, Khaled and Ebadat offer a bit of pace and bounce.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
I didn’t say you rate him lol I said ‘whether or not’

I’ve told you before you need to read more closely what others write
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:07 pm

I didn’t say you rate him lol I said ‘whether or not’

I’ve told you before you need to read more closely what others write


Fair enough. Bottom line is, Southee is NOT on the wane in Test cricket. Very much in top form based on his averages - the same statistic that lets us know that Vusi is NOT a better batsman than BRMT. I don't even remember how that relates to this thread anymore, but thats my point for now.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Off topic, but the Fizz is now officially Mr Fizz:

He got married today (Friday) in his hometown of Sathkira, Khulna.

https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/ban ... ot-1718884

Mehidy also got married the day before I believe.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:57 pm

Mehidy not looking threatening nor keeping it tight, again backs my point he’s only useful on a dust bowl where the pitch does all the work.

As you’ve mentioned before Kriterion it would actually be of benefit for Bangladesh to ‘pay their own way’ if needed to tour Zimbabwe for an extended test series. Sure Zimbabwe aren’t the same as NZ or South Africa, but at least their players will be able to find their grove in foreign conditions without being slaughtered like they have been.

The bowlers aren’t learning anything here today


This our first ever 3 Test series outside the SC (previous two were to PAK and SL). I’m more interested to see if the key batsmen can score runs in these conditions. Shakib, Mushy, and now Tamim have hundreds in NZ recently. Time for Mominul to step up - he averages just 25 I’m away Tests. Can they bat into a 5th day here? They really should.

I’d like to see the bowlers improve over the course of

The 3 games. Fizz is coming in for the next match, in place of Khaled most likely, but I think he should be rested and sent back home. He might pick up a couple of wickets but it won’t affect the outcome of the game unless the batters step up. Hopefully Mushy will be back and I really hope the selectors bring in another batter to replace some of the passengers in this team. It may not change things but process is more important than results at this stage. Had this been a home series, yes we would be under pressure to win but in NZ, we should aim just to draw 1 out of 3 Tests and maybe look to take 12-13 wickets.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
Not concerned about the bowling ?
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2019 3:48 am

Not concerned about the bowling ?


No because batting is the glaring weakness. 234 on this highway is an atrocious performance. Batsman performing should at least get you draws. Being honest, Bangladesh doesn't have the bowling firepower to win Tests outside the subcontinent so thats a moot point. If we look at this pitch, none of Boult, Southee, or Wagner have bowled real jaffas. The odd ball has swung but thats been it. Southee and Boult in particular haven't even been accurate, spraying the ball all over the place and the flatness of the pitch means they are going at 4-5 runs per over.

The issue with BD batters is that this now gone on for too long to be "just a bad innings or tour". Since the 2017 tour of SA, BD hasn't managed a single innings total of greater than 350. They have only one greater than 250. They have also failed at home vs Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. True, in this period at least one of the Big 3 (Tamim, Shakib, Mushy) has been absent in almost every game, but 250 and 350 are not mammoth totals.

Big 3 are mainstays but are now aging. Tamim and Mushy have the fitness and hunger to play for at least 5-7 more years, but Mominul has become a guy who only scores every 5th innings with 4 single digit scores in between daddy hundreds - that too only at home. Shadman looks like an excellent find, and if we can get Mosaddek into the middle order at 5 or 6, we should be OK.

From a bowling perspective, our spinners will struggle away but thats OK and to be expected. At home they will run through any of AUS, NZ, ENG, SA.

For our quicks, we have to realize that we don't have a Pat Cummins or even a Jasprit Bumrah. We need to see if we are making any tangible progress from the likes of Shahadat Hossain and Rubel Hossain. Wickets are great and thats the ultimate index of bowling, but we need to start with the baby steps. Are they able to build pressure by bowling the right channel for a prolonged period? Can they bowl 7-8 over spells or 20 overs in a day? Can they swing the ball? Movement off the pitch? Generate bounce?
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
There was a humorous exchange of sledging between Neil Wagner and Tamim today. Tamim was on 68 not out and Soumya was on strike with Wagner fielding at mid off and Wagner was having a go at him...Tamim (and Shadman to an extent) have been excellent at hooking and pulling the short balls this Test and Tamim has also left plenty of bouncers by crouching somewhat awkwardly. Wagner attempted to hit a nerve and it went something like this:

Wagner: you lost[?] Test cricket...you [couldn't hear this part clearly] Australia, England...you lost Test cricket.

Tamim: [silence as he walks to his mark at the non-strikers end]

Wagner: this is the slowest wicket in NZ...you're lucky the weather is good...otherwise you'd have been finished

Tamim: Oh really? Well thanks.

Wagner: I want to see you crouch for 2 days...try to decide which one to pull and which one to leave...its only going to get harder, it will be up and down too...

Tamim: [smiles] I'll do my best.

Wagner: if we go to Bangladesh you'll make those s**t wickets...

Tamim: we'll win 2-0 though, right? 2-0???

Wagner: you lost to Zimbabwe!

I was kind of expecting Tamim to say that he didn't play in that game and neither did Shakib, but it appears as though that was the end of that little tiff.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
So Bangladesh get flogged in the first test, but not without a fight thanks to Centuries from Tamim, Sarker & Mahmudallah

Soumya Sarker is my favourite Bangladeshi batsman, so good to watch, our old mate Mahmudallah has now scored 3 Test hundreds in his last 4 Tests !!!! Don’t think we will see him dropped anytime soon Kriterion.

Bowling really needs a lift, don’t know how much difference Shakib would have made? Not enough I would imagine.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:33 am

Soumya Sarker is my favourite Bangladeshi batsman


+1. He is sensational to watch when in full flow. Like he was in this match.

