Zimbabwe most definitely have a pair

Zimbabwe's declaration at 291-5 was definitely a bold one. At 69-1 Bangladesh might be making them look a bit silly, but I'd say odds are still favorable for the Zimbos. Well done lads. Leaving-the-door-open declarations always spice up the game.

Podcast Number Two

Small edit: I seem to say "effective off-spinner"; I am actually trying to say "ineffective off-spinner"!

Zimbabwean bowling attack is quite good

Today I tuned in to watch a bit of the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe action from Harare, and was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the left-right combination of Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori. That pair could be a real handful in bowling conditions to their liking. Nice movement off the pitch, some nippy pace, and smooth bowling actions. Well done Zimbos. I look forward to seeing more of these guys in the second innings (when, by the look of things, they'll be pushing Zimbabwe to what looks like being a win, given the control they have managed to exert in this test so far).

Time to bite the bullet

The ICC should bite the bullet on the World Cup: find a way to build in a qualifying tournament that lets Associates dream of making it to the Finals, and make the Full Members fight to get there. The details of how to make sure Associates get enough match practice to be able to compete with that afforded by the FTP to Full Members are important. If some Full Members are to be automatically qualified via rankings then those will come from the FTP schedule and Associates need something similar. But the most important point remains the same: let the Associates dream of the World Cup.

Redundancy alert

David Lloyd says Bangladesh are off to a "cacophony of noise". Aren't all cacophonies of noise? Unless its being used metaphorically, as in "a cacophony of conflicting fashions". Or am I missing something?

Correction: Oldest error in the book, confusing a redundancy with an oxymoron. I did it in the older title. Thanks to Maithreyi for correcting me.

It should feel like a World Cup game

The choice of which game to watch this morning (Ireland v. West Indies or England v. Bangladesh) was a no-brainer. Ireland are playing in an empty stadium at Mohali; Bangladesh are playing a home game. Doughty underdogs, yes, but this is a World Cup, and I like watching games that remind me I'm watching one. And hopefully, if Tamim gets off to a flyer, things will get really exciting.

Reunification of Pakistan called for?

OK, so 80 all out was bad. Now we have 72. Should West Pakistan and East Pakistan kiss and make-up and start fielding a combined team again? Or would the Bangladeshis object to such a weakening? They'd like the bowling attack, I'm sure? And surely the Pakistanis could do with Tamim? C'mon boys, swallow a little pride, and lets get some backbone out there.

Doesn't get better than this (could get worse though)

Let's say you are a test batsman, keen to make a strong showing to lock down your position in the batting order, or to regain your form after a slump, or to regain your confidence after a partial return to form. What match situation would you most like to be placed in? Well, I would say the one the Pakistani batsman find themselves in now: it is very early days in a test match, and you have just rolled your opposition for a very low score. Every run you make is a valuable one for the team (thus increasing its psychological value for you), and there is plenty of time to settle down and get comfortable.

Lets stop beating around the bush: if Pakistan can't beat Australia from here, they should consider merging with Bangladesh to form a combined Pakistani team. For old times sake.

See Tamim play; see Tamim entertain

If you haven't already, make sure you see the Tamim Iqbal innings that got the Dhaka test off to a flying start. It features some fantastic shots, all played panache and flair. You can find highlights here.

Slow down son

Meanwhile, down in New Zealand (more precisely at Seddon Park, Hamilton), Bangladesh are chasing 404 to win, and while that target is pretty unlikely, it gets even more so, when you see the following (in the sixth over of the innings):

5.3 Vettori to Tamim Iqbal, SIX, using his feet and smashes it over long on

5.4 Vettori to Tamim Iqbal, OUT, dances down the wicket again but can't get to the pitch and skies it long off. Tuffey takes a very important catch running backwards above his head

(And in the fourth over of the innings, Iqbal had hit four fours in a row off Southee). What was he trying to do? Score all 400 runs by himself within 50 overs? This sort of kamikaze batting is a depressingly common aspect of Bangladesh's game. I'm not quite sure whats required to rewire the neural pathways of their top order. (Respect where its due; they did manage a very decent 408 in the first innings).

The way out of the murk

So far, India have suffered a first-innings collapse, let Bangladesh recover from 98-6 to within a run of their first innings, sent out a nightwatchman, and taken an offer of bad light. Those aren't good indicators of champion-like behavior. But there could be two days of cricket left in this test, and thus, time enough for India to get on with the business of setting the Bangla Bandhus a difficult target. Anything over 350 would be too much for them, which means that India will probably look to set 400.

The variable, of course, is the light, and I'm just hoping India will stay positive to score as quickly as possible before the inevitable light disruptions (is it just me or does it seem like the winter light disruptions are getting worse in South Asia, possibly because of urban smog being factored into the mix?). If India don't show some initiative, we might be subjected to that ghastly excuse, "We didn't know when to declare because we didn't know how much time would be left in the game".

Viru the Frank; India the Rusty

I'm going to respond to Homer's comment on my last blog post here.

I think Sehwag is being rightly pilloried. Maybe Bangladesh will not take 20 wickets. But in the interests of consistency, we should note that had someone else said something similar (about any team) in the world, and then his team had suffered a collapse, the same response would have ensued. More to the point, when the world's #1 team collapses against the world's worst test team, tongues will wag. India could still win this match, but Bangladesh deserves credit for doing what they did yesterday. I'm not saying Sehwag needs to be muzzled, but if he is going to be "refreshingly frank", then folks shouldn't mind if there are some "refreshingly frank" responses as well.

My original point is something quite else. Why does the Indian team get so rusty so quickly? We just came off a series where Team India scored a quintillion runs and won in style. Can they ever string together some consistency so that they don't constantly give the impression of needing long periods to warm up?

A whiff of the familiar

India is playing a test. And Tendulkar is bailing them out of strife. So what if it is against Bangladesh? Old habits die hard.