Of Soothsayers, Cycles And Mohammad Nazimuddin, Is He Just Another One Hit Wonder?

[Sohel]

I. Wise soothsayers and their Book of Zohar*.

Many members here in BC - and for good enough reasons I might add - tend to form solid as opposed to merely speculative opinions about Bangladeshi players based on statistics alone. Consequently, the importance of VISUAL CONFIRMATION tends to fall by the wayside and even become somewhat banal under the traditional heat of our passion for the sport. While all of the fair-minded individuals in this group would only benefit themselves and us in the process by adding clear visual evidence to their often very good to excellent analysis, to others such benefits would only be twisted in order to fit into an Orwellian view of things.

The elite amongst that “my-way-or-the-highway” group of self-styled Big Brother wannabes, never shy to bypass the indignity in speaking for others, use and misuse all the doublespeak and statistics at their disposal, and retrieve faded memories from their time of attending club cricket here in Dhaka. Memories miraculously rendered perfect and hot-air brushed in Technicolor thanks to the twin blessings of nostalgia and ego, also serve to mislead, coerce, and finally convince us as they have managed to convince their own deluded minds. Before long, we too believe in our “enviable” cricketing infrastructure, “near perfect” selections for the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year, the inability of Zunaed Siddique to become a great fielder based on stale news, the “miraculous fortune” of certain players irrespective of superlative domestic performances which may actually warrant selection into a national side, and my personal favorite, Farhad Reza’s ability to bowl at 135 to 140 KMPH as we gleefully revisit our childhood faith in the Tooth Fairy, again mesmerized by the wisdom trickling down from the wise men above.

Who knows, maybe the interestingly named Marshall Ayub*, not quite good enough to feature well in domestic First Class cricket, is indeed the next Shane Warne? Or Iftekhar Nayeem Ahmed, not good enough to be in the U-19 squad bound for Pakistan, is the next Brian Charles Lara? After all only GOD and His rightfully guided cricketing gods and intermediaries, or so they believe, know what will happen in the future, just as they know what cannot happen even when it does.

Fair enough I suppose, until of course they have the chance of actually SEEING the player in action with the rest of the flock, scapegoat someone else – often a popular and therefore a particularly convenient target to spew their venom at - and promptly start looking for other numbers from different players still playing cricket in the depraved corners of their alleged minds. The cycle never ends because the Nile is a river in Egypt, and conviction is nothing other than vanity to those who think of themselves as rightfully superior to us mere mortals, irrespective of the polite expression worn by the mask, or however soft their garment of unrighteousness may be. We were after all, born only yesterday and do not yet have the eyes to see through anything. They find perverse pleasure in the humiliation of others, calling us hypocrites when we call them on their malice, strangely unaware of the fact that hypocrites always expose more about themselves when accusing others. This is NOT their story.

II. Reality versus expectation, in general.

Luckily for us plebeians, perhaps that sort of speculative and hit-or-miss ‘selectionisms’ - almost psychic in their wishful thinking and deeply disturbing in their know-it-all air, always heavy with the weight of a plethora of cricketing delusions - are a thing of the past where it counts most, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Selection Committee. My fingers, however, remain still crossed as I continue to remain cautiously optimistic about its new direction forward.

With the much-desired smooth transition from domestic to international cricket still several years of steady and sustainable reformatting and improvement away, we are somehow still exasperated in seeing our players not perform as expected. Because of the improving but still below par domestic First Class and List A cricket not adequately preparing our young players for the highest level of International Cricket, we have no other choice but to assess real talent and allow that to be harnessed and applied on the job as long as the players have youth and the demonstrable ability to learn from past mistakes. In order to appreciate this hard truth better, we need only look at 1) the recent International, First Class and List A stats of Mohammad Ashraful Matin, possibly our top batsman, and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, possibly our best bowler; 2) compare those stats to their career averages in order to at least statistically gauge noticeable improvements if any as they move forward to reaching their respective peak ranges still years away; and then 3) compare your extrapolations to top International batsmen and bowlers to have a clear idea of where our players actually are at the highest level.

