Our cricket
Murshid, Uttara, Dhaka
As a keen follower of cricket for over 35 years, I wish to mention certain things about Bangladesh cricket for the consideration of the concerned persons. Firstly, if we generalise our batting performance in Test cricket, it can be said that the first innings total is more or less satisfactory, taking into consideration our batting potential. But they just seem to be blown away by their opponents in the 2nd innings. So far it has appeared that the batsmen exhaust all their energy after playing the 1st innings and it just becomes a procession in their 2nd innings. The problem is mental rather than technical. Maybe, we are yet to recover from the hangover of one day cricket which is a single innings game. Our overall performance will improve if the players' mindset can be developed. They need to start their 2nd innings, afresh, full of energy and enthusiasm. I hope, the concerned persons take note of this point. The second important thing is shot selection. Our batsmen should learn to leave balls that pitch outside their off stump and they should not play cross-batted shots. If they watch video footage of the recent big innings played by Dravid, Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting, they will realise how selective they were even when they had crossed 150 or more runs. Commentators and our rival players are of the unanimous opinion that Bangladesh players play too many shots. Fortunately, we have learned that our batting coach has taken note of this phenomenon. Our batsmen need to develop how to pace their individual innings and how to build partnership, especially when some quick wickets fall. The third thing is body language which is vital in modern day cricket. Body language of our players is simply not satisfactory, our ex captain Khaled Mahmud being the worst example. During our last home series against England, commentator Wasim Akram was heard repeatedly urging Mahmud to be positive. Our batsmen should look at Dravid to understand what an in-coming batsman's body language should be. Indian commentators attribute Dravid's positive body language as the most important reason of his recent successes. While fielding, the body language of the captain is very important as the whole team revolve around him in the field. A captain can electrify and inspire his players by his positive body language. Our bowlers should look at Bret Lee to see how he walks back to his bowling mark for a new delivery. Often we find our bowlers walking back, head hung in gloom, to their bowling mark. During the next tour of West Indies, we should enlist the service of a former great West Indies bowler as a bowling coach. Bruce Reid did a wonderful job for Indian bowlers while they were in Australia recently. Hope that our think tanks would find the above points worth working on.
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