Rajib

[Sham]

I am starting to feel that Rajib is going to bowl too short and try to bowl too quick in England. Mashrafe might do the same, but he is smart enough and experienced enough as a Test bowler to learn to adjust if things don't work. Rajib on the other hand is a little too raw still in my view. I like his aggression and the fact that he wants to bowl quick, but that will backfire in England unless he bowls cleverly. Even if he doesn't want to worry about swing, he needs to atleast give the ball a chance to swing by bowling a good length. But he is going to get carried away and bowl short and Tresco and Strauss will murder him. Anyway, hope my fears are unfounded, but I wouldnt be surprised if on the eve of the first test, we all agree that either Talha or Monir are better options to play as the third seamer.

[TheWatcher]

I think BCB should hire a coach for quickies in England to fix this kind of problems.

Edited on, May 3, 2005, 8:19 PM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[rockpundit]

I am totally against Rajib being played in any of the major matches this series since it could really end up harming his career.Although I hope that he is played in the warmup matches.

BTW, could anyone please give me an accurate statement of what his pace might be...

[Rubu]

I don't think its a big deal IF rajib has a cricketer's head, which needless to mention, is a prereq for being a cricketer.

first off, rajib is not going to play the tests right away, he has a few practice matches to go past before those. and if he is seen to be constantly bowling short pitch dav and co. will not include him in the final squad. being formar county coach, he knows what will happen if bowled short. he'll pick the 3 that are most useful out of five.
secondly, talking about cricketing head, he should realize that ahead of the match or even during the match by looking at his seniors taposh and mashrafee.

the real problem is, talha or munir does not look any better to me than rajib.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

Originally posted by rockpundit
I am totally against Rajib being played in any of the major matches this series since it could really end up harming his career.Although I hope that he is played in the warmup matches.

BTW, could anyone please give me an accurate statement of what his pace might be...

i dont think rajib will play in the first test match. there might be a chance for him to play in the second test match if the third seamer performs horribly. but the thing is the third seamer is either talha and monir. and i dont have trust in any of these two. rajib is truly a potential but as you hav said he is not experienced.

[aosaif]

rajib is surrounded by seniors, unlike when mashrafe came in and had no one to look to for advice on bowling. I think mashrafe and rajib will complement each other. No, a hammering will not destroy rajib's career. That's a very negative view. One thing is clear, we are gaining depth in our resources, but we haven't reached that stage where cricketers are well refined before entering the international arena.

[aosaif]

On another note, mashrafe will be as fearless as harmison on the pitch, if not, even more fearless.

[shaoun]

first of all masrafee is no where near harrison. i dont think he is even in the same league as him. as far as rajib goes i think he will do pretty well in england. he got seniors like masrafee and taposh backing him up. i think rajib has the potential to be a great bowler.

[TheWatcher]

I hope we are not putting too much pressure on Mashrafee, someone else better support him on the other end.

Edited on, May 4, 2005, 12:21 AM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

dont worry taposh knows his duty very well. he is the best back up for mashrafee. they are like a very good pair. mashrafee has the ability to get wickets while taposh has the ability to hold the nerves of the batsman by not letting them take any runs.

[aosaif]

Originally posted by shaoun
first of all masrafee is no where near harrison. i dont think he is even in the same league as him. as far as rajib goes i think he will do pretty well in england. he got seniors like masrafee and taposh backing him up. i think rajib has the potential to be a great bowler.

Yes masrafe is nowhere near harmison. I just said he was going to be fearless on the field. There are bowlers who bowl with fear, and masrafe is never going to be one of them.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

thik buzhlam na ashole aikhane ki bola hochhe. aktu shoja bhashay bolben. dannabad.

[Sham]

Originally posted by aosaif

Yes masrafe is nowhere near harmison. I just said he was going to be fearless on the field. There are bowlers who bowl with fear, and masrafe is never going to be one of them.

I would rather have Mashrafe in my team than Harmison, and coming from me (rather than someone like our Dukha) thats a statement! Harmison might be quicker and more lethal when he gets it right, but he is a cry baby at the end of the day. Everything has to be right for him to bowl well, and if he starts off poorly, thats the end of it for him as far as that spell, innings, match goes! We usually talk about Taposh bowling his heart out for Bangladesh because he has limited talent but really gives it his all, but lets not forget, Mashrafe does the same. It just doesnt look that way because he is more talented. Its like everytime Nasser Hussain scored a hundred, it really looked like a fighting innings, whereas if someone like Mark Waugh had scored the same hundred on the same pitch and against the same opposition, he would have made it look easy!

Now going back to Rajib, yes he has more experienced bowlers to look up to. And that will definitely help. But people like Taposh and Mashrafe can only give him general guidance. When he is at the top of his run-up, he still has to bowl the next ball. Now commentators and fans make the whole thing sound very simple by saying things like, he should bowl on off-stump, he should bowl short of a length, he should bowl on the corridor of uncertainty blah blah blah.

But when one is faced with the prospect of bowling an over to a top class batsman, its hardly that simple. These are guys who will punish you for straying even a little bit and all of them are different. He won't have to bowl all that short for Tresco or Strauss to pull him, he won't have to bowl all that full for Vaughan to go on the drive or bowl all that leg-side for Thorpe to pick him off his legs. He can't go up to Mashrafe every ball and ask for help. He needs to think on his feet, figure out how the batsmen are trying to play him and adjust accordingly. I am sorry but those who are suggesting that he can get over his inexperience and rawness by just staring at Mashrafe and Taposh don't know what you are talking about. Pakistan produced a lot of really quick bowlers in the 1990s who bowled with the Ws, but how many of them became greats?