Once we do all that, it becomes clear that the conventional wisdom, which easily applicable to older cricket cultures, does not necessarily apply to us at this juncture. We must therefore continue to draft genuine young prospects into the senior side, hopefully this time through a reasonable talent assessment process which obviously includes but is not exclusive to DULY CONTEXTUALIZED statistics, rather than the traditionally arbitrary ways based only on subjective perception. We fans must do whatever we can to ensure that they learn on the job despite some of the inevitable failures, and see things a bit more clearly as they are, rather than the way we’d like them to be. As responsible fans, we must demand from BCB - a PUBLIC agency financed largely by the Bangladeshi taxpayers - a systematic approach to talent assessment, selection and development of our First Class and List A cricketers. Then we must learn to bite the bullet when necessary while remaining as good-willed and fair-minded as we can. The alternative is nothing but aggravation with all of its adverse consequences at multiple levels. This is NOT fantasy cricket, and therefore it may be better for us fans to get a little perspective and develop a proper bit of patience.

High expectations are good as long as they are realistic, because if they are not, they’ll only lead to the sort of exasperation that serves no one. The late KMI Rana and Syed Rasel are rare exceptions of technically limited players who actually showed improvement at highest levels. Rana was unfairly scapegoated and dropped before he had the chance to come back into the side. The immensely talented Alok Kapali, on the other hand, has yet to prove himself at the highest level despite a promising start to his international career as demonstrated by his first 29 ODI matches, and exceptional performances in the NCL.

Some players like Javed Omar Belim and Rajin Saleh, and now Mahmudullah Riyad tend to stay where they are on the fringes of stop-gap measures, while others like Habibul Bashar, never really interested in overcoming all too familiar technical deficiencies and compulsions, get worse with age. While a veteran such as Khaled Mashud Pilot, I’m just talking about his batting here, can successfully use domestic cricket to try and reinvigorate his career, most other players, often years younger than the former national Skipper, just expose their limitations and subsequent inadequacies at the highest level before failing to pan out. Names like Tushar Imran, Ehsanul Haq, Mohammad Al Shahriar Rokon, Hannan Sarkar, Sanuar Hossain, Mushfique Babu, Monjural Islam Monju, Alamgir Kabir, the post-injury Mohammad Sharif and Farhad Reza leap to mind whenever I think of the phrase “not panning-out”, whether they were treated fairly or not.

Farhad Reza, it must be said, still has youth on his side, and can improve as a lower order batsman yet for the shorter versions of the sport. A clean and heavy hitter of the ball, he needs to find ways of staying focused on the hand he is dealt, a need he also shares with more talented batsmen in the National team. His improvement as a fielder over the last year, especially at Cover, has been nothing less than spectacular, and leaves me in no doubt that he has the capacity to learn quickly. I remain unconvinced about his abilities as either an effective strike or a containment bowler against top sides.

Now to Mohammad Nazimuddin.

III. Reality versus expectation, Mohammad Nazimuddin.

We start forming ideas about a player whose stats look pretty darn good in comparison to others, start rooting for him, and then find ourselves in the precarious position where instead of relishing the answers we were so eagerly anticipating through the expected performance of our new hero, we can think of only one question, an embarrassing question we can only ask ourselves: “What the F was I thinking?” I fear Mohammad Nazimuddin is one such player.

His performances in the T20WC preparatory tournament in Kenya, especially his stellar performance against the eventual World runners-up Pakistan and its formidable fast bowling attack, were not actually SEEN by anyone other than those in the stands in Nairobi. Naturally, after coming deliciously close to an always rare T20 hundred against our former masters, he was quickly catapulted to the often-ephemeral position of an overnight sensation of Bangladeshi cricket, and possibly the next big thing it has to offer to the world in the not too distant future. A nation of passionate cricket fans in the hundreds of millions, we hate loosing and therefore tend to be understandably impatient with the rate of our progress at the highest level of international cricket. We are always looking for a savior or two, and desperately want, almost like hormonally driven teenagers, the ‘input’ to meet the ‘expectation’. Not surprisingly, most of us believed that the newest marauder from the eastern shores of the Bay was going to be an answer to our prayers, without actually seeing how he managed to get those runs against the world-class pacers from Pakistan. We all imagined him to be another Aftab Ahmed who could possibly stay on the wicket longer and thereby benefiting his team, our team, the way it should be benefited by a top order batsman.

