Cornered Shakib And Tamim Can Give West Indies Anxious Moments

What actually happened in Bangladeshcricket after the Zimbabwehad been unexpected and pathetic. To think a Bangladeshside without Shakib being the captain is quite impossible to think for manyShakib and Bangladeshcricket fans. But the world moves on and in course of time the Caribbeanare again visiting Bangladeshafter almost nine years. The last time they visited our country in 2002, theycompletely blew us away.

But two years ago on their own backyard the Tigers hadbeaten the Caribbean in both Test and ODIs. Shakib ledfrom the front and the rest of the team responded to their captain’s dynamism asit had been a Bangladeshi swansong.

But as time progressed things have changed. Shakib is notthe captain any more and under the young Mushfiqur Rahim the Tigers arepreparing to take on the West Indies. In a sense the West Indies are clearly the favourites and with a poor Test record, offfield chaos and recent dismal performances under their belt, Bangladeshwill start the series with butterfly in their stomach.

The West Indies under Sammy will landin Bangladeshi soil to payback the Tigers which they did to the Caribbeanin 2009. Their recent shock win over the English at the Oval in the T20 hasdone a world of good for them in terms of confidence boosting while Bangladeshhas nothing such positives under their belt to start the Test series. Again,the West Indians had been good against both Indiaand Pakistan intheir home series and they do have the spices to topple Bangladesh.

But should Bangladeshjust wait for the Calypso beat tuned in to start the destruction music toannihilate them?

Before the start of the Caribbeanmission the Tigers are preparing with longer version match which should havebeen done before the ZimbabweTest match. It’s a good move and with this the selectors will be able to judgewhom to pick and whom to ignore. The Bangladeshi batting is a headache and itsinconsistency has been a matter of upset for all of us. It still is dependenton two golden boys of Bangladeshcricket: Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan.

BCB and its highest officials might have ditched them butmind you there will no short of commitment from them. Both of the men will givetheir best to essay another 2009. If Tamim and Shakib’s bat can notch bigscores then if the others just support that score with good totals then thebatting can press a glimpse of hope.

The Tigers’ main strength is bowling and it’s being led bythe majestic Shakib Al Hasan. He is being hurt, he is being insulted and he isbeing ignored from a role in which he is best equipped with. But if he gets thecherry in his hands there will be one thing in his mind which is to get theopposition wickets. Over the years Shakib’s bowling has been proven critical intaking crucial wickets and his arm balls have been handy for even the very bestin the business.

It will be interesting to see how Mushfiqur uses Shakib. Hemust take more and more advises from his seniors and while setting the field hemust ask his bowlers with what sort of field he wants to bowl with. Mushfiqmust use Shakib intelligently. Shakib should be used in combination with RubelHossain’s pace which is suppose give the opposition batsmen clueless and torridmoments.

I am not sure on what combination the selectors or the coachwill come up with but I would suggest keeping Shahriar Nafees in the team andgiving the young Shuvagata Hom a chance by not wasting any more time on MohamamdAshraful. The young lad deserves a place and so far he has proved his worth toclaim a place in the side.

Tough challenge ahead for the young Mushfiqur Rahim as manyfans in Bangladesh still think he is not ready for the tough assignment. Butthe tough persons prove critics wrong with strong performances. If Rahim has toshut the critic’s mouth then he has to deliver the best both as a captain andas a player.

Lastly, the West Indies are thefavourites but a determined and cornered Shakib and Tamim can shake the Caribbean. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar