Australia, Bangladesh fight for survival

               Australia, Bangladesh fight for survival

Big picture

Following the wintry weather of Dharamsala, Australia hope to thaw their World Twenty20 campaign in the warmer surrounds of Bangalore. Faced with an opponent in Bangladesh who have never beaten them in the format, and aided by the harsh lessons of their opening game against a crafty and resourceful New Zealand, Steven Smith's team will be confident of doing so. Nevertheless, the World T20 is a fleeting experience - the coach Darren Lehmann has said "it's so quick you haven't got too much time to think about it" - and one false move will mean virtual elimination inside two games.

Continuity has long been a problem for Australia in T20, and the New Zealand defeat raised the prospect of still more shuffling. Smith's men have been almost universally blind-sided by the tournament's preponderance of slow and turning surfaces well removed from the kinds of inviting surfaces thy have grown used to in the IPL, and must quickly find a way to prosper against the spinning ball given Bangladesh will not be short of slow men. Team balance is also an issue, with Aaron Finch on the fringes of the team and a second spinner in Ashton Agar who was seemingly picked without much expectation from the selectors that he would be needed. A little stability would not go astray, given how the Australians must now try to build momentum over the next two games before they meet India in the final qualifying match.

Bangladesh have meanwhile been waylaid by the banning of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for illegal bowling actions. Aside from the trauma of being ejected from the competition, they have presented the coach Chandika Hathurusingha with his own selection conundrum about who comes in. The batting allrounder Shuvagata Hom and left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib are their likely replacements, the latter chosen for the first time. The fact both men bowl spin will be a reminder of what this tournament is calling for: by the end of Monday night Australia and Bangladesh will know whether they stand a chance of finding the right combination for it.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

Australia LWWLL

Bangladesh LWWLW

Watch out for

A top score of 44 in five innings since Australia clicked into T20 mode represents something of a slump for Steven Smith, the first real dip of his Australian captaincy. It has maintained a mediocre T20 record, and he will hope not to be found wandering down the pitch to be stumped again as he was against New Zealand. Smith has made a lot of the idea that Australia have a modular and flexible batting and bowling line-up for this event, but the lack of stability seems to have affected his batting and the confidence of others. Joe Root and Virat Kohli have put their stamp on this competition already: as a vaunted contemporary, Smith needs to do likewise for Australia.

It has been a long time since Mushfiqur Rahim made a decent T20 score for Bangladesh - not since his 47 against Australia at the last World T20 in 2014 in fact. At his best a wicketkeeper batsman of considerable verve, Mushfiqur's diminishing returns have been unsettling for his country's middle order, meaning others have had to take up a little too much slack. Hathurusingha has suggested the Mushfiqur is over thinking things somewhat, and a clear-headed display against Australia would provide a welcome change.

Team news

Darren Lehmann has opened up the possibility that Aaron Finch may be squeezed back into the side, while Ashton Agar could pay for his rusty over costing 18 against New Zealand by making way for Josh Hazlewood.

Australia (probable): 1 Shane Watson, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 David Warner, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Peter Nevill (wk), 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Bangladesh must find replacements for the banned duo of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny, both ruled out due to questions over their bowling actions raised in the earlier qualifying match against Netherlands.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mohammad Mithun, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, (capt), 9 Al-Amin Hossain, 10 Mustafizur Rahman 11 Abu Hider

Pitch and conditions

Though theirs will be the second match in as many days at the ground after Sunday's meeting between Sri Lanka and West Indies, Australia and Bangladesh are not expecting as much turn as seen in other matches this tournament. After inspecting the pitch, Smith said it reminded him of an IPL surface, offering a little more grass and perhaps pace.