Then the real T20WC was on TV, we saw him bat and I dare say, DID NOT like what we saw. Our high expectations were not met and we found ourselves in that all too familiar corner of Room 00 in the basement of Heartbreak Hotel, Bangladesh. If was not just the fact that he couldn’t score runs, but also the awkward and technically unsound manner in which he was trying to stay on the wicket in order to score those much anticipated runs which never came from his bat. He quickly became another “zero from hero” as the tournament ended horribly for all of our top order batsmen except Aftab Ahmed in general, the classy Zunaed Siddique previously spelled with a J, and skipper Mohammad Ashraful Matin with his magnificent and match-winning knock against the West Indies.

Then the boys were back home to show us what they’ve learned from that experience as the new and improved NCL - the ONLY first class and List A tournament in the country based on selection - provided the opportunity for them to do so. Mohammad Nazimuddin, not surprisingly, has continued to score runs in the league and stay amongst the top 5 scorers as he has done in previous seasons, but failed to make a good impression in this fan’s mind with his unsound methods just like last year. Familiar apprehensions from last season’s NCL continue to mitigate his achievements in the NCL, and create serious doubts in my mind as to his readiness for the highest level of international cricket.

After watching him bat closely during the course of Chittagong’s FC and List A matches against the no frills mediocrity of Dhaka’s bowling attack without Shahadat Hossain Rajib out sick and in recovery, those doubts have become more deeply rooted than ever.

His skittish yet weirdly lazy footwork especially inside the crease makes him an ideal LBW candidate against any decent seamer in the world. Imagine a combination of Javed Omar and Tushar Imran facing the likes of Shane Bond or Daryl Tuffey, and maybe you can empathize with my fears. He looks comically lost dealing with anything above the waist delivered with any kind of pace. Also not at all a clean hitter of the ball, he is slow to pick up the pitch and line of deliveries early, and looked in obvious discomfort facing the dubious might of Sharif, Robin, Niaz and Rubel. He struggled to decipher and read the painfully gentle flight, loop and pace variations he faced from no frills, limited, but tenacious slow bowlers like Rubel, and was totally out-classed facing the quality of a resurgent Mohammad Rafiq, in fact the only quality bowling he faced during his trip to Dhaka. During his recent most 5 days of cricket, he and his comfort levels never looked liked anything other than a live, hazy video-stream buffering way too often. Vettori and Patel are more than likely to turn his batting into a low at resolution thumbnail which becomes even lower in resolution once you click to enlarge, if he manages to survive the Kiwi seamers first.

I think until he improves technically, meaning improves his footwork both in and outside the crease, consistently closes the gap between his bat and pad, learns to play cleanly with a straighter bat with his head where it should be, and does whatever he needs to do to improve his hand-eye coordination against quality pacers and turners of the ball, he needs to wait before an ODI debut which can benefit his country alongside his own confidence levels. I feel that he’s at least two years of hard work away from a proper international debut, and is far behind other, more technically sound top order prospects led by Zunaed Siddique, a resurgent Nafees Iqbal, this year’s Imrul Kayes, a dramatically improved Tamim Iqbal, a back-in-rhythm Nazmus Sadat, the steadily improving Jahirul Islam are all ahead of him in that order, and in all forms of the sport. Grammatically correct grafters like Mehrab Hossain Jr. and Mushfiqur Rahim, not to mention a still out-of-form and impertinently spacy Shahriar Nafees, are also far ahead of him technically when it comes to top order batting in test matches.

IV. A humble opinion.

It is true that there have been technically unsound batsmen in international cricket who have produced a lot for their sides, but they tend to be few and far between batsmen who contribute by harnessing their talent within the bounds of batting fundamentals, and consequently apply themselves when it counts the most. What we’re talking about here is the unseen wonders of Mohammad Nazimuddin within the confines of a Bangladeshi reality, and not the well-document production of exceptions to the rules of cricketing grammar like Javed Miandad, Virendar Sehwag or Chris Gayle. If seeing is indeed believing, then Nazim still has miles to go before he can make me believe that he is capable of coming close to the productivity of the wonderful aberrations mentioned above.

V. Last words.

You must be prepared to reap what you sow, again and again …

* CLICK IF YOU WANT ...

[abu2abu]

A very long post (I'm still reading it!), but you're spot on on the nazimuddin point. In the World T20 he looked well out of his depth, for a so-called strokemaker he fared particualrly badly, especially as he batted when fielding restrictions were in place!

Anyone who's read the comments nazimuddin made to his mum complaining about a training camp earlier in his career, will not be suprised by his lazy footwork. It's hard to believe that a player of the ilk of rajin saleh would have made any complaints in a similar situation....

