Bangladesh needs to be cautious

Much has been written about Sakib's decision of fielding first after winning the toss. It is to be understood that the decision was not taken by the captain alone; rather, it was a decision of the team's think-tank. Our coach mentioned that different teams in twelve out of sixteen cases, won the match, fielding first being the reason behind it. Here, dew factor was yet another consideration for fielding first. Not to be forgotten that, many a time cricketers try to respect statistics. Again, if Tigers could have restricted India to less than 300 runs, then there would not have been so much fuss over the decision. India is otherwise known to be the best cricket team now. Empirically, many a captain faced disastrous consequences for opting to field first and similarly the same being the case for batting first. However, Bangladesh team started their Cricket World Cup journey. This is not as glorious as expected by the supporters but its performance with the bat is encouraging. Some sort of maturity has been shown by the batsmen especially by Tamim and Imrul, while Shakib played a captain's knock. But bowling, especially the pacers' performance, was not up to the mark. Other point is to be noted that teams of this subcontinent always play their spinners at ease. At the same time, our batsman also played Indian spinners well. This same spin attack could be an effective one against the teams like those of the West Indies, South Africa and England. Besides, for weakness in the fast bowling department in the absence of Mashrafee Bin Mortaza, the country's leading fast bowler, players have also shown a poor show in the batting power-play when it managed only thirty runs and lost three valuable wickets. This poor batting show during power play could be costly in the upcoming matches. In such a global tournament every opportunity must be taken, and the batting power play is one such that cannot be taken lightly. It might not be a bad idea to look outside the current playing eleven for an attempt to fix the problem in power play. Mohammad Ashraful, being in the squad at one point, must be an option. Also, one of his biggest limitations is his noticeable inability to plan an innings, but he is also one of the best stroke-players of the game -- it is just that the world gets to witness it on the rarest of occasions. Perhaps what he needs, and what the Tigers also need, is for him to be given a role that allows full expression to his most valuable asset. The lower order, with the batting power play in mind, might be the perfect position for him because he will enter the game with only one objective. Bangladesh takes on Ireland in their second Group B game of the Cricket World Cup today (Friday). Tigers should be cautious about the opponent. Even though Bangladesh made it to the "Super Eight" in 2007, but it lost an upsetting one against the Irish. So, Bangladesh should rate the team well. The other day, the Netherlands performed brilliantly against the English and thus the match against the Netherlands would not be as easy as expected. Only three wins can make it to the Quarter Finals for Bangladesh, but the team should look at it match by match, but taking any team lightly could be as costly as being left out of the tournament. The team, as a whole, has to be cautious to make it to the quarter finals successfully. The writer can be reached at e-mail: shafiq@iidfc.com