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Anonymous
I was on a road trip when the match happened and nearly crashed into another car when I heard the result. We had finally beaten the Poms. Nothing gives me more joy than to see the English be beaten at their own game.
But more than that, this win meant the three match ODI had been tied 1-1 and for the second time, Bangladesh had a chance to win a ODI series (if we exclude West Indies and Zimbabwe).
Huge stuff.
We didn't win of course, and although I secretly wished that we would I knew that it was not happening. Not because the second ODI win was a fluke, but because we lack the temperament to play big matches. Also, those Poms, they are slightly okay at this ODI thingy these days.
But now that we are done with our one night stands with the top level teams, we can think of roping them into relationships. Serious ones, where we dominate. I believe we are steadily making our way there...Mortaza is the new captain (I support it, Shakib was terrible and it was affecting his performance), Junaid Siddique is becoming a serious contender for the number three spot, we just won a match where Tamim was out early and even Crashrafool is being dropped occasionally. Not to mention Jamie Siddons has nearly perfected his suppressed angry face and these days you can only see the veins throbbing furiously. They are also picking up war injuries...well so far only my adopted son Mushfiq is. How can you not be rewarded after that?
Yes, we are done with one night stands. We are far too old for them.
Well...maybe one more with Ireland.
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Gaurav Sethi
If you watch Bangladesh bat you will often hear – “this is the last of the recognised batsmen” - I just did again. Earlier when they were 5 down I heard, “this is the last of the recognised pairs”. How are these recognised pairs calculated, who are these recognised batsmen, more importantly, does Bangladesh have any recognised batsmen?
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days – how many Bangladeshi batsmen do we recognise, by name, by face? There’s Shakib, and we’ve followed his batting like the Hutch dog here. There’s Ashraful, whose batting went astray; and Mortaza’s IPL non-exploits – he’s not even playing now. And of course, Tamim, who’s quite an Indophile.
But apart from these recognisable batsmen, who are the others – hold your horses, there’s Mahmudullah, who walks in at the fall of the 7th wicket – and as Bangladesh is invariably 7 down, Mahmudullah is usually the last of the recognised batsmen. Funny how I still can’t recognise him. But then neither can the Indian bowlers.
It’s like this, they have grand plans for Mahmudullah – but then they ask themselves, who's this guy? You gotta recognise a batsman then plan his dismissal. Mahmudullah is the Andy Flower of Bangladesh. He is an even bigger Indophile than Tamim. And doesn’t he keep wickets well, at least his!
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RajaB
Mashrafe Mortaza is not playing today, he has been dropped after that one over.
I was tempted to see what his contribution is, to the team and what the team' to him. So here is what I found.
a) Teams contribution to him $600,000
Bangladesh has a per capita income of $1,500. So this means one Mashrafe Mortaza is equal to 400 Bangladeshi'
b) His contribution to the team
He bowled all of 4 overs and gave away 58 runs without picking any wickets
Mashrafe's value per over - $150,000: This is equal to what 100 of his country men would be getting in an year
One year is 525,600 minutes, look at what our man got for every 8-9 minutes of contribution on the field. That makes it $16,667 per minute of his contribution
That is what 11 Bangladeshis would be earning for the whole year. He earns that in a minute
Well, one look makes me think that Sharukh Khan would have been better off hiring 400 Bangladeshi', than buying a Mortaza and keeping him in his team for trophy value (!!).
That would at least have given him some solid supporter base.
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RajaB
Punjab (Vs.) Deccan
The match went up to the last ball of the second innings. But the gem came a minute later.
Irfan Pathan in his post match interview "I was pretty happy I was given the last bowler. I was hit for one four, but that happens. I knew he [Sharma] was waiting for the yorker next ball, but I tried a different kind of slower ball"
I am told Chetan Sharma and more recently, less than 24 hours ago Mashrafe Mortaza practiced the same line for an interview just after their captain handed the ball over to them. The rest as they say is history.
Savour your moment sire ! Thank your stars !!
PS: See what Chotu said a while back because he could afford to...
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RajaB
KKR playing DC
Just as when Sharukh Khan was thinking of calling his travel agent to book his ticket to South Africa, Mashrafe Mortaza decided to save some cost for the team.
A day when the adage "Every dog has its day" was coming close to reality for the KKR pack, when one saw Ajit Agarkar defy his usual self and bowl a brilliant 19th, McCullum smile on field, Kartik bowling a good spell of 4 tight overs. When one started feeling that KKR are ducking the trend to win one, Mashrafe thought otherwise.
I would ask the KKR team to may be try their luck with book cricket first. And when they do that, I would recommend that they borrow a book from Scorpicity. That seems to be the only way KKR can win one.
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Gaurav Sethi
Cheap? Kolkota Knight Riders just picked Mashrafe Mortaza for 600K.
It's all down to yr POV. How far is Kolkota from Dacca? Round the corner, first left, second right, no check posts, you're in.
Kolkota wasn't just buying Mortaza. They were picking the love, hugs, heartbeats and backing of their Bangla neighbours. With Mortaza in, all of B'desh will be behind one player, one team. Not that they weren't already.
Now Mortaza will be Dada's boy. And if he runs into some of that old India bashing form, it'll be two for the price of one.
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Gaurav Sethi
Not a test but a session – the 1st one, 2nd test.
Earlier Mortaza mocked only Indians. Now he’s knocked two Lankans at a Balajiesque economy. Also in the same game, the Shakibbing continues – he knocked Jayawardene Sr for 11 in his 100th test. Elsewhere an English umpire hopped in his sleep.
The score midway through the 24th over: 55/3.This is Sri Lanka sans Sanath. But that Mendis fellow is back. A word of advice for the Banglas: don’t turn your back on him. He may not turn it much, but he does something anyway. 65/3, 27 overs. What’s for lunch?
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Bored Member
By Raja Baradwaj
That is what Mr. Mashrafe Mortaza of Bangladesh has said about ICL and the formation of the new Dhaka Warriors team (cricinfo). We need to remember that Mr. Mashrafe is the Vice Captain of the Bangladesh team, one of the most senior & responsible members of the team.
The moment I saw this piece of news I wanted to ask Vice Captain Mashrafe Mortaza a couple of questions.
1. It is commonsense that when they asked you to join Dhaka Warriors there must have been at least 10 other Bangla players who had or who were willing to sign-up. As Vice Captain why didn’t you take this to the notice of your board or the team management and try and stem the exodus??
2. Why do you disclose that you had an offer now? Are you expecting Mr. Modi to hear or read your interview and say “Good Boy, here’s your IPL contract”?
3. I heard you have a dodgy knee, till when do you think your board would support you and keep playing you in your national team?
4. Do you know T20 is for the supremely fit players (prima donna’s excluded!!)? What do you think are your chances are of making into a starting 11 of an IPL team?
Let’s hope Mr. Modi has seen this interview of Mr. Mashrafe and let us hope he has already fixed a base price for Mashrafe and asked his typist to send the letter out to the teams!!
Good luck Mr. Mashrafe… In case you come across this blog do try reply.
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