[Miraz]

I was wondering what's the definition of technically limited player is!!!

Definitely the ability to move the new ball both ways and deceive the batsman regularly with pace or the ability to bowl in the right channel consistently doesn't require any technique.

Poor Syed Rasel, what a great example of a technically limited player.

........................ Syed Rasel are rare exceptions of technically limited players who actually showed improvement at highest levels.

And defnitely another technically deficient player is Habibul Bashar who scored more runs than anyone else and was exceptionally consistent for most part of his career.

Hmm... it seems technically deficient players can only perform consistently at international level.

And Mahmudullah Riyad, no star appearance, poor fella. After only couple of international appearances in which he performed quite well, he is already considered as "stop gap" option. Hmm... only "exceptionally talented" players should be considered as long term solution, performance does not matter as long as they have the "exceptionally talented" label.

Excellent observation.

[Miraz]

The immensely talented Alok Kapali, on the other hand, has yet to prove himself at the highest level despite a promising start to his international career as demonstrated by his first 29 ODI matches

Why 29 matches, why not first 20 matches??? hmm... as someone in another thread posted the stats of 29 matches and here comes the example of 29 matches. Anyway, except the 89* against West Indies the "exceptionally talented" Alok Kapali hardly produced anything in the first 20 matches of his international career. NOT really a promising start by any means. He was lot more consistent in the middle phase of his career.

Here are Kapali's first 20 matches.

Runs W/R Ct St I R Match

2 - - - 1 L 1st ODI v SL in SL 2002 at Colombo (SSC) [1857]
- 0/37 0 0 2
5 - - - 1 L 2nd ODI v SL in SL 2002 at Colombo (SSC) [1858]
- 0/11 0 0 2
- 0/36 1 0 1 L 3rd ODI v SL in SL 2002 at Colombo (RPS) [1859]
8 - - - 2
45 - - - 1 L ICC CT 8 v Aus in SL 2002/03 at Colombo (SSC) [1881]
- DNB 0 0 2
- 0/12 1 0 1 L ICC CT 12 v NZ in SL 2002/03 at Colombo (SSC) [1885]
2 - - - 2
- 0/43 0 0 1 L 1st ODI v SA in SA 2002/03 at Potchefstroom (d/n) [1890]
25 - - - 2
0 - - - 1 L 2nd ODI v SA in SA 2002/03 at Benoni [1891]
- 0/19 0 0 2
20 - - - 1 L 3rd ODI v SA in SA 2002/03 at Kimberley (d/n) [1892]
- 0/8 0 0 2
- 1/35 1 0 1 N 1st ODI v WI in BD 2002/03 at Chittagong (MAA) [1904]
20* - - - 2
- 0/28 0 0 1 L 2nd ODI v WI in BD 2002/03 at Dhaka (d/n) [1909]
12 - - - 2
- DNB 0 0 1 L 3rd ODI v WI in BD 2002/03 at Dhaka (d/n) [1910]
89* - - - 2
- 1/19 1 0 1 L World Cup 5 v Can in SA 2002/03 at Durban (d/n) [1946]
19 - - - 2
32 - - - 1 L World Cup 10 v SL in SA 2002/03 at Pietermaritzburg [1950]
- 0/9 0 0 2
- 1/3 1 0 1 N World Cup 16 v WI in SA 2002/03 at Benoni [1956]
DNB - - - 2
2 - - - 1 L World Cup 22 v SA in SA 2002/03 at Bloemfontein [1961]
- 0/18 0 0 2
9 - - - 1 L World Cup 29 v NZ in SA 2002/03 at Kimberley [1968]
- 0/38 0 0 2
- 0/9 0 0 1 L World Cup 35 v Ken in SA 2002/03 at Johannesburg [1974]
18 - - - 2
- 2/42 1 0 1 L TVS (BD) 1 v Ind in BD 2003 at Dhaka (d/n) [2001]
5 - - - 2
- 0/45 0 0 1 L TVS (BD) 3 v SA in BD 2003 at Dhaka (d/n) [2003]
27 - - - 2
9 - - - 1 L TVS (BD) 4 v Ind in BD 2003 at Dhaka (d/n) [2004]
- 2/41 0 0 2
- 2/40 1 0 1 L TVS (BD) 5 v SA in BD 2003 at Dhaka (d/n) [2005]

[Mohiul]

too long for me to finish your post

[Miraz]

Finally managed to finish the reading of the long observation on Nazimuddin's technique

ut also the awkward and technically unsound manner in which he was trying to stay on the wicket in order to score those much anticipated runs which never came from his bat.