Stats and trivia

Australia have won all three T20I meetings with Bangladesh, most recently a consolation victory at the World T20 in 2014 after both sides had been knocked out

Before this tournament, Bangalore had only hosted one T20I, a low scoring encounter won by Pakistan against India in 2012

Quotes

"We're in different conditions to what a lot of us have played in. A lot of us have played in the IPL over here but you don't quite often see wickets that are spinning like these ones."Australia captain Steven Smith

"Hathuru knows a lot about the Australian players. We will be seeking a lot of tips from him. The plans are there but the main thing is to execute them. We know that Australia can destroy any team."

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza on the inputs of his coach Chandika Hathurusinghe

View : Espncricinfo

BCB lodges appeal with ICC over Taskin ban

BCB lodges appeal with ICC over Taskin ban

Taskin, Sunny bans a 'big shock' - Mashrafe

The BCB has made an appeal to the ICC to reconsider Taskin Ahmed's suspension from bowling in international cricket. The communication was made personally by the BCB president Nazmul Hassan, who said that he spoke to the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and chief executive Dave Richardson.

While Hassan did not reveal what the BCB's main argument was, he said they were not convinced with the ICC's independent assessment report on Taskin's bowling action.

"We are not convinced about Taskin as of now. We don't have any reason to be satisfied with the report," he said. "And that's disappointing, so we have appealed to the ICC. We have a few grounds and we have said these things according to logic. Only the ICC can withdraw the ICC's decision, which is why I am talking to the ICC directly. It won't be right to disclose what we presented as our logic. I can tell you that we have done everything possible."

Hassan said the BCB was trying to circumvent the normal procedure of appealing in a bid to quickly overturn the decision made on Taskin. The ICC had said on Saturday that "not all of Taskin's deliveries were legal".

"The promptness with which we have taken the action is quite different to the way we responded to the others," Hassan said. "I read the [ICC's independent assessment] report today morning and instantly called the ICC CEO Dave Richardson and chairman Shashank Manohar, who said they will respond to us after talking to their legal team.

"We are trying to do something outside the normal procedure where the player requests a reassessment, which we feel is a complex process. I don't think we can do anything more that what we have done. I believe that the ICC will observe our points and give a logical reply."

Hassan also ruled out the possibility of taking the legal route against the ICC, which he feels will be too lengthy and would not give Bangladesh what they are looking for - a quick return for Taskin.

"If we take the legal way, then we can forget Taskin playing in the World T20. I don't think it will be solved any time in the future. It would be a lengthy procedure but as of now I am trying to avoid that way, and trying to see if something can be done immediately through a shortcut. It's very difficult, but I have not left hope as yet. I feel that there is a slight possibility for Taskin to join us as soon as possible.

"We have never heard or seen a decision getting immediately changed by the ICC but regarding Taskin even if that happens, I won't be amazed. I am hopeful."

Though the ICC has never lifted a suspension on a bowler at such a short notice, they did lift a ban on Shoaib Akhtar within 11 days in 2000. Akhtar was banned on December 30, 1999, but 10 days later, he played for Pakistan in an ODI against Australia in Brisbane, arriving a few hours after the match had started, having been in Perth when the ICC had taken the decision.

View :Espncricinfo

Taskin and Sunny suspended from bowling due to actions

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny and pacer Taskin Ahmed have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after an independent assessment found their bowling actions to be illegal. Both bowlers underwent assessments in Chennai last week, after being reported for suspect actions during the World T20 round-one match against Netherlands.

The pair returned to the side to play in Bangladesh's first match of the Super 10 stage, against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens, where Sunny took 2 for 34 and Taskin claimed 2 for 32. They can apply for a re-assessment at any stage after modifying their bowling actions. They may be allowed to play in the domestic league, pending the BCB's permission.

ESPNcricinfo has learned left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib will replace Sunny in Bangladesh's World T20 squad, while Taskin will be replaced by offspin-bowling allrounder Shuvagata Hom.

