Shahriar Nafees' Chances Of Returning To The National Team
Shahriar Nafees is a cricketer who was one of the most dependable and elegant batsmen of his team while he was at the prime time of his career. He showed his talent from the very beginning of his career when he scored 143 runs in 4 innings at Natwest Trophy with an average of 35.75 including a magnificent innings of 75 runs against Australia. He continued that form in test format too. But wasn't able to be consistent after 2011 WorldCup that costed him big. Now he is in great form in both first-class & list-A format and knocking at the door of the national team and looking for a scope to prove his worth again at the bigger stage. This is Mashhud Hasan from Frenzyweb360 & today I'm going to talk about Shahriar Nafees' chances of returning to the national team.
My fellow cricket analyst of our company have already analyzed about Mohammad Ashraful's chances of returning to the national team. Now I'm going to break down the logic to prove that Nafees has better chance than Ashraful at returning to the national team. Nafees' recent performances at the DPL & his statistical achievements are going to talk for himself.
Shahriar Nafees scored his first ODI fifty at his 4th ODI match in 2005's Natwest Tri-nation series. He scored a blistering innings of 75 runs out of 116 balls to secure his team a challenging score. He scored 94 run partnership with Khaled Mashud and was very cunning at running between the wickets. In that time Australia's bowling lineup was very strong and agile but that didn't affect his batting. He played many beautiful cover drives and hooks against Brett Lee. His pinch hitting ability helped him find out gaps to score boundaries. He faced some off-spins delivered by Andrew Symonds. Those balls used to turn out wide though of the off-side and still Nafees was able to hit clean sweeps and secure boundaries. He also struct well against Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz's pace bowling pair. His heroic innings contained 6 boundaries. He was awarded man of the match in that competition. Not to mention that he proved his ability even before he scored his maiden fifty. He played an innings of 47 runs out of 57 balls against Australia in the same series.
He continued his form in the test cricket as well. He had his test debut at 2005. He wasn't doing significant performance at the beginning of his test career. He scored 72 runs with an average of only 18 in his first 2 test matches. But in 2006, he substantiated his position at the team in the longer version of cricket. In that year he scored 330 runs out of 4 test matches(8 innings) with an average of 41.25. That includes a century & a fifty. His innings of 138 runs is still the best batting performance ever done by a Bangladeshi against Australia. He scored that 138 runs out of only 189 balls with a strike-rate of 73.01 & that innings includes 19 fours. In that test Bangladesh also proved that they can throw challenge over any big teams in test format. Nafees' big innings cruised Bangladesh to develop 427 runs in their 1st innings. Nafees built 187 run partnership with Habibul Bashar. In that innings Nafees played some terrific drives at the front foot. Cover drive was his most productive shot because he scored 37% of his runs in that innings by hitting the ball through the extra cover and long-off. He was really good at hitting flicks and leg glances by using the pace of the ball. In that innings he scored 35% of his runs by hitting the ball through the mid-wicket areas. 19% of his runs were scored by flicking the ball through the third-man. He was awarded the man of the match in that test match. He wasn't too good at hitting cuts or on-drives but due to his excellent footwork, he can play many eye-catching cover drives, hooks and flicks. Which later he proved again in Chittagong test against the same opposition. He scored 79 runs out of 180 balls at the 2nd innings of that test match. He wasn't able to continue his form in the test format for a long time but still he was one of the top performers in his team at limited overs format. In the ODI format, he scored 2201 runs with a solid average of 31.44 and an acceptable strike-rate of 69.49,including 4 hundreds and 13 fifties. In ODI, 2006 is the best year of his career. He's still the only Bangladeshi batsman to score more than one thousand runs in a calendar year. In 2006, he scored 1033 runs out of 28 matches including 3 centuries and 4 fifties. His average was 41.32 and strike-rate was almost 71. 2005 was also a good year for him. In that year he scored 254 runs with an average of 36.28, including 2 fifties. He wasn't that bad at the ending of his career. In the last two years of his ODI career, he scored 344 runs out of 15 matches including an average of 22.93, strike-rate of 68.52 and 3 fifties. In my opinion, changing his batting position was the reason of his downfall. In ODI format, he played 10 matches without opening with the bat and scored 210 runs with an average of 21. On the other hand, he scored 1996 runs with an excellent average of 33.26 by opening with the bat.