Awkward!!! technically unsound!!

Hilarious to say the least. Nazim failed to score in the T20 world cup, but he never looked awkward in playing shots or looked technically unsound. In fact his partner Tamim looked awkward on many occasions.

He looks comically lost dealing with anything above the waist delivered with any kind of pace.

Can't stop laughing after reading these words. Nazim is one of the best player of hook and pull among current bunch of players and he looks comical. Uff.....C'mon ..... anyway what can you expect from someone who thinks that short pitched deliveries are usually dispatched with bullet speed through mid wicket keeping the foot about one feet outside the line of the delivery.

I know there will be rounds of applause after reading all these long observations, anyway I will ask the person to know the basics of cricket first before using the excellent linguistic skill and time to write all these নিজের মনের মাধুরী মেশানো রচনা.

[nsd3]

Statistical analysis and visual evidence analysis both would be really useful to identify talents, needs for improvements etc. This forum gives us chances to indulge in whatever way we think our beloved team can perform a little better. All are good examples for a healthy Forum environment.

Enjoyed the write up.

[nsd3]

I wouldn't say it was nuisance analysis - I'd rather try to have respect and focus on what the fact is:

Originally Posted by nsd3
Statistical analysis and visual evidence analysis both would be really useful to identify talents, needs for improvements etc. This forum gives us chances to indulge in whatever way we think our beloved team can perform a little better. All are good examples for a healthy Forum environment.

Enjoyed the write up.

[Miraz]

Originally Posted by nsd3
I wouldn't say it was nuisance analysis - I'd rather try to have respect and focus on what the fact is:

Alright! have to find out a better word to describe an analysis which describes almost exactly opposite stuff about the technique of an upcoming player.

[Tigers_eye]

Great read. Perfectly pointed out our mistakes on analyzing a players calibre and quality. We do tend to over hype any sensational innings by anyone.


My thoughts:
First, Twenty/20 is not cricket. This can't be a measuring stick. Here batsmen are in a hurry to score runs any possible way. No one is asking for footwork and fours down the cover region. Paddle sweep on the fine leg for four is as affective as lucky escape from the slip region for four. If someone has to measure technic of a batsman then it has to be in a longer version of the game. And obviously techic can only get a player so far. The mental strength is more needed in our domestic and international outings.

Nazimuddin may be few years away from international cricket so are the other young pups. If he is so technically ungifted then kudos to him for his mental strength. His scores for BD-A and academy teams in different conditions only shows his sincerity towards the game. Many gifted and talented batsmen failed to duplicate his performance.

In order to produce quality players and not rely on miracle we must follow the prescribed structure and not fast track these boys and destroy their career by shoving them too early. I want J/Zunaed to set International stage on fire. I want Imrul to average 100+. Heck would take a 50+ any day of the week. But they must come through the ranks no matter how talented they are. Why have A teams or academy teams if we are going to fast track players from the U-19 ranks to the national team with out the necessary FC cricket under their belt? No cricket nation above us does that. Not everyone can handle the expectation of a nation. Especially a cricket crazy nation where other sports have no footing in international market. (Is chess a sport?)

We all saw how these boys killed opponents in the U-19 team. We must give them time to pan out to be men. Even that time they had the ability to take on the BD national team with Matin, Aftab in it. My humble opinion is do not fast track these boys!! Let them enjoy cricket. These boys are really good. BCB should want to make them better. Do not put burden on their shoulder as Watmore and the previous selectors had put on Ash, Aftab and such.

[cricket_dorshok]

eto boro post!
another Kapali round!!!!

and one question, what is the definition of TALENT?
(mathai gobor thaka naki jhore bok mora)

[Miraz]

Just a reminder to everyone.

According to local coaches (Academy and Shaun), Nazimuddin is a sound player with good technique and is a very capable hook and pull shot player. In fact Nazimuddin considers these shots as his strengths like Afatb and Asharful (which he said in the interview with Prothom-Alo).

He performed consistently with age group and A teams in different conditions including fast and bouncy pitches of England where most deliveries rise above the waist.