Rajib might be a quick learner, we just don't know it yet. All I am saying is, we should only take him in the Tests if he can prove that he is damn well ready! We shouldn't take him just because of the hype after the Zimbabwe A series after which most of us have already given him the title of third seamer. I can see that on the 26th of May, if Talha or Monir is in the team instead of Rajib, some people are going to throw a fit.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

very nice analysis sham. man u r very good with the keyboard.
very good comments. u have explained things very well. and most importently i agree with what you said.

[Sham]

Thanks FRB, kintu apni proshongsha ta banglai korle kintu aro khushi hotam!

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

jaihok,
sham bhai,
ai forum ar tini kintu akjon advisor orthat bibhinno bishoye, bishesh kore bangladesher cricket bishoye tini tar guruttopurno motamot ebong upodesh diye thaken. ai matro tini kintu besh akti guruttopurno kotha bollen ai dharabashho box a bangladesher torun udioyoman bolwer rajib shommondhe. tar kothagulo kintu okkhore okkhore shotto bole ami mone kori.
shudhu mashrafee ba taposh keno, doler onnanno senior shodoshhoder kach thekeo kintu tini upodesh nite paren. tobe hai apni kintu thiki bolechen je bastob dik chinta korle proti bole kintu eta akta oshombhob beppar. karon shesh porjonto bolta kintu tar hatai ashbe. ebong shesh decisionta kintu takai nite hobe. orthat takai kintu ashole chinta korte hobe je bolta kothai felte hobe shesh muhurte. karon onek shomoy bolerra aita decide kore batsman ar motigoti dekhe. dannabad.

[Spitfire_x86]

I would pick Rajib over Talha or Monir any day. These two are proven failures, especially Talha.

[Zobair]

well put sham! One thing that Rajib has going for him though is his relative experience compared to Mashrafe, Tapash, Talha, Nazmul and the rest when they made their respective Test debuts. Rajib has toured England and Zimbabwe and bowled on pacer-friendly pitches and done very well. Granted bowling to the England senior team is quite a different proposition but still he is more familiar with English conditions than someone like Munir... and something tells me he will be ok.

Edited on, May 4, 2005, 5:51 AM GMT, by pompous.

[FaltuRidwanBhai]

ashole talhake thik moton chance dawa hoi nai. ebong bechara injured chilo. ashole ami nijeo tar kono bhalo performance dekhi nai. but shunsi oi naki besh bhalo bol kore.

[Sham]

Originally posted by Spitfire_x86
I would pick Rajib over Talha or Monir any day. These two are proven failures, especially Talha.

Here is a quote from McInnes for you:

"Anyone that knows anything about bowling, will tell you Talha Jubair is a class act and only needs some match experiecne and time after long term injury to produce the goods."

[couger]

Can't help but agree with Sham here. BD selector did a good job with Enamul Jr., spacing his induction into test cricket properly. A similar approach should be taken in Rajib's case. Guy's what 20, 22 years? Pleanty of time for him to shine.

[Sham]

Originally posted by couger
Can't help but agree with Sham here.

Were you trying not to? Hehe!

Officially, Rajib is still 18. He will turn 19 in August!

[aosaif]

Sham,
like everyone here, i'd like to congratulate you on a very well written piece.

the reason many want rajib in the test team (of course he must do well in the warm-ups) is that talha's been out for so long that we fear a great bashing awaits him if he plays. Also, we have little trust in munir, although coach mcinnes said that he's added swing to his artillary which may help in england (again, see what he does in the warm ups).

Rajib - no injuries, has done well so far in his career, is better than munir for sure, superfast, our pace attack needs some umph and I feel that his pace will be excellent on English tracks.

Bottom line is.....going into the warmp-ups I feel that rajib will do better than talha or munir. Whoever does well should get the place in the test squad.

[Sham]

I agree with almost everything you have said. But again, lets not write players off just yet. I haven't seen Monir, so no idea what he is all about. His one Test match went wicketless, but that shouldn't be the end of his career if he has talent. As for Talha, its all about whether he can hit rhythm. If he does, he will do well, no doubt about it. Its sometimes hard to do after you have had a few injury lay-offs. For example, he didn't hit a rhythm at all in Chittagong against India. And the pitch didn't help either. But again, one shouldn't deny the fact that he is tremendously talented. After all, people like Andy Roberts and Richard McInnes know what they are talking about even if I don't half the time.

If Rajib does well, that would be really exciting. And lets face it, there isn't one person on here who doesnt want to see him break a few ribs and take a few wickets while he is at it as well. But the transition from playing against England u19 and Zimbabwe A to Test cricket might not be as easy as some of us hope it will.

[RazabQ]

My take on the Rajib situation:

He should bowl as fast as he can and as aggressively as he can. We have Masree, Tapash, Rafique and prolly Aftab to do the line and length stuff. Rajib's role should be akin to that of Brette Lee in the Aussie side. When Lee does get in on a game, Punters tells him to go flat out and physically intimidate the opposition. If Rajib manages to do that, even if he goes for some runs - and let's face it, England _will_ get their runs - then Masree & co. can cash in on said intimidation.