Armchair All-Rounder: Match Analysis, BD vs Aus ODI #3

[RazabQ]

Our pacers made sure we were out of the game first and then our batters batted like they ought to when _setting_ a target. Here's my breakdown of the last ODI of this series.

Australia Innings:

Yes Shane Watson is the story but the greater story is still our RANCID opening bowling. It was embarrassing to watch such poor execution of a one-dimensional strategy and then a perplexing inability to think on one's feet. First things first - IF YOU ARE NOT BOWLING 90MPH OR FASTER DO NOT BOWL HALF TRACKERS! That too on a shirt front. Every over there were at least two balls that even club cricketers would put away. Look I get it, the idea was to bowl full and wide of off stump to a) prevent Shane from mowing it to midwicket b) crashing it through cover point. But when you are not executing the plan properly or, the batsman has started to combat it by moving to off at moment of delivery, then time to move to plan B. To further prove my point, in Mash's 2nd spell he did all the things he SHOULD have done on the first spell. As for Shafiul, well he is fast proving that he can be shell-shocked! In fact he's doing his best to remind us of Tapash Baisya!

Shak and the spinners did well to bring things under control but they were let down by horrendous outcricket and lack of intelligence. And there were too few dot balls. Clark and Hussey were always going to at 6 RPO with minimum risk against one dimensional bowling. Plus there were the mandatory leg stump balls from both Shubho and Razzak.

Many, including the commentators were aghast that Kapali bowled only two overs but that was smart captaincy in my book. In those two overs there at least 2 long hops. Two didn't get hit because they were sliders or googlies and gone wrong and the newness of the bowler meant the batsman didn't know what to do. The other two were to Clark who was in goal-ghor mode and he just got himself to the other end. If Kaps had been persisted with, I can guarantee you there would have been a sky-scraper or two off his bowling.

The decision to bring Mash and Shafi back was the right decision but Shafi basically played himself off the 11 by bowling even more tripe. Mash showed all his nous but he just didn't have the juice to go the distance. In fact given the opening overs, keeping them to just 330ish was impressive on our parts.

Overall meta point: at the end of the day Bangladesh does not have the bowling to survive on flat pitches.

Our pacers are not express and do not generate prodigious reverse swing. Nor are the sufficiently skilled at mixing up their lengths and pace to out-think the batter. And they are not tall enough to get the odd lifter either to prevent the batsman from plonking down their front-foot and hitting through the line.

Our spinners do not impart enough RPMs to make the ball do anything but occasionally skid. Nor do they have sufficient mastery of flight (Shakib is the best of the lot here) to beat batsman in the air. Finally the accuracy is not there either against batsmen who use their feet. So unless the pitch is helpful, we are doomed to 350+ scores from the opponent or 25 over games (if chasing).

BD Innings:
Unlike others I'm NOT impressed with Imrul Kayes's innings. He STILL barely rotated strike. He had countless close calls. Yes he hit some clean strokes, but in between those strokes (many of which had a pre-meditated air about them) he still looked like a batsman just trying to survive. Perhaps that's what we get from IK. He's a trier and if told to go for his shots, he can sometimes pull it off, but in between there will be dot balls galore. Nafees for some reason had his timing desert him. But at least he still was attempting to rotate, play the angles etc. Jury is still out on him.

Shak and Mushy got out trying to be over ambitious. They should, with their talent, have let the game come to them before switching gears. Shak looked fidgety from the first ball.

Riyadh, for my money played his most impressive innings in a while. Again, he lookes woefully incapable of switching gears during the PP overs but at least I saw a man trying to mess with the opponents spinners by either coming down the wicket or sweeping them on both sides of the wicket. He looked busy. I do believe he is making the case for the #4 slot in a much stronger fashion than Mushy.

Our favorite comeback hero looked rusty and nervous, as is to be expected. His naturally sweet timing was not on display but in fairness to him, he came into a weird situation where he was expected to go hard from the get-go. Jury is out on him too.