If someone go through the Cricinfo commentary in the match against Pakistan, he will find how good he was dealing short pitched deliveries from Shoaib and Asif. A mere failure in the T20 cricket doesn't wipe out his consistent performances over the years in the domestic and international (A team and age group) circuit.

Whoever has written the piece hardly has any idea about technique and have used the common terminologies to describe a player whose techniques can be better described using the exact opposite words.

if you don't believe me, make a phone call (I have telephone numbers of most of the coaches and some national level players, PM me if you need telephone number) and talk with any local coaches or players playing with Nazim, this is an open challenge.

[wrong `un]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
The immensely talented Alok Kapali, on the other hand, has yet to prove himself at the highest level despite a promising start to his international career as demonstrated by his first 29 ODI matches, and exceptional performances in the NCL.

Have you seen the number of times he plays across the line gets plumb in front, the way he fishes at deliveries, the way the he plays the drive uppishly

makes me wonder what's the definition of talent to you

Originally Posted by Miraz
Just a reminder to everyone.

According to local coaches (Academy and Shaun), Nazimuddin is a sound player with good technique and is a very capable hook and pull shot player.

It is true that he plays the hook and pull shot well but he had problems with swing bowling right from the U-19s and still has (I am not basing it on T20 performance but what his coaches right from the age group level had said). Did you remeber the time he was demoted to number 6 from top order just because of his incapability to play swing bowling some years back.

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Syed Rasel are rare exceptions of technically limited players who actually showed improvement at highest levels.

Pace has nothing to do with technique as it is a natural thing. This guy can move it both ways and has all the variations but just not blessed with pace.

Originally Posted by Miraz
And defnitely another technically deficient player is Habibul Bashar who scored more runs than anyone else and was exceptionally consistent for most part of his career.

He is technically pretty poor. He was talented with great hand eye coordination but he had a technique that's crap. Not his fault as he started his caeer in an era where they practiced in concrete pitches and frequently player matches in astro-turf. God knows how good he would have been if he had the guidance that Tamim, Shakib are having.

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Farhad Reza’s ability to bowl at 135 to 140 KMPH as we gleefully revisit our childhood faith in the Tooth Fairy, again mesmerized by the wisdom trickling down from the wise men above.

Who knows, maybe the interestingly named Marshall Ayub*, not quite good enough to feature well in domestic First Class cricket, is indeed the next Shane Warne?

Quite distasteful. Just because some one said something unknowigly doesn't mean you have to make fun of it all the time.

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Or Iftekhar Nayeem Ahmed, not good enough to be in the U-19 squad bound for Pakistan, is the next Brian Charles Lara?

BTW he is technically more correct than his brother and Tamim. Have you ever seen him bat?

[Mohiul]

Shohel bhai whatever extent your support for Kapali is, can I please let you remember the following thing:

# He was selected in the team as a bowler not as a batesman
# In the first innings he made a half century, if I'm not wrong, which I think was a fluke.

[sadi]

Hmmm a little too long for me to read the whole thing. For me, it is too early to dismiss him. He can definitely perform and come back. Since I haven't seen him bat much, I will hold the technique judgement till I see a little bit of him.

[abu2abu]

Miraz bhai, with respect you can have all the phone numbers in the world, but it doesn't matter what any of the coaches, what matters is performances. And on the few occassion that Nazimuddin has been selected for bangladesh (even if they were merely T20 matches) he has singularly failed to deliver. I saw him bat in the World T20 and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

The pundits can get it wrong too, I remember the great Richie Benaud enthusing about the West Indies' Ricardo Powell, whatever happened to him? ...

[Miraz]

Originally Posted by abu2abu
Miraz bhai, with respect you can have all the phone numbers in the world, but it doesn't matter what any of the coaches, what matters is performances. And on the few occassion that Nazimuddin has been selected for bangladesh (even if they were merely T20 matches) he has singularly failed to deliver. I saw him bat in the World T20 and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

The pundits can get it wrong too, I remember the great Richie Benaud enthusing about the West Indies' Ricardo Powell, whatever happened to him? ...

Please don't weigh too much on Twenty20 performance. He carried Bangladesh single handedly on his shoulder in the T20 internationals in Kenya but could not handle the pressure of a bigger event.

Give him some time, he is a far better player than many "talented" labeled player.

