Bangladesh vs Afghanistan | Only Test | Chattogram

Can’t say I watched a lot of the action but from what I saw the pitch looks much better for batting compared to the Zimbabwe Sylhet Test? There for I’d say there’s probably more hope for Bangladesh to win this test, to be fair the Sylhet Test was won at the toss.

Bangladesh will need to turn in a good first session bowling to try and keep Afghanistan to around 350, then hope to make over 500 and hopefully make Afghanistan bat last?

Interesting match

jaybro wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:16 pm

Can’t say I watched a lot of the action but from what I saw the pitch looks much better for batting compared to the Zimbabwe Sylhet Test? There for I’d say there’s probably more hope for Bangladesh to win this test, to be fair the Sylhet Test was won at the toss.

Bangladesh will need to turn in a good first session bowling to try and keep Afghanistan to around 350, then hope to make over 500 and hopefully make Afghanistan bat last?

Interesting match

Definitely an interesting match. Unless BD gets bundled out for 150...well it would still be interesting for AFG fans haha.

Yeah pitch so far is a belter compared to the Sylhet one. But if thats the case, Zimbabwe scoring 280 on that Sylhet wicket was the equivalent of 400+ on a normal wicket. I can't say the game is won or lost at the toss (although that might be true statistically) because the home team ought not to rely on the toss. Plus, Afghan are Test newbs, and this is almost a full strength Bangladesh side (only Tamim missing out). In Sylhet there were a lot of questionable selections like Nazmul Islam the cobra dancer, Ariful Haque (who actually scored some runs), and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (not as Test ready as Mosaddek Hossain IMO).

Wow, Asghar just threw a century away. Absolutely pancake flat wicket, batting on 92, and Taijul creates just a bit of pressure with a string of 5 or 6 dots, and boom wild heave that goes 100 feet in the air only to be pouched by the keeper. There wasn't even any pressure with Shakib setting a very defensive field. 4 of the 6 wickets to fall have just been gifted away by the Afghans.

Very happy for Rahmat Shah, but apart from him and Nabi, I don't rate the Afghan batsman. I hope Rahmat can become a solid batter who will lead Afghanistan into the Test Championship before his career ends.

AFG 342 all out. First impression is its 75-100 runs short given how flat the pitch is.

But Yamin, the only specialist seam bowler in the Test strikes in the very first over...Bangladesh 0 for 1.

Bangladesh now 88-4 at the stroke of tea. Shakib departs for just 11.

The only saving grace is we bat down to #10. But this is looking very very familiar to the Sylhet game vs Zimbabwe.

My thoughts with Bangladesh is that they’re better suited to ODI cricket compared to Test cricket because they don’t have any players who you’d put in the top bracket of players. Yes Mushy, Shakib & Tamin are world class players, but they’re not in the same boat as Smith, Kohli & Williamson and probably not even in the next bracket too be fair. Yes they’re good players but they’re not consistent enough.

Same with their bowlers, as I’ve said their seamers are shite & their spinners are decent but mainly rely on favourable home decks. Now compared to Afghanistan who have Rashid Khan who is undoubtedly world class, he’s able to take wickets on any deck and is even more formidable on a tiring sub continent pitch.

Winning the toss and batting is always a huge advantage, even more so in Asia and even more so again when you have Rashid in your side. Once they put a good first innings total on the board it was always going to be tough for Bangladesh to win, then when they capitulated in their 1st innings the match was done & dusted.

Afghanistan will beat a lot of sides in Tests batting first as long as Rashid is there, and sadly for Bangladesh they don’t have a bowler like him.

jaybro wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:46 am

My thoughts with Bangladesh is that they’re better suited to ODI cricket compared to Test cricket because they don’t have any players who you’d put in the top bracket of players. Yes Mushy, Shakib & Tamin are world class players, but they’re not in the same boat as Smith, Kohli & Williamson and probably not even in the next bracket too be fair. Yes they’re good players but they’re not consistent enough.

Same with their bowlers, as I’ve said their seamers are shite & their spinners are decent but mainly rely on favourable home decks. Now compared to Afghanistan who have Rashid Khan who is undoubtedly world class, he’s able to take wickets on any deck and is even more formidable on a tiring sub continent pitch.

