Who should be Tamim's opening partner at the World Cup

[Eshen]

I am surprised to see Mosaddek's name in the speculation. He has hardly done anything of late to be in consideration (other than playing for Abahani).

BCB would have done better bringing back Naeem Islam.

[godzilla]

Apart from couple of batsmen, our whole batting lineup is set up for a "GLASS CANNON" type of play. Can break the opposition on their day but will break easily most of the time. Bowling attack = LOL!

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Eshen
I am surprised to see Mosaddek's name in the speculation. He has hardly done anything of late to be in consideration (other than playing for Abahani).

BCB would have done better bringing back Naeem Islam.

Because they won't make any major changes. No new faces. Probably a good idea. Apart from 2007 when Big 3 (Tamim, Mushy, Shakib) were new, none of the new players did anything special in any world cup.

Mash and Papon seem to be calling the selection shots and they've stated they want Sabbir and Liton in the squad. I'm OK with Sabbir after his ton vs NZ. Soumya is a must because on his day he will kill it. For some reason Mash believes that about Liton, so Liton will probably open with TIK. Soumya will then prolly be batting at 6 or 7 with Sabbir. Thats a gamble IMO. Soumya is best up top taking on the fielding restrictions. And I believe he is better and more consistent than Liton.

[hoodlum]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
Because they won't make any major changes. No new faces. Probably a good idea. Apart from 2007 when Big 3 (Tamim, Mushy, Shakib) were new, none of the new players did anything special in any world cup.

Mash and Papon seem to be calling the selection shots and they've stated they want Sabbir and Liton in the squad. I'm OK with Sabbir after his ton vs NZ. Soumya is a must because on his day he will kill it. For some reason Mash believes that about Liton, so Liton will probably open with TIK. Soumya will then prolly be batting at 6 or 7 with Sabbir. Thats a gamble IMO. Soumya is best up top taking on the fielding restrictions. And I believe he is better and more consistent than Liton.

Plus Soumya is better against pace than spin. He is not a 6-7th down batsmen. He is best when he opens or comes down at 1.

[ToBeFair]

Originally Posted by hoodlum
Plus Soumya is better against pace than spin. He is not a 6-7th down batsmen. He is best when he opens or comes down at 1.

Absolutely agree. It has been proven over and over again that Soumya is our best no 3. He is the only one who can counter attack and on his day can destroy the opposition.

It will be absolutely moronic if he is pushed down the order as a finisher or if Shak is asked to play at no 3. Whether Soumya succeeds or fails, we must persist with Soumya at no 3 for a while.

As for Tamim's opening partner, it is almost confirmed that it will be Liton. Mash is having a greater say now a days in team selection and management is giving him what he wants. I personally would prefer another anchor role opener, and thus Shadman, but do not mind going with the instinct of Mash here. If you choose him to captain the side, also give him the team he wants.

[Jadukor]

Originally Posted by ToBeFair
He is the only one who can counter attack and on his day can destroy the opposition.

The only problem is that his "day" seems to arrive as frequently as 29th February.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by ToBeFair
I personally would prefer another anchor role opener, and thus Shadman, but do not mind going with the instinct of Mash here. If you choose him to captain the side, also give him the team he wants.

Two anchors? Are you looking for BD to be defending 230 totals at the world cup?

Tamim is more valuable as an anchor, the days he fails he will score 20 off 35 and that will set us back, but it won't kill us if the middle order does their job. On an average day Tamim will hit 50 off 65. Again, won't kill us. But on a good day he will hit a run a ball century. Thats fine for an anchor. Tamim must look to bat 30-35 overs every innings.

Whoever the other opener is, should look to take the risks. I prefer Soumya, and think that Imrul would just as useful an opener as Liton. I am perfectly OK with Soumya hitting 30 off 20, again provided the middle order and Tamim do their jobs.

Btw, Shakib is not being "asked" to play at #3. He is demanding #3 for himself as per Papon.

I do believe, Tamim, Shakib, Mushy, Mash, and even Riyad should be able to pick their positions/role within the team as long as its agreed upon by the rest of the seniors. The other junior players will have to make themsevles useful with whatever is left.

[ToBeFair]

As much as I want explosive opening partner for Tamim, the reality is we do not have a Sehwag or Rohit or Dhawan. Liton has strike rate of 79. Soumya's strike rate is 98 where as Imrul's strike rate is 71.