The discussion here is about his technique, the people who are playing with him or training him can better judge the technique than anyone else until we see the video footage with close range analysis. Talk with them and you will have your idea.

[abu2abu]

I'm all for giving him a secnd chance, but right now I think it's right for the likes of Junaid et al being ahead of him in the pecking order. I just suspect he'll be rubbish. I hope I'm wrong...

[Rubu]

Was not able to finish on first attempt. I'll give it a second one, but all these effort to just try to make Kapali look good? I feel pity.

As I said before and will say it again:

01. talent is a mean to an end, performance. without performance talent is as useless as 'bodna/lota' without water.
02. The science of measuring performance is stat. Ignoring stat and going with belief is like ignoring medicine for maleria and washing the patient's face with the first ash of the day after cooking.
03. What is talent? Ability to perform. If someone cannot perform, he does not have talent as simple as that.
04. If 'someone' cannot perform in 5 years, he can never perform. Five years is a long time to know if someone can or cannot perform.
05. The question that always puzzled me was what is it in Kapali that fools so many people? Then it stucked me. Its the look. Even if he completely misses a ball, he can pretend like he left it on purpose. This is what decieves so many and he can creates the impression that he is able to do things that he is not. In simple words, his talents would have been much better suited in FDC than in cricket.
06. What else? its the same story again and again. His one 89* was a "jhoray bok" that worked as a beginner's luck.
07. His stats look much better that what it is, because of the game situation. yes, in this case, the actual observation does come handy WITH stat. He always used to come down the order at 6/7 when the game is already dead and the opponents are taking it easy. He took advantage of that and that is why those few fifties at the early part of the game. The only thing he ever did for Bangladesh cricket's win was one against Kenya. So, his first 29 game was nothing special at all, it only 'looks' somewhat specail.
08. its like that kid who fails in every class but his parents think it is because of the school. Wake up!

[akabir77]

Originally Posted by Rubu
Was not able to finish on first attempt. I'll give it a second one, but all these effort to just try to make Kapali look good? I feel pity.

As I said before and will say it again:

01. talent is a mean to an end, performance. without performance talent is as useless as 'bodna/lota' without water.
02. The science of measuring performance is stat. Ignoring stat and going with belief is like ignoring medicine for maleria and washing the patient's face with the first ash of the day after cooking.
03. What is talent? Ability to perform. If someone cannot perform, he does not have talent as simple as that.
04. If 'someone' cannot perform in 5 years, he can never perform. Five years is a long time to know if someone can or cannot perform.
05. The question that always puzzled me was what is it in Kapali that fools so many people? Then it stucked me. Its the look. Even if he completely misses a ball, he can pretend like he left it on purpose. This is what decieves so many and he can creates the impression that he is able to do things that he is not. In simple words, his talents would have been much better suited in FDC than in cricket.
06. What else? its the same story again and again. His one 89* was a "jhoray bok" that worked as a beginner's luck.
07. His stats look much better that what it is, because of the game situation. yes, in this case, the actual observation does come handy WITH stat. He always used to come down the order at 6/7 when the game is already dead and the opponents are taking it easy. He took advantage of that and that is why those few fifties at the early part of the game. The only thing he ever did for Bangladesh cricket's win was one against Kenya. So, his first 29 game was nothing special at all, it only 'looks' somewhat specail.
08. its like that kid who fails in every class but his parents think it is because of the school. Wake up!

This is not a kapali thread please don't make one...

[Rubu]

Originally Posted by akabir77
This is not a kapali thread please don't make one...

I disagree, it is a kapali thread. As I explained before, it is an effort to make Kapali look good (actually clearly stated) but showing that others are even worse. Nice try, but .....

[Niceman70]

I think its the expectation that killing his performance.

[akabir77]

I miss vladi Mamu...

[Miraz]

And finally...

Many members here in BC - and for good enough reasons I might add - tend to form solid as opposed to merely speculative opinions about Bangladeshi players based on statistics alone.

This is another plain rubbish.

Most of the opinions made by BC members about different national team players are based on visual observations through watching them through Television coverages, numerous action replay (not by claiming that they have watched them on the field using binoculars and was able to judge every feet movement) and they use career statistics as a tool to prove their point.

Most BC members follow Bangladesh team closely and watch national team matches since ICC Trophy 1997 (either on net or through subscription channels). After a match is over, one can only recollect the information through memories, scorecards, statsguru or cricketarchive resources.