Shahriar Nafees proved that he bats really well whenever he faces big teams at the big stages. Australia is his favorite opponent. Against Aussies, he scored 255 runs out of 9 matches with an average of 28.33 and 3 fifties in ODI format. In test format, he scored 250 runs with a mammoth average of 62.5 against the same opposition. As I've mentioned his heroic innings of 138 runs against Australia, he also scored two consecutive fifties against them at 2011's series. He's also very good against Zimbabwe. Against them, he scored 777 runs with an average of 55.5 that includes 3 centuries and the same amount of fifties. He scored 123* out of 161 balls against Zimbabwean bowlers at the Champions Trophy. Just after that innings, he scored 105* against the same opponent at Khulna. He scored 3 consecutive fifties against Ireland at 2008's home series. He also scored 73 runs out of only 73 balls against Newzealand at the 3rd ODI of that home series. He scored an innings of 97 runs out of 177 balls against Pakistan at the 2nd test of the series. Due to Shakib Al Hasan scoring 144 runs in the 1st innings, he wasn't able to come to the limelight. But that doesn't hide the fact that he performed brilliant while most of the Bangladeshi players have struggled a lot in that series. Overall in his entire career, he proved day-by-day that his bat always shines whenever he faces big teams in any big stages.
Currently Bangladesh badly needs an opener who can give Tamim Iqbal a good support at the opening pair and due to Shahriar Nafees' form at the DPL, he has a good chance at making a comeback in the national team. At 2018's Dhaka Premiere Division Cricket League, he performed very consistently. He played for Agrani and In the last 10 innings of the tournament, he scored 413 runs including 1 century and 2 fifties. The only bad side is, he wasn't able to convert his fifties into centuries and often gets out right after scoring near to a century. He scored 99 runs against Kalabagan KC and scored 82 runs against Rupganj. But he was never inconsistent. He delivered a constant performance, averaged 41.3 and always scored 30-40 runs if not scored a century or a fifty. On the other hand, his competitor Mohammad Ashraful also scored massive runs but he was very inconsistent like he always was in his entire career. Ashraful scored 3 ducks in his last 10 innings of the DPL and nowadays, even a lower-middle order batsman can score runs with better average than Ashraful in the international level. Some of Ashraful's match winning knocks have earned him huge fame in Bangladesh's cricket community but he never delivered a constant performance like Shahriar Nafees used to do in international level and now doing in DPL. Thatswhy Shahriar Nafees has a better chance than Ashraful at returning to the national team.
Shahriar Nafees is a consistent performer and an aggressor with the bat. He's really good against pacers at the period when ball is fresh and can get swung pretty easily. He also verified his qualifications at the death overs when ball becomes old and gets reversed with ease. His drives and leg-glances against pace bowling are impressive. He structs well against off-spinners. He also handles leg-spinners pretty nicely. We saw him playing some flicks and calculative defenses over Shane Warne at 2006's home-series against Australia. He never lets himself play cheeky shots but always bats with sincerity and gravity. He is 32 years old and still can deliver for a long time for his nation. He has brought his prime stage at the DPL and I think soon we will again see him opening with the bat for Bangladesh.
My fellow cricket analyst of our company have already analyzed about Mohammad Ashraful's chances of returning to the national team. Now I'm going to break down the logic to prove that Nafees has better chance than Ashraful at returning to the national team. Nafees' recent performances at the DPL & his statistical achievements are going to talk for himself.
Shahriar Nafees scored his first ODI fifty at his 4th ODI match in 2005's Natwest Tri-nation series. He scored a blistering innings of 75 runs out of 116 balls to secure his team a challenging score. He scored 94 run partnership with Khaled Mashud and was very cunning at running between the wickets. In that time Australia's bowling lineup was very strong and agile but that didn't affect his batting. He played many beautiful cover drives and hooks against Brett Lee. His pinch hitting ability helped him find out gaps to score boundaries. He faced some off-spins delivered by Andrew Symonds. Those balls used to turn out wide though of the off-side and still Nafees was able to hit clean sweeps and secure boundaries. He also struct well against Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz's pace bowling pair. His heroic innings contained 6 boundaries. He was awarded man of the match in that competition. Not to mention that he proved his ability even before he scored his maiden fifty. He played an innings of 47 runs out of 57 balls against Australia in the same series.