BD will have to start looking at Taijul as their first spinner outside home.
ZCF Hall of Famer

CrimsonAvenger wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:55 am

BD will have to start looking at Taijul as their first spinner outside home.


+1

Mehidy is the most overrated cricketer going around IMO, only useful on rank turning dustbowls, on anything else he’s expensive and unthreatening
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Yeah there was a bit of fight shown, but it really falls short of what was needed. Mominul scored 20 in the whole match, Mithun I think just scored 1, and Liton scored 2. Thats 6 innings for a grand total of less than 25 runs at an average of under 4. Simply not good enough. Obviously Mushy and Shakib - who had a 350 run partnership in Wellington in 2017 - would help remedy some of that.

Our bowlers should get a bit of laxity at this point. Boult and Southee looked markedly unthreatening on this pitch in both innings. Boult bowled just 2 wicket taking balls in the entire game I believe (one of them to a tailender). Mehidy might look unthreatening when the ball isn't turning, but Boult and Southee look the same when the ball isn't swinging. Together, the two guys went at close to 5 an over I think.

Personally I would go with the following lineup for the next Test:

1) Tamim

2) Shadman

3) Mominul

4) Riyad

5) Mushfiq

6) Soumya

7) Liton

8) Miraz/Nayeem

9) Jayed

10) Khaled

11) Ebadat

But I think the think tank will drop Khaled for Fizz, citing that Fizz is our best bowler into the breeze at Wellington. Don't know how they reached that conclusion.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
Difference is Southee and Boult got 6 wickets each

A spinner like Mehidy really needs to be able to keep things quiet in these conditions otherwise he'll go for plenty like he did, I'd be playing Taijul instead but they're worried about batting and Mehidy can bat apparently
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:45 pm

Mominul scored 20 in the whole match, Mithun I think just scored 1, and Liton scored 2. Thats 6 innings for a grand total of less than 25 runs at an average of under 4.


While the point is obvious, the data is wrong. Mominul - 12 & 8, Liton- 29 & 1, Mithun - 8 & 0. 58 runs among them, not 23. Liton ran out of partners in the first dig. So not all is lost. Mominul will come good sooner rather than later, Liton is good when he gets going, and if Tamim, Mahmudullah and Saumya keep going, batting is decent. Like jaybro, even I believe bowling is the issue.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:21 am

Difference is Southee and Boult got 6 wickets each


Difference is the batsmen they were bowling too. If the Kiwi batters threw their wickets away, Mehidy might have bagged a couple more. Majority of Boults wickets and all of Southee’s were from regular deliveries. No extragavent lateral movement or deviation.

I suspect Wellington will also be a flat pitch but with a lot of wind gusts.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
Look at it what ever way you like Kriterion but there’s only one way you can look at Mehidy’s stats, horrible in NZ & South Africa only useful on the sub-continent and the Caribbean where conditions are in his favour.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:34 am

Look at it what ever way you like Kriterion but there’s only one way you can look at Mehidy’s stats, horrible in NZ & South Africa only useful on the sub-continent and the Caribbean where conditions are in his favour.


I agree with this, a lot.

I'd like to see the kid start taking some wickets outside of Asia before I shower too much praise on him.

Clearly one for the future and he's very accurate, but the wickets outside on Asia have been too few and far between.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
I want to see that leg spinner back in, who terrorised Zimbabwe in the 2014 series.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

jaybro wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:34 am

Look at it what ever way you like Kriterion but there’s only one way you can look at Mehidy’s stats, horrible in NZ & South Africa only useful on the sub-continent and the Caribbean where conditions are in his favour.


http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

This decade, major Asian spinners averages in SSB (swing/seam/bounce) countries of Australia, England, South Africa, and New Zealand:

Herath - 42.90

Ashwin - 43.37

Jadeja - 40.28

Yasir - 58.21

Dilruwan Perera - 94.33

Mehidy - 126.83

Shakib - 39.80

Yes, Miraz is far worse than all other Asian spinners, even Perera. But he's also just 21 and has only played 4 matches. I would definitely give him some more time.

Similarly the BD pacers rank the worst as a group in SSB Tests, but I would give this current group a decent run because I think they can lend some balance. Jayed swings the new ball as well as any BD seamer has. Ebadat has some pace (140 km/h) and Khaled can get some bounce with his height. What all 3 need work on is their stamina so that they can bowl effectively beyond the first spell. All 3 bowled well in their first spells Jayed was moving the ball into the left handers and was proving tough to get away due his accurate line on the stumps. Ebadat beat the outside a few times and got the outside edge on his second ball bowled. Khaled was just bowling a nagging line and length at 135 clicks and had conceded just 6 runs from his first 6 overs.

The BD pacers are used to bowling just 20 overs in an entire first class match back home. So its natural that they need some time to get used to bowling 20 per day in a Test. My hope is the coaching staff supports them.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

sloandog wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:46 pm

I want to see that leg spinner back in, who terrorised Zimbabwe in the 2014 series.


It was mostly Shakib and Taijul in 2014. Jubair should have been persisted with, but apparently his work ethic was subpar and apart from that he must have p**sed the wrong people off as he's not even getting to play in domestic games when there are almost no leg spinners in the country.

The newest leg spinner is Rishad Hossain, a tall 17 yo leggie from the U-19 team.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
ZCF Hall of Famer
Bangladesh pace attack again getting pasted on a green deck, the Fizz going at over 5 an over. Jayed unlucky he's had Taylor dropped a few times, been the pick of the bowlers, Taijurl doing a better job than Mehidy
Latest Login to reply Return to Other Cricket Forum

Reply

Login to reply.