Making such allegation is simply stupid and only shows the poor taste of the person concerned.

[Sohel]

Better questions to ask, IMHO, would’ve been: -

1. What were Syed Rasel’s technical limitations when he started off?

2. How has he improved?

3. What are the issues he faces now?

The aforementioned questioned would require a bit of good faith I have sadly come not to expect from certain poster(s). Responding to bad faith with reason is akin to talking to a sentient wall that doesn’t get it simply because it refuses to, but I will try to give my take on the matter. But before that, a thing or two about “swinging it both ways”: if the phrase refers to Rasel’s ability to swing the ball A BIT at will, and still a bit better than that under the right conditions - meaning a combination of a moisture in the air and the right crosswind – yes he can certainly swing it both ways a bit like all medium pacers.

If on the other hand, refers to REALLY swinging it both ways like Wasim Akram, then I must remind everyone that Rasel simply does not have the pace to do that. During this NCL, we have seen Mashrafe, Dollar and Sajidul do it significantly better, with youngster Rubel Hossain generating the most dramatic swings of them all. In fact Rubel’s reverse swing is indeed something to see. The young man is REMARKABLY hostile, sprints down his run up with aggression, and bends his back harder than any Bangladeshi pacer I’ve seen. I pray that he will continue to improve, steady his ship, become more physically and mentally fit to bowl longer over with discipline and become our own Fidel Edwards with that high sling action of his. Now to the responses.

1. When Rasel started out, his bowling action was not nearly ‘tall’ enough to generate any extra bounce at all in wickets where Mashrafe generated quite a bit of bounce. He was also bowled out by his Captain 10 straight, not only because of HaBa being Captain Blasé, but also because he tended to lose his rhythm after the 5th over onwards, and the gradually the tightness of his line and length as a consequence. He also did not ‘script’ his bowling well by manipulating not only the pace and torsion of his delivery, but also by bowling from the same angle. He started off an effective ODI bowler whose effectiveness started to wane as the end of his quota neared.

2. By the time the ODI World Cup rolled around, we saw a Rasel who is not only bowling ‘taller’ and generating more bounce, but also a SMARTER Rasel who used slight angular variations to generate more movement off the seam as well as a bit of extra zing to his swings. I’d say he also picked up a bit more pace and started to use the subsequently better swing very effectively in his ‘script’ to dupe opposition batsmen into a false sense of security, then surprise them into both forced and unforced errors. His rhythm also improved quite a bit, and became more sustainable over the 10-over quota.

T20WC was a tournament made for Rasel who became, IMHO, one of the best, most disciplined and lethal 4 over bowlers in the tournament. In every delivery he gave 110% of his mind, body and soul, and it showed much to our pride and pleasure.

By the time the NCL rolled around, we SAW and CONTINUE TO SEE an ever smarter Rasel who is struggling less bowling longer spells consistently. He went from 5 to 7 to 10 overs of steady and sustainable economical bowling with regular surprise deliveries, comebacks and therefore wickets. Now he can bowl bang on target from his ball 1 to ball 60. Bowling more than 10 continue to be a problem with him.

3. Rasel continues to have problems mentally and physically with longer spells as aptly demonstrated by an unusual number of extras he tends to concede as the day goes on. Unlike Shahadat Hossain, Suman Saha, Sajidul Islam and from what I hear Shubhashish Roy who take their time to find their rhythm and line and get better as the game rolls on, Rasel tends to lose his grip on both his discipline and his scripting as he bowls more and more overs. The more physically tired he gets, the more uncharacteristically erratic he becomes.

Perhaps because of Mashrafe’s absence during the last Khulna match, I heard that he was trying to bend his back trying to generate extra pace and ended up conceding more uncharacteristic extras, and also losing whatever extra movement he was getting off the seam. I have no doubts that he will pick up a bit more pace with all subsequent extras over time once he learns to consistently torque his upper body while bowling tall, rather than losing what he has by bending his back. I also think that as his physical and mental stamina continue to improve, so will his scripting. I expect him to be as essential to our test side as he is to our shorter version sides a lot sooner than we anticipate. Rasel’s biggest strength has always been a combination of his masterful use of what he has, his intelligence, and the ability to learn quicker than most, and I DON’T expect that to change.

Last word on the bad faith of soothsayers: -