He continued his form in the test cricket as well. He had his test debut at 2005. He wasn't doing significant performance at the beginning of his test career. He scored 72 runs with an average of only 18 in his first 2 test matches. But in 2006, he substantiated his position at the team in the longer version of cricket. In that year he scored 330 runs out of 4 test matches(8 innings) with an average of 41.25. That includes a century & a fifty. His innings of 138 runs is still the best batting performance ever done by a Bangladeshi against Australia. He scored that 138 runs out of only 189 balls with a strike-rate of 73.01 & that innings includes 19 fours. In that test Bangladesh also proved that they can throw challenge over any big teams in test format. Nafees' big innings cruised Bangladesh to develop 427 runs in their 1st innings. Nafees built 187 run partnership with Habibul Bashar. In that innings Nafees played some terrific drives at the front foot. Cover drive was his most productive shot because he scored 37% of his runs in that innings by hitting the ball through the extra cover and long-off. He was really good at hitting flicks and leg glances by using the pace of the ball. In that innings he scored 35% of his runs by hitting the ball through the mid-wicket areas. 19% of his runs were scored by flicking the ball through the third-man. He was awarded the man of the match in that test match. He wasn't too good at hitting cuts or on-drives but due to his excellent footwork, he can play many eye-catching cover drives, hooks and flicks. Which later he proved again in Chittagong test against the same opposition. He scored 79 runs out of 180 balls at the 2nd innings of that test match. He wasn't able to continue his form in the test format for a long time but still he was one of the top performers in his team at limited overs format. In the ODI format, he scored 2201 runs with a solid average of 31.44 and an acceptable strike-rate of 69.49,including 4 hundreds and 13 fifties. In ODI, 2006 is the best year of his career. He's still the only Bangladeshi batsman to score more than one thousand runs in a calendar year. In 2006, he scored 1033 runs out of 28 matches including 3 centuries and 4 fifties. His average was 41.32 and strike-rate was almost 71. 2005 was also a good year for him. In that year he scored 254 runs with an average of 36.28, including 2 fifties. He wasn't that bad at the ending of his career. In the last two years of his ODI career, he scored 344 runs out of 15 matches including an average of 22.93, strike-rate of 68.52 and 3 fifties. In my opinion, changing his batting position was the reason of his downfall. In ODI format, he played 10 matches without opening with the bat and scored 210 runs with an average of 21. On the other hand, he scored 1996 runs with an excellent average of 33.26 by opening with the bat.
Shahriar Nafees proved that he bats really well whenever he faces big teams at the big stages. Australia is his favorite opponent. Against Aussies, he scored 255 runs out of 9 matches with an average of 28.33 and 3 fifties in ODI format. In test format, he scored 250 runs with a mammoth average of 62.5 against the same opposition. As I've mentioned his heroic innings of 138 runs against Australia, he also scored two consecutive fifties against them at 2011's series. He's also very good against Zimbabwe. Against them, he scored 777 runs with an average of 55.5 that includes 3 centuries and the same amount of fifties. He scored 123* out of 161 balls against Zimbabwean bowlers at the Champions Trophy. Just after that innings, he scored 105* against the same opponent at Khulna. He scored 3 consecutive fifties against Ireland at 2008's home series. He also scored 73 runs out of only 73 balls against Newzealand at the 3rd ODI of that home series. He scored an innings of 97 runs out of 177 balls against Pakistan at the 2nd test of the series. Due to Shakib Al Hasan scoring 144 runs in the 1st innings, he wasn't able to come to the limelight. But that doesn't hide the fact that he performed brilliant while most of the Bangladeshi players have struggled a lot in that series. Overall in his entire career, he proved day-by-day that his bat always shines whenever he faces big teams in any big stages.
Currently Bangladesh badly needs an opener who can give Tamim Iqbal a good support at the opening pair and due to Shahriar Nafees' form at the DPL, he has a good chance at making a comeback in the national team. At 2018's Dhaka Premiere Division Cricket League, he performed very consistently. He played for Agrani and In the last 10 innings of the tournament, he scored 413 runs including 1 century and 2 fifties. The only bad side is, he wasn't able to convert his fifties into centuries and often gets out right after scoring near to a century. He scored 99 runs against Kalabagan KC and scored 82 runs against Rupganj. But he was never inconsistent. He delivered a constant performance, averaged 41.3 and always scored 30-40 runs if not scored a century or a fifty. On the other hand, his competitor Mohammad Ashraful also scored massive runs but he was very inconsistent like he always was in his entire career. Ashraful scored 3 ducks in his last 10 innings of the DPL and nowadays, even a lower-middle order batsman can score runs with better average than Ashraful in the international level. Some of Ashraful's match winning knocks have earned him huge fame in Bangladesh's cricket community but he never delivered a constant performance like Shahriar Nafees used to do in international level and now doing in DPL. Thatswhy Shahriar Nafees has a better chance than Ashraful at returning to the national team.
Shahriar Nafees is a consistent performer and an aggressor with the bat. He's really good against pacers at the period when ball is fresh and can get swung pretty easily. He also verified his qualifications at the death overs when ball becomes old and gets reversed with ease. His drives and leg-glances against pace bowling are impressive. He structs well against off-spinners. He also handles leg-spinners pretty nicely. We saw him playing some flicks and calculative defenses over Shane Warne at 2006's home-series against Australia. He never lets himself play cheeky shots but always bats with sincerity and gravity. He is 32 years old and still can deliver for a long time for his nation. He has brought his prime stage at the DPL and I think soon we will again see him opening with the bat for Bangladesh.
No comments