Overall point:

This was a most depressing series as it showed the vast gulf that exists between us and what a top side needs. I'll go through these with where we are:

1) Explosive openers one of whom produces long innings. We have a fat hare and a snail. Fat hare usually gets himself out or is gassed by the 10th over. Snail will play the long innings but eat up so many balls that it kills any kind of momentum
2) A #3 with the gears to build or accelerate/dominate against slower bowlers. SN has the skills - he needs to do it consistently
3) A middle order that can go at 6 RPO with minimal risk and then accelerate towards the end. Shak occassionally, Mushy occassionally can do this. Riyadh can do the strike rotation but not acceleration.
4) Late order capable of brutality or pinching singles. None. Shafi could but his mind is weak, Mash is scared of pacers.
5) Pacers capable of intimidating opponents and getting breakthroughs consistently. Capable of parsimony. None.
6) Spinners, medium pacers capable of suffocating opponents and picking up wickets thus. Only on helpful pitches where opponents are playing from the crease.
7) Match winning spinners. None
8) Consistent keeping. Sometimes.
9) Wold class fielding and catching. Sometimes. Not enough strong arms to throw in from the deep, not enough speed and athleticism. Not enough fitness.

Finale Note:
I think Jamie did his bit and it is time to try something new. In an ideal world, we'd have Jamie as our Academies batting coach but unfortunately he's not gong to accept that and we don't ave that kind of cash. I wish him well.

[Zobair]

I can't remember the last time Shafiul had an impressive opening spell against a top-side in an ODI. He is much better with the old ball though.

[Night_wolf]

waiting for the rest

[Zeeshan]

ki razabda...apnar 2nd article koi...amar artikel reply to dui pej-e chole gelo...beat diye dilum re dada... (jodio 90% of those responses had to do with etymological kechkechani)

[Neel Here]

ki baje analysis, lobh dekhie razab bhai haoa !

[RazabQ]

sorry guys ... my work computer crashed - stuff was on it. Will have to re-create from scratch.... grr

[AsifTheManRahman]

Razab bhai amader shathe yaarki maarey.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by RazabQ
sorry guys ... my work computer crashed - stuff was on it. Will have to re-create from scratch.... grr

bhai, u need an external...

[RazabQ]

Updated.

[Zeeshan]

7) Match winning spinners. None

Shakib does have potential though to bloom into one. Yes I said it: "bloom"... -)

[Sohel]

I was at the SBNS and watched Imrul's batting with his BC namesake. After a typically skittish start and a couple of uncomfortable and streaky runs, he settled down and surprised us both with his beautiful batting. He rotated the strike and selected high percentage shots relatively well until reaching about 65-odd.

It was sad to see him fall short of a well-deserved 100. I hope he sustains this kind of batting and gets all the 100s he deserves.

Nafees was the one who couldn't rotate the strike or run well between the wickets, and got bogged down in the middle overs when there was no need to play the "anchor role". Nobody was hitting at the other end and he too needed to get those easy 1s and 2s being offered. His lazy running denied us about 10-12 runs.

I found Alok's much awaited return disappointing. His sissy, halfhearted shot-making was annoying. His lack of firm commitment and confidence won't take him far at all.

That being said, one magic moment in his innings was the short delivery he upper cut for four with lovely back-foot balance, right after he was rattled by a similar delivery. Showed his intelligence as a batsman and both Shagor and I were impressed.

I hope he stays fit and gets a good run in August, but until and unless he plays with the decisive authority he's capable of, I don't see him consolidating a place in international cricket and fulfilling his considerable potential there. I hope it was simply a case of the jitters too.

Agree with all the other points 100%. Wonderful analysis as usual Razab. You remain my cricket guru in BC bro

[shakibrulz]

Shakib is a match winning spinner imo. He should get ample support at the other end though.

[RazabQ]

@Sohel, after you said I went back and watched the replay of Imrul's innings on ESPN3. I also imported the ball-by-ball commentary into Excel so I could do some filtering and crosstabbing.

Here are the raw stats:
Imrul played: 46 Dot Balls out of an innings of 95 deliveries. That's a whopping 48.4%, This means for almost half his deliveries faced, he could do nothing. Compare that to Michael Hussey, a converted opener and someone I consider best in class. 22 dot balls out of 91 deliveries faced - 24.2%.

