Dare we say Day 3?

WE DARE!

Of course being too excited about this will be absolute blasphemy so I too will maintain a stern face and allow only one side of my face to curve into a half smile. I have just realized that over the years, Bangladeshi supporters have picked up much from English supporters. We no longer celebrate with crazy fireworks and colours, now we just nod in approval and quietly have a dance when no one's watching. It's essential.

I was literally in shock when I switched on the television this morning. Junaid Siddique was blocking balls after balls like he blocks everyday. I actually thought I was still asleep and Trott had just become Bangladeshi in my dream. Then I saw Junaid's hair and knew that I was awake. I mean, who wants to dream of this?

The biggest shock was that Shahadat Hossain got a fifer. Have you ever seen him bowl? His strike rate is 67! I was crying when he got selected for the test team! And now the guy is responsible for bowling England out at Lords! Strauss didn't declare, because his batsmen were walking back to the change room! That my friends is a 'what the fuck' of a good nature!

THEN, and this is another positive then, OUR TOP ORDER DIDN'T IMPLODE! Tamim made a fifty as we all know he would, Kayes did well to hang on and now lovely Junaid Siddique and Jahurul Islam are playing PATIENT CRICKET. Patient, Bangladesh, upper middle order...number three! Junaid, Bangladesh's number three, is playing patient cricket. I never thought I would live to see the day! This is turning out to be a good match for number threes eh?

And to think we are watching a test match between England and Bangladesh.That is just a 'what the fuck' of an excellent nature!

Crashraful inches his way in again

The Bangladesh squad for WC T20 has been announced:

Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (vice-capt/wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Syed Rasel, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Jahurul Islam (wk)

I would bitch and moan about the return of the midget monstrosity but I get the feeling no matter which team we pick, we have already lost it. In fact, I can predict the loss now.

We are playing Australia and Pakistan. This may be T20 and unpredictive but with Ricky no longer captaining Ozland and Shahid Afridi finally getting the position he has been vying for, I doubt we can do anything to win our matches. So I guess Raful can play. Probably in place of Kayes.

At least Mashrafe is back to bowl his stunning deliveries during the death overs. You know the ones that go so far over the boundary you need binoculars to spot them? Yeah those. Good times ahead!

Over at Kiwiland

I feel I should show some love the the Bangladeshis. I was pretty upset with them after the ODI's, but they are being...well...okay in the tests. Not really, but then again they are. I don't know how it works...or maybe it only works with Bangladesh.

Their first innings bowling was pretty alright till Guppy and Baz flattened them. Rubel still ended up taking a fiver. When the opposition bats for all of eternity, you are bound to get a few. But in 29 overs, that's not bad. Good for you, Rubel.

Then obviously the lower order had to do a shit load of work to make up for the disaster that is our middle order. Tamim and Imrul are solid openers, but they need to learn how to build bigger partnerships because after them, it is just one train wreck after another. Which is sad because I like Junaid. A lot. Not in that way. Relax.

My son failed, let's not talk about it. Thankfully, the other son that I am thinking of adopting, Mahmudullah, made up for it. As long as it is in the family, I am one happy mommy.

I am blisffuly ignoring Crashraful's existence. He bats like that anyway. A ghost that may or may not be there. It doesn't make a difference to anybody. I doubt at this point, it even makes a difference to him whether he exists or not. So why should we bother? Life is too short.

Anyway, now the Kiwis are 1 down. They still have a big lead and will probably stretch it to 300 before the Deshis bat again. Upon which they may get close or may not. Regardless, I find it really strange that they actually perform better in tests than they do in ODI's. Barring the last one they really sucked there, but tests are where they put up a fight. Maybe the time contraint stresses them out, as they might reveal in the second innings by collapsing.

But my question is, does this make Bangladesh a team that is progressing faster than we thought? Tests are the ultimate 'test', as we all keep on saying. And it is in tests that they generally perform better. They are just hopeless in the shorter format.

They are such an enigma. And I am a woman who likes mysteries. So it's strangely befitting that my team is  so puzzingly fucked.

 I was just looking for an excuse to swear.

Oh Bangladesh!

Sixty-five for nothing, they were. In the thirteenth over too. Smashing, hooking, cutting, driving- Tamim and Imrul did it all. Uda was as stunned as we were when we first heard his name.

Then the brain explosions started happening. Shockingly, Shakib was a part of the brain explosion, and Ashraful was not! He is the reason we got to 260 actually, along with Mushfiq's cameo and Mahmudullah's knock. I swear Mushfiq is the tiniest thing to ever hold a bat. Whenever he hits a four, I am always on the edge of my seat because I am sure that he will fly to the boundary with the ball. But he never does, bless his tiny structure.

Right, so 260 wasn't ideal with the start they got, but it was marginally defendable right? Even with Bangladesh.

Wrong. The other team has Dilshan. And with him even 400 is not a defendable total. Add our fast bowlers to that and one over from Ashraful (Shakib, my love...HE CAN'T BOWL) and it's a comfortable victory.

Fucking Dilshan, making my life miserable. Do it