These two are not the first Bangladesh bowlers to be suspended for an illegal action. Offspinner Sohag Gazi was suspended from bowling in October 2014, and he was cleared after a second test in February 2015. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak was the first Bangladesh bowler to be suspended, in November 2008, before the ban was lifted in March 2009. Al-Amin Hossain was also reported for a suspect action in 2014, but was cleared after an assessment in Chennai.

ICC World Twenty20: Dear Chris Gayle, you made romanticism redundant and killed my beautiful game!

   ICC World Twenty20: Dear Chris Gayle, you made romanticism redundant and killed my beautiful game!

Dear Chris, I start this letter with a confession. I am confused. I cannot decide whether I love your game more than I hate it. I enjoy the rush of adrenaline when you are out there lording over the 22-yards, yet it comes with a sense of trepidation: is this man going to destroy cricket as we knew it? He makes cricket such an unequal game! A cricketing contest is called a match, but is a ‘match’ ever possible with this man around? If my letter is already coming across as eulogy in bad packaging, rest assured it’s not.

I am what people would call a classicist. We are romantics who see cricket, specifically the art of batting, as lyrical poetry or elegant prose. If the batting of the likes of David Gower or Mohammad Azharuddin was sheer poetry in motion, that of Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar was superb prose in action. When players like Vivian Richards broke into the scene with their flamboyant audacity, it was only a pleasant break from the routine. Yes, being what we are we tend to exaggerate the past a bit but having grown up amid the languorous ambience of five-day Test cricket we are conditioned to think and behave in a certain way.

And I have several grouses against you. The most important being that you are killing cricket, or at least the romantic notion of it we old-timers carry in our hearts. I watched you bat against England Wednesday and you came across, as usual, as a bully. A 48-ball hundred from you does not surprise us any more, neither do the 11 towering sixes. You have been doing this for some time now, and re-re-defining power batting with only yourself as the bench mark. There have been others — a few hours before you stepped onto the field, Shahid Afridi of Pakistan was busy in a similar annihilation job against Bangladesh, taking the bowlers by the scruff of the neck — but no one has been as emphatic as you.

You have become the brand ambassador of a type of cricket that purists would detest. Your batting has no class and no elegance. You make the game a casual affair on the pitch, indifferent and quiet one minute and an intense bout of aggression the next. Perhaps you keep chewing a gum while at it. The animal that would best describe this form of batting is the rhinoceros. Nobody ever said the rhino was a beautiful animal. Powerful, yes, but we are accustomed to grace. You must understand with every six you hit off a good ball deserving to be treated with respect our moth-balled idea of cricket takes a pounding. The applause for you around keeps telling us that we are getting old and redundant.

When the one-day format kicked off, we never considered it a threat to the five-day universe familiar to us. It was a pleasant dessert to the main course. Batsmen were scoring runs in a hurry, but the 60-over format, later 50, allowed batting to retain its essential grace and purity. There were dare-devils and deviants such as Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Mark Greatbatch, Sanath Jayasuriya and later Virender Shewag but the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey kept the sanity of classical batting going. On a high-speed lane you could still manage being a regular driver, the classical still scored over the current.

The Twenty20 format, the bikini version of the game, was supposed to be about thrills and frills. Now it threatens to be the game itself. Dear Chris, observe the madness for T20 matches, the public loathing for slow batting and your own popularity from a distance and you would realise how the game has changed and how you have become a critical agent in it. The art of batting has lost its heart somewhere. Young people in cricket nurseries are being taught about impact hitting; they are being asked by coaches to shun the fascination for grace and aim at clearing the 30-yard circle every time they hit a cricket ball. And you are an idol for them.

The more one watches them practicing, the more depressed one gets. Perhaps it’s time you told them that you are a genius. T20 does not make you what you are. It’s different matter that your style fits into this format perfectly. You have scored triple hundreds in Tests too and that was good, decent cricket.

Yes, as am writing this I am still a bit confused about whether I hate you or I love you as a cricketer. As an incurable romantic I see you as a bit of a rebel too. But I also see the threat of being made redundant by you.

http://www.firstpost.com/