And the numbers are just part of the story. My visual takeaway was that he still went hard when he could have gone soft or did not find the gaps. Even here excel is your friend. For e.g., he was only beaten 3-4 times in his innings. This means he was seeing the ball well and the flat wicket meant there was minimum deviation so playing through the line was enough. There were 8 fullish or full toss deliveries which any batsman should be able to dab or nurdle for a single. He just pushed them straight to the fielder. Similarly 8 balls he played comfortably bu8t directly to point when 2 yards this way or that gives him a single. So on and on. Basically he still did not have a game-plan to rotate strike.

I am not saying that that SN _was_ being effective at strike rotation, but think of how he was approaching the ball and you can see he was trying to rotate. It's just that for some reason his timing totally deserted him most of the time.

Agree with you about Alok. I think what you say complements my brief commentary.

@Shakibrulz: Shak does NOT have any ODI match winning bowling performance. Think of Ajantha Mendis against India in the Asia Cup in Pakistan. The kind of innings where a bowler rips through the heart of a batting line-up. I just statsguru'd all of Shakib's 4-fers and 3-fers (the fact that he doesn't have a 5-fer is a clue) and on none of these did he break the back bone of an innings. On two of them it was Razzak who did it. Actually in the ODI format, and against lesser opponents, Razzak is the closest we have to a match-winning bowler but he just hasn't been as consistent since his action change.

[Zunaid]

Excellent analysis Razab. This also ties in with Hasib's analysis on Singles wins Matches.

We need more.

Less fluff more meat.

[Night_wolf]

again a wonderful read..thanks razab vai

[Naimul_Hd]

Originally Posted by RazabQ

Overall point:

This was a most depressing series as it showed the vast gulf that exists between us and what a top side needs. I'll go through these with where we are:

1) Explosive openers one of whom produces long innings. We have a fat hare and a snail. Fat hare usually gets himself out or is gassed by the 10th over. Snail will play the long innings but eat up so many balls that it kills any kind of momentum
2) A #3 with the gears to build or accelerate/dominate against slower bowlers. SN has the skills - he needs to do it consistently
3) A middle order that can go at 6 RPO with minimal risk and then accelerate towards the end. Shak occassionally, Mushy occassionally can do this. Riyadh can do the strike rotation but not acceleration.
4) Late order capable of brutality or pinching singles. None. Shafi could but his mind is weak, Mash is scared of pacers.
5) Pacers capable of intimidating opponents and getting breakthroughs consistently. Capable of parsimony. None.
6) Spinners, medium pacers capable of suffocating opponents and picking up wickets thus. Only on helpful pitches where opponents are playing from the crease.
7) Match winning spinners. None
8) Consistent keeping. Sometimes.
9) Wold class fielding and catching. Sometimes. Not enough strong arms to throw in from the deep, not enough speed and athleticism. Not enough fitness.

All are valid points. I wonder why these are crystal clear to us but some how our players and team management tend to miss them.

Anyway, we all know these but some one had to sum it up brilliantly and Razab bhai did it. Thanks to him.

[Sohel]

@Razab: I agree that Imrul fell short of standard especially when compared to Hussey, the best in the strike-rotation business in my opinion also. But compared to his own usual performances in the middle, he did well with some beautiful patches here and there. I guess my not-so-high expectation of him or others I similarly see as stop gap measures, makes me happier than I ought to be when they clear that proverbial bar set closer to the ground than it should be. I suppose I am biased when it comes to my own family, meaning all Bangladeshi players doing better than I realistically expected to do. Positive reinforcement for myself more than anyone else really.

That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that there is absolutely no excuse, especially for top order batsmen, for blocking full-tosses and half trackers or driving them straight to the fielder, no matter how "compactly", when gaps, including bunts, are there for the taking. That kind of pressure results in wickets and victory for the opposition. Most of our guys have a problem using the wrist and flicking singles through leg-side gaps and lazy running, coupled with the often unforced obesity-driven culture of dot-or-the-rope compound the problem. They need to be drilled in the middle, rather than in the nets, to rectify that. I saw Tamim's eyes light up when Watson talked about not wanting to run in the heat being a major factor behind his buck-wildin' 15-15. An alarming sign from a chain-smoking high-flier quietly approaching Ramesh Powar girth in all the wrong places.

