The Hindu : Hooper keen on openers coming good

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Hooper keen on openers coming good

By Our Special Correspondent

Benoni Feb. 17. Bangladesh, outplayed by Canada, a non-Test playing nation and the 1996 champion Sri Lanka is facing the exit. Unlike Namibia, Canada and Holland, Bangladesh did not have to come through the ICC qualifiers held in Canada last year. It has been accorded special treatment, which many feel it does not deserve.

Its victory against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup was a fluke on the basis of which it was made a full member of the ICC. After its stroke of luck against Pakistan, Bangladesh has been soundly thrashed 27 times in a row. Dropping three former captains and packing the team with youth is a step in the right direction, but the Bangladesh selectors and the Board got their timing wrong.

The World Cup is too big an event for the selectors to pick a team on their whims and fancies.

Talha Jubair is 17 and a right hand batsman. He has been capped in Test matches six times. Tushar Imran is 19 and has scored two half centuries in 13 one-day internationals. He was chosen despite being out of form in recent times. Mohammad Ashraful who is 18, scored a Test century against Sri Lanka at 17. Masarafe Mortaza is 19 and has played one-day internationals for his country.

There are more in the list. Hannan Sarker is 20 and was picked on the basis of the 65 he made against South Africa at Potchefstroom. He was a total failure in the one-day series against South Africa and the home series against the West Indies. Among the youngsters Alok Kapali has impressed the most. Evidently teenage talent receives immediate recognition in Bangladesh. They have turned out to be no good in the big league.

They were crushed by Canada, in particular by Jamaican-born allrounder Austin Codrington and by Chaminda Vaas' deadly first over. Bangladesh has no hope in the next four matches against West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand and even Kenya.

Its captain Khaled Mashud who has managed to put up a semblance of resistance blamed his colleagues. "I'm trying my best. All I do is to try and stay at the wicket as long as I can. I hope we can improve in the remaining games,'' said Mashud after his team's 60-run defeat against Canada.

But as it transpired, the Bangladesh batsmen turned a cropper against Sri Lanka.

What's surprising is that most recent nation in Test cricket has not shown any signs of improving. It has had several coaches like Gordon Greenidge, Eddie Barlow, Trevor Chappell. Its current coach is former Pakistan medium pacer Mohsin Kamal. Bangladesh spends lot of money on coaching, but results have been very disappointing to say the least.

People in Bangladesh have reacted strongly to the defeat against Canada. "Our performances here have been hugely disappointing and if we fail in all our games it would be a disaster. I have received very negative feedback after the loss to Canada because it was a match we were expected to win, and this will affect the following for cricket back home,'' said manager Abu Sharif Faruque.

The West Indies on the other hand would be reorganising itself after a break of four days. After its three-run win against South Africa, skipper Carl Hooper defended his preference for seven batsmen and three bowlers. But he was at a loss for words after seeing his team dismissed New Zealand for 241. "I don't think it was a case of complacency. We bowled well enough. To get 240-odd on a small ground and on a good pitch, we should have got that, but we just didn't bat well enough,'' said Hooper.

Hooper did not say in as many words, but the inability of the openers Chris Gayle, who was in wonderful form in India and Wavell Hinds, to come to terms with the South African bolwers in Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini and afterwards, Shane Bond and Andre Adams, ought to have made him a little anxious.

Lara remains the lynchpin, but ideally Hooper would like his openers to get some runs against Bangladesh as a confidence booster.

The teams: West Indies (from): Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Marlon Samuels, Pedro Collins, Nixon McLean, Jermaine Lawson, Corey Collymore.

Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mashud (captain), Mohammad Al-Shariar, Alok Kapali, Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarker, Ehsanul Haque, Sanuar Hossain, Khaled Mahmud, Manjurl Islam, Masrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya, Tushar Imran.

Umpires: Messrs Russel Tiffin (Zimbabwe) and Brian Jerling (South Africa): TV Umpire: Brent Bowden (New Zealand); Fourth umpire: J. Luck; Match Referee: G. R. Viswanath.

Hours of play (IST): 1. 30 p.m. to 5 and 5.45 onwards.

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