West Indies mauls the Tigers
Photo: STAR
On a humid evening at Sher e Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, West Indies gave an all round display showing Bangladesh how cricket should be played at the international level. Before even the spectators settled in their seats, the Tigers had lost three wickets for one run on an absolutely placid surface. First it was Imrul Kayes, playing only his third delivery, who cut and edged to make it 1 for 1. Then Tamim chased and sliced the second ball he faced to third man--an absolutely irresponsible shot under any condition, and a sheer criminal offense at that stage of the game, when the other opener had already been gone. Talking of irresponsibility, the worst was yet to come. Mohammad Ashraful, who seems to have a permanent place in Bangladesh side notwithstanding his performance, opened the face of his bat and scooped the ball straight to second slip. That was only the fifth ball he was playing. One wonders why this man is even in the team. Former skipper Shakib arrived with a mindset that he was going to put those upstart WI bowlers to their place. He viciously counterattacked; his first two boundaries were treat to watch. If Bangladesh score of 220 had any respectability, it was solely due to the new captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who arrested the collapse from the other end and rebuilt the innings with Alok Kapali, Naeem Islam, and then Nasir Hossain. The captain top scored with 69, while Nasir made 50. None except Shakib showed any class in bowling. Both Saiful and Raqibul bowled delivery after delivery short of length, pitching predictably. They never attacked the wickets. At the end, WI overhauled the Tigers only with the loss of two wickets. It is difficult to understand why Bangladesh pays for any coaching service, when the players make the same mistakes over and over again, never learning from those. Bangladesh selectors should give serious consideration about the non performing players.
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