Perhaps a guy with better ability such as Fazle Rabbi or Anamul Haq can perform their way into challenging Imrul for the opening slot as the more permanent opening partner for Tamim, but until that happens, we're stuck with what we have and can only hope that they can sustain improvement through small moves.

Thanks again for your comments bro

[al-Sagar]

Originally Posted by RazabQ
[B]Similarly 8 balls he played comfortably bu8t directly to point when 2 yards this way or that gives him a single. So on and on. Basically he still did not have a game-plan to rotate strike.

there are something EXCEL wont show you.

the man fielding on point was RICKY PONTING. not all the times balls were going straight to point. But Ricky was so quick to cover the ball that our batsman never risked or attempted a single when imrul was hitting towards point or 1-2 yard wither side of point. also lots of those shots were mistimed so there was not enough power to take the ball pass ricky.

Both batsman had lack of intent on taking singles even when a single was on. there were lots of cases when there was a single but imrul and nafees did not trust each other. nafees particularly looked out of breath. and lots of time he rejected easy singles, or the 2nd run where.

even when mahmudullah came there was on incident like this. nafess and mahmudullah completed a first run. in a similar situation before nafees sent back imrul for the 2nd run, so mahmudullah expected nafees wont accept the 2nd run. so mahmudullah slowed down at the end of first run and when he looked back he was surprised to see that nafess already run one third for the second run.

so actually we have three problems.

1. technically we cannot make that slight adjustment in our shots so a ball is not straight at the fielder.
2. even if we are technically able to do we are not mentally ready make that extra effort or slight adjustment.
3. even if the balls are slight away from fielder we hesitate and we loss a few seconds and the opponent fielders cover the distance and we loss our chance.

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by offstump
there are something EXCEL wont show you.

the man fielding on point was RICKY PONTING. not all the times balls were going straight to point. But Ricky was so quick to cover the ball that our batsman never risked or attempted a single when imrul was hitting towards point or 1-2 yard wither side of point. also lots of those shots were mistimed so there was not enough power to take the ball pass ricky.

Both batsman had lack of intent on taking singles even when a single was on. there were lots of cases when there was a single but imrul and nafees did not trust each other. nafees particularly looked out of breath. and lots of time he rejected easy singles, or the 2nd run where.

even when mahmudullah came there was on incident like this. nafess and mahmudullah completed a first run. in a similar situation before nafees sent back imrul for the 2nd run, so mahmudullah expected nafees wont accept the 2nd run. so mahmudullah slowed down at the end of first run and when he looked back he was surprised to see that nafess already run one third for the second run.

so actually we have three problems.

1. technically we cannot make that slight adjustment in our shots so a ball is not straight at the fielder.
2. even if we are technically able to do we are not mentally ready make that extra effort or slight adjustment.
3. even if the balls are slight away from fielder we hesitate and we loss a few seconds and the opponent fielders cover the distance and we loss our chance.

So true Shagor.

[RazabQ]

@Offstump - all valid points. I should point out that the Excel data was basically to back up what I was seeing and not the other way round.

Does anyone know anything other than brute force method to get every ball faced by our batters? I would like to see if there has been any upward curve (accounting for form).

[Zeeshan]

razab bhai akasher chad koi? chad chara to artikel jome na... and i don't mean California surfer boy Chad.

[RazabQ]

gopal - bujhlam na

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by RazabQ
gopal - bujhlam na

From Imrul Payesh thread...

ক্রিকেটে কখনো কখনো কুসংস্কারটাই সংস্কার। ইমরুল কায়েসের লক্ষ্যের কথাও না হয় আমরা না-ই জানলাম। এটা তো সত্যি, মেহেরপুরের সাগরই আজ ইমরুল কায়েস। ইমরুল কায়েসও এর পর কিছু একটা হবেন নিশ্চয়। কী হবেন, ইমরুলকে সেটা না জিজ্ঞেস করে আসুন আমরা আকাশের দিকে তাকিয়ে থাকি। চাঁদ উঠলে তো সবাই দেখবই।

[lamisa]

boss, i was wondering, y can't bc hire a reporter to just stick to the national team so that we don't get misleading info. here like we sometimes do?

[lamisa]

i just read the entire analysis. good one!!!