Going by average, Liton or Imrul won't make much difference - both are somewhat anchor type players.

I prefer Shadman because even though he would be similar to Liton or Imrul in terms of strike rate, he seems to put more value to his wicket and has better cognitive ability.

But Liton is chosen because management is convinced of his ability to play seldom big knocks against quality opposition, and do not mind living with his string of single digit performances in between good knocks.

IMHO, putting Liton Soumya together is too big of a risk - should we lose two early wickets - it will be difficult to recover.

[Gowza]

Well shadman looksa good prospect, has shots, is consistent, has worked on his strike rate, does seem to put more value on his wicket but I’d say too late for him to be in the WC, liton seems more suited to the middle overs and therefore better suited to the middle order.

For me it’d be liton or soumya, soumya is definitely in the team though, he’s scored some international runs lately, he’s reasonably experienced, great strike rate, he has performances against quality opposition.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by ToBeFair
As much as I want explosive opening partner for Tamim, the reality is we do not have a Sehwag or Rohit or Dhawan. Liton has strike rate of 79. Soumya's strike rate is 98 where as Imrul's strike rate is 71.

Going by average, Liton or Imrul won't make much difference - both are somewhat anchor type players.

I prefer Shadman because even though he would be similar to Liton or Imrul in terms of strike rate, he seems to put more value to his wicket and has better cognitive ability.

But Liton is chosen because management is convinced of his ability to play seldom big knocks against quality opposition, and do not mind living with his string of single digit performances in between good knocks.

IMHO, putting Liton Soumya together is too big of a risk - should we lose two early wickets - it will be difficult to recover.

Liton doesn't even make my 15 man squad. But Mash and Papon will be picking him.

We should be able to predict with ease who they are taking as follows:

Automatic picks: Tamim, Shakib, Mushy, Mash, Riyad, Fizz
Almost auto pick: Rubel, Miraz, Sabbir
Likely picks: Soumya, Liton, Mithun

Only 3 more spots remain. Based on recent selections and what we're hearing from Mash/Papon/media Taskin is highly likely to get one of those. I think Saifuddin has a terrific chance of making it as well.

So that really leaves 1 spot that is up for grabs. Imrul and Mosaddek probably headline that list because reports are no new players ruling out guys like Yasir. With Tamim, Soumya, and Liton there are already 3 openers so Mosaddek might have the best shot given that he also bowls spin which the team is light on.

Very unlikely that Nayeem, Apu, Ariful will make the squad.

Another guy who could be looked at is Nurul, but again, Mash/Papon have indicated that DPL stats are meaningless.

[hoodlum]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
Liton doesn't even make my 15 man squad. But Mash and Papon will be picking him.

We should be able to predict with ease who they are taking as follows:

Automatic picks: Tamim, Shakib, Mushy, Mash, Riyad, Fizz
Almost auto pick: Rubel, Miraz, Sabbir
Likely picks: Soumya, Liton, Mithun

Only 3 more spots remain. Based on recent selections and what we're hearing from Mash/Papon/media Taskin is highly likely to get one of those. I think Saifuddin has a terrific chance of making it as well.

So that really leaves 1 spot that is up for grabs. Imrul and Mosaddek probably headline that list because reports are no new players ruling out guys like Yasir. With Tamim, Soumya, and Liton there are already 3 openers so Mosaddek might have the best shot given that he also bowls spin which the team is light on.

Very unlikely that Nayeem, Apu, Ariful will make the squad.

Another guy who could be looked at is Nurul, but again, Mash/Papon have indicated that DPL stats are meaningless.

Team has already 3 wicket keepers so Nurul is out for sure. Mosaddek doesn't have any notable performance to be included for the WC squad. So is Apu and Ariful. I think we should take one new face such as Yasir/Shadman or maybe Imrul as a middle order batsmen since he did well in that position vs Afghanistan.

[BengaliPagol]

we are gonna get hammered regardless of what XI we put out. Lets test out this combo instead.

1. Anamul
2. Junaid Siddique
3. Mithun
4. Naeem Islam
5. Yasir Ali
6. Mosaddek
7. Farhad Reza
8. Kamrul Islam Rabbi
9. Shafiul Islam
10. Abdur Razzak
11. Taskin Ahmed