Winning the toss and batting is always a huge advantage, even more so in Asia and even more so again when you have Rashid in your side. Once they put a good first innings total on the board it was always going to be tough for Bangladesh to win, then when they capitulated in their 1st innings the match was done & dusted.

All of that is pretty much true.

For Bangladesh, their goal should be to be as good as Pakistan given the similarities the two countries share (population size, economics and finances). Pakistan has recently restructured their entire domestic system, the BCB should heavily consider something like that. The current system is not really efficient. Any talent that comes up (Mosaddek, Nayeem, Afif) is there simply due to the law of averages, with hundreds of thousands of players in the country, a handful will eventually become quite decent players.

The realistic best goal for BD is to be a 5th or 6th ranked side regardless of the format. They simply don't have the talent, management, or good governance to rise beyond that, and thats OK. India has only been a certain top 3/4 side in the last 15-20 years, and that happened with lots of money, and strong governance by the BCCI. Teams like Pakistan and Bangladesh have neither of those, at least not to India's extent.

Batsmen like Steve Smith (Tests) and Virat Kohli (ODIs, so long as it isn't a knockout match) can't be produced. They are simply born like Tendulkar, Lara, etc. But I do believe any nation can produce batsmen of the calibre of Kane Williamson or Joe Root. They are 1/3 God-given talent, 1/3 self discipline and relentless work ethic, and 1/3 good management by their cricket boards. All the Asian sides, barring India are almost certain to be lacking the last bit to varying degrees.

Afghanistan will beat a lot of sides in Tests batting first as long as Rashid is there, and sadly for Bangladesh they don’t have a bowler like him.

Bangladesh being a limited Test side, should have made an absolute flat wicket. Afghanistan would have been bundled out for 350 and 250 even on a highway (we can assume this because Afghanistan were bowled for 342 and 260 in conditions where none of the BD spinners got much turn, barring Nayeem who got turn and bounce (still not extravagant), but was underbowled). On the other hand, the Afghan wristspinners got a lot more from the wicket, which is obvious because the BD spinners are all finger spinners. You cannot assume you will win the toss and bat first as your strategy.

The same thing happened in Sylhet vs ZIM. BD has to assume the toss can be lost, and you have to back your strength to bat in conditions where the ball does nothing.

It’s not really my strategy, it’s just the way it is in test cricket & especially in Asia, bat first your chances of winning go up and if you put up a good first innings total you pretty much eliminate the chance of losing.

You can’t really plan for losing the toss.

I wonder if it was always like that (batting first advantage) in Asia...???

Need to look at statsguru...

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 5:14 am

I wonder if it was always like that (batting first advantage) in Asia...???

Need to look at statsguru...

You’d think so, dry pitches with no grass will always get worse to bat on. To be fair most pitches are seen as ‘bat first’ decks, only pitches that have a lot of grass and moisture can be seen as bowl first decks, as they don’t have enough time to deteriorate under the sun to point where they break up.

My thoughts with Bangladesh is that they’re better suited to ODI cricket compared to Test cricket because they don’t have any players who you’d put in the top bracket of players. Yes Mushy, Shakib & Tamin are world class players, but they’re not in the same boat as Smith, Kohli & Williamson and probably not even in the next bracket too be fair. Yes they’re good players but they’re not consistent enough.

Same with their bowlers, as I’ve said their seamers are shite & their spinners are decent but mainly rely on favourable home decks. Now compared to Afghanistan who have Rashid Khan who is undoubtedly world class, he’s able to take wickets on any deck and is even more formidable on a tiring sub continent pitch.

Winning the toss and batting is always a huge advantage, even more so in Asia and even more so again when you have Rashid in your side. Once they put a good first innings total on the board it was always going to be tough for Bangladesh to win, then when they capitulated in their 1st innings the match was done & dusted.

Afghanistan will beat a lot of sides in Tests batting first as long as Rashid is there, and sadly for Bangladesh they don’t have a bowler like him.

It’s not really my strategy, it’s just the way it is in test cricket & especially in Asia, bat first your chances of winning go up and if you put up a good first innings total you pretty much eliminate the chance of losing.

You can’t really plan for losing the toss.

I wonder if it was always like that (batting first advantage) in Asia...???

Need to look at statsguru...