Just Cricket

Friday, November 25, 2011

Ahsraful axed, Reza given recall

Farhad Reza last played for Bangladesh in 2008

Farhad Reza

Mohammad Ashraful has been dropped from Bangladesh's squad for the limited-overs leg of their upcoming home series against Pakistan. Allrounder Farhad Reza, who has not played for Bangladesh since 2008, has been recalled to the squad. Shuvagata Hom and Suhrawadi Shuvo also do not find places in the XV, while Elias Sunny, who took seven wickets on Test debut, has been included . Vice-captain Mahmudullah, who missed the ODI series against West Indies due to illness, returns to the squad.

Ashraful had been left out of the squad for the two home Tests against West Indies and now finds himself out of the one-day setup as well. He has been given several opportunities over the last year despite his poor form but his ODI statistics are woeful: his last ODI half-century was in January 2010, and since then he has averaged 10.11 in 18 one-day innings with a highest score of 31. Ashraful recently scored a first-class century - his first in more than a year - but it was not enough to earn him a place in the squad.

Reza is one of the players who joined the ICL in 2008 and was subsequently banned by the BCB for ten years. That ban was lifted when he, along with several other Bangladesh players, severed ties with the rebel league in 2009. He is a part of the Bangladesh A squad that is currently in the West Indies and took three wickets with his medium-pace in the second unofficial Test against West Indies A.

Hom and Shuvo are also part of the Bangladesh A squad in the West Indies. Hom has struggled for runs but Shuvo took 16 wickets over the two four-day games. However, Sunny and Razzak, who was dropped for the Tests against West Indies but has taken 25 wickets in three first-class games since, have been preferred over him for the left-arm spin department.

Bangladesh will play a one-off Twenty20 against Pakistan on November 29 followed by three ODIs.

Mushfiqur Rahim will lead the squad, which has five top-order batsmen including himself, five allrounders, two specialist spinners and three fast bowlers. Shafiul Islam returns to lead the pace department after missing the Tests against West Indies with a foot injury. Alok Kapali and Imrul Kayes have been persisted with despite their poor returns against West Indies.

Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Mahmudullah (vice-capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Alok Kopali, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Elias Sunny, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees (for ODI series only)

Five Australia Players out of 1st Test

Shane Watson, Ryan Harris, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins Ruled out

Shaun Marsh

Shane Watson, Ryan Harris, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins will all miss Australia's first Test against New Zealand, scheduled to start from December 1 in Brisbane. All five players are carrying injuries and will be unavailable for selection, Cricket Australia have announced.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

World Twenty20 plans begin here

Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul are the top two wicket-takers in Twenty20 internationals

Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul

Twenty20 might have become the origin of everything that is bad (or good, depending on your affiliation) about cricket, but the international Twenty20 game has had almost no role to play in that development. Consider these stats: we have had 32 Tests so far in 2011 and 139 ODIs - a number inflated by the World Cup, no doubt - but only a piddling 19 Twenty20 internationals. Comparing that number against the 74 fixtures IPL 2011 alone had, gives you even better perspective of the space T20Is occupy.

T20Is have been reduced to irrelevant one- or two-match series, shoe-horned at either end of long bilateral tours. The stakes are so low that teams don't take these games seriously. A part of the reason is the quirky scheduling of the World Twenty20. Initially planned as a biannual event that would lend context to the format, it made three London-bus appearances in four years, before hibernating out of our conscious. The next edition will be held in September 2012 in Sri Lanka, and teams will want to start drawing up plans now, after a year dominated by the World Cup and a clutch of marquee Test series.

Sri Lanka haven't looked like winning anything in the longer formats since the World Cup. Indeed, they have lost all their Test and ODI series since then. However, in that same period, they have been unbeaten in Twenty20s, and are in the middle of an impressive sequence of five successive wins. They will be desperate to extend that run and build momentum in the lead-up to the World Twenty at home, even as they seek succour from their reversals in the other formats.

Pakistan have always impressed in Twenty20s, a six-match losing run last year notwithstanding. They have won the World Twenty20 once, and made the final and the semi-finals on the other two occasions. Their fortunes next year will hinge on how the team responds to Misbah-ul-Haq's leadership. His safety-first method has been an unequivocal success in the Test and ODI versions, but it remains to be seen whether it will work in Twenty20s.

Most Recent Results:

Pakistan: W W L W L
Sri Lanka: W W W W W

Misbah-ul-Haq is now known for his equanimity as much as his poetic forward defence. He has moulded the Pakistan side in his own image, leading to the increasing popularity of the hash-tag #TeamMisbah on Twitter. When he first announced himself, Misbah was anything but the obdurate middle-order milker that he has become now. He lit up the inaugural World Twenty20 with a bunch of audacious innings that took Pakistan to within a shot of glory. Which version of Misbah will be on display in this game?

At various points during the tour Tillakaratne Dilshan has looked tired, indignant, sad and frustrated. By the end of the ODI series, with his form and his side's fortunes in a seemingly terminal slump, his dominant expression seemed to suggest resignation. The chance to thrash it around in the shortest format should lift his spirits; on Friday, no one will question his shot-selection if he gets out playing those loose on-the-up heaves.

Team news

In Mahela Jayawardene's absence, Sri Lanka might be forced to open with Dinesh Chandimal, unless Upul Tharanga gets a look in. Given his poor ODI form, that is unlikely.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Dinesh Chandimal, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Chamara Silva, 5 Dimuth Karunaratne, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Dilruwan Perera/Kosala Kulasekara, 9 Thisara Perara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 10 Dilhara Fernando

Pakistan have 14 fit players in their squad, of which Abdur Rehman and Sarfraz Ahmed are almost sure to miss out.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Farhat/Asad Shafiq, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Akmal (wk), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Aizaz Cheema, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal

Stats and trivia

There's a Pakistan traffic-jam at the head of the list of leading wicket-takers in the format. Shahid Afridi has 53, followed by Umar Gul (47) and Saeed Ajmal (45). How Sri Lanka would have loved to have No. 4 on that list - Ajantha Mendis - fit and available.
Dilshan is one of only five T20I centurions. Jayawardene is another, but like Mendis, he isn't around for this game

Quotes

"It will be a new game on Friday and a change of format, so I hope the players lift themselves."
Tillakaratne Dilshan hopes a change in format will lead to a change in fortunes
"He still has a lot of cricket in him and just needs one innings to get back in touch."
Misbah-ul-Haq backs Shoaib Malik to come good soon

Khalil replaces injured Junaid

Junaid Khan took 12 wickets in the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE

Junaid Khan

Mohammad Khalil, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited left-arm seamer, has been named as Junaid Khan's replacement in Pakistan's Test, ODI and Twenty20 squads for the Bangladesh tour. Khalil, who has not played for Pakistan since 2005, got the call-up after Junaid picked up a partial strain in his abdominal muscle during Pakistan's one-day series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.

Khalil, 29, is currently the joint-leading wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One, with 43 wickets from seven games. Twenty-one-year-old left-arm quick Sadaf Hussain, who also has 43 wickets in the current season, has been ignored, while Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz continue to be left out.

Mohammad Ilyas, Pakistan's interim chief selector, said it had been a tough decision and made special mention of Sadaf, saying he would be given an opportunity at some stage. "We had a four-hour deliberation to choose Junaid's replacement out of four potential bowlers and Khalil's name was finalised by consensus of the team management and the national selection committee," Ilyas told ESPNcricinfo.

"It was a tough call. They [the four candidates] all have talent but we had to choose one. It is a positive sign that we have such strong bench strength. Those who were not selected should not be discouraged, especially Sadaf. He is a future prospect and definitely will be handed a chance, but at the right time. This time Khalil was the best option. He is in the best form and condition of his career and has taken most of his [domestic] wickets against good teams."

The first time Khalil was picked in a Pakistan squad was for the Test series against Bangladesh in 2003-04. He didn't get a game then but played three ODIs and a Test on the tour of Australia in 2004-05. He managed five wickets in the ODIs but went wicketless in the Test and again failed to get a wicket when he played the Kolkata Test on Pakistan's 2005 tour of India. He went back to domestic cricket and finished the 2010-11 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the third-highest wicket-taker with 61 wickets at an average of 19.24.

Junaid is out of cricket for six weeks after he sustained a partial tear in his abdominal muscle while bowling during the fifth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. He will have to undergo rest and then rehabilitation. Junaid impressed in the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, taking 12 wickets over the three Tests. He was left out for the first four ODIs but replaced Cheema for the dead rubber in Abu Dhabi. He bowled just three overs before leaving the field after experiencing pain in his abdomen. He was taken to hospital for an MRI scan and it was discovered he had a partial tear in his right abdominal muscle that will need six-weeks recovery time.

Khalil joins Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Talha in the pace department for the Tests in Bangladesh, while the ODI squad has Sohail Tanvir along with Gul and Cheema.

Abdul Razzaq, the experienced allrounder, is also a doubt for the Bangladesh tour after he picked up a right shoulder injury in the third ODI against Sri Lanka. The PCB have not yet named a replacement for him.

The tour of Bangladesh begins with a one-off Twenty20 in Mirpur on November 29, after which there will be three ODIs and two Tests.