Comparison of SriLanka and Bangladesh

[theguyinallblue]

we all know giving Bangladesh the Test Status was a political decision...now this can't be reversed. When SriLanka came on the international scene..it was the whipping boys for the big players for some years.. But it developed itself as a respectable opposition quite early in its career in the international cricket.. Bangladesh is playing Test for 8 years and ODIs for more than a decade now... they are showing improvement..but its been very very slow...Even Zimbabwe was a force to reckon with when Heath Streak and Flower Brothers were playing.. In todays world of technology...Bangladesh has everything..it is not short of Money.. it has the backing of Bangladeshi people..Cricket is the number one game of Bangladesh...so there is constant supply of players for domestic matches.. so what is it that is lacking in BD team that it does not give the challenge it should be able to give now...after playing the game at the highest level for so many years... My understanding is that Zimbabwe and SL were able to produce some decent players who could compete with the Best in the business... Zimbabwe had One of the best all rounder of the Game in Heath Streak...Best Wicket keeper of his time...and among the best batsmen of his era...the flower brothers..... Sl had Duleep Mendis..playing for them...before they got the Test Status..and had constant supply for some of the world class players...like Ranatunga..Mahanana..quite early in the international career of SL... Main problem with Bangladesh is that they are not able to produce individual players..who could compete .. well...Their team post WC 07 have few batsmen who if develop some temperament and technique can be decent players to average above 35 in ODIs and above 40 in Tests.. they have no strike bowler to make an early in roads...and their batting is not up to the mark for tests.. they have been able to Draw only two tests...against top 8 teams..mainly due to rain intervention.. My question is why Bangladesh has not been able to raise their level in tests..even after 8 years..of existence in Test cricekt..while SL and ZM made their mark quite early...

[Gambit]

BD actually made it's ODI debut in 1985, played a few games here and there but started to play matches against top sides more frequently, from 1997. They made their test debut in 2000. Coming back to what you said, their struggle over the past few years has been somewhat of a mystery. No other team, be it NZ,India,SL etc has struggled this badly, either in the ODI arena or the test since their debut. India took 25 tests to win a test but atleast they managed to draw 12 of their first 24 test matches against very strong opposition namely England and Australia. In ODIs, they won a WC within their first 35 ODIs. Apart from the odd wins in the 1999 and 2007 world cups, BD have consistently struggled in the ODI arena. Everyone had great hopes from them after their decent showing in the 1999 world cup, but they just spluttered after that. People thought they had turned the corner after the 2007 world cup, but once again they flattered to deceive. They have lost 20 straight games since the WC against the top sides. In fact, in their ODI history, they have managed just 6 wins over top sides in 123 ODIs. That is staggeringly abysmal! One would have imagined that, given the kind of backing and support they have from India, the number of matches they play year after year, the numerous interactions their players have with the top cricketers from Ind-Pak-SL, they would show signs of improvement but it just hasn't happened. They seem to take 1 step forward and 20 back. SL were atleast competing with the top sides and weren't getting mercilessly thrashed. With regard to the test arena, they just simply do not belong. Maybe 10 years from now but certainly not now. They simply aren't good enough to compete over 5 days. One or two good sessions is what they can manage at best.

[veer]

one thing i see missing is leadership.. there is no leader in that team.. no one is taking the charge.. when a bowler takes a wicket, ashraful should be encouraging him to take another but the damn guy encourages bowler to do freaking hopping dance sequence..

[theguyinallblue]

another disappointing performance by Bangladesh team.... i was listening to Harsha and Ian..and they too were discussing the same thing and comparing it to Zimbabwe. few things were in favour of Zimbabwe according to Ian... 1. Zimboks played in the domestic matches of SA..thus many of ZIM players has the experience of playing at a very tough level in a very competitive environment... 2. ZIM had few world class players..like Flower brothers..and more than useful All Rounders... the problem with BD is that their domestic level matches are not that competitive..and level of competition is not that high... another problem is that..they consider it below their dignity to play in Indian domestic matches...even when invited ...

[Lurker]

My question is why Bangladesh has not been able to raise their level in tests..even after 8 years..of existence in Test cricekt..while SL and ZM made their mark quite early...

Because the selfish power hungry BCCI made sure Bangladesh received its Test status much before it deserved. Of course it did it in the name of "expanding" cricket as a sport. You are making a very ill-informed comparison by comparing Sri Lanka with BD. Sri Lanka has a very rich cricketing history. Many International players travelled to Sri Lanka even when it was not a recognized cricket playing nation. Amongst these greats was a certain Donald Bradman who NEVER played in India or Pakistan. Don Bradman stopped in Ceylon atleast 4 times(on way to England) and played a few games icluding against an All Ceylon Team once where he was dismissed for a first ball duck. Between 1950s and late 90s there was this Annual cricket tournament called MJ Gopalan trophy between Madras and Ceylon and Ceylon turned out some really good performances. Of course there is small matter of players like Mahadevan Sathashivam whom Gary Sobers once referred to as Best Batsman on Earth and Frank Worrell calling him Best batsman he had ever seen! xxxx

[MalikBrother]

I don't understand why Bangladesh can't produce good quality players....Even Pakistan domestic cricket is poor as well....I say send Bangladesh to Pakistan domestic.... they will get experience after facing 90 MPH in Pakistan

[Predator_05]

One can't expect their results to be good, but the least one could expect to see (within reason) is the emergence of one or two decent players. Zimbabwe had Dave Houghton and Andy Flower - two fine batsmen capable of holding their own against anyone, and Sri Lankan cricket rose through Aravinda, Gurusinha, Ratnayake, Ranatunga - all four making their debuts in Lanka's first 5 years of Test cricket following the country's admission in 1981. Banglastan, however, hasn't produced a single cricketer worthy of comparison with any of the names listed above in the 8 years that they have been playing test cricket.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Desire is missing the way these guys go to cloud nine over flulke wins once in a blue-moon tells they are happy with that kind of achievement..

[amits]

atleast bangladesh should try and reach the level of the 90s zimbabwe or the 80s sl who were decent enough teams after getting test status some ways to improve bangladesh - 1. kick out ashraful from the team. he is 1 of the most overrated players in intl cricket. hasnt done anything special in intl cricket after the wc & has been in the team for too long based on just 1 sensational 100 against aus 3 years ago 2. bring back 1-2 oldies. bangladesh should stop copying india. they do need players like javed omar in the team as well. he is better than some of the players currently in the bd team. also rafique needs to be brought back as well 3. have a inspirational captain. ashraful isnt a inspirational captain & isnt the type of captain who can lead from the front like dhoni & warne to bring out the best from his players and 1 of the good news for bangladesh is that they have found out a classy batsman in raqibul hasan who seems to be very different from the other bangladesh players(did bangladesh by any chance import a player from india???:P) no rash shots & seems to be technically correct as well. its no surprise that he is the only bangladeshi to have a fc 300. and he will have to play a important role if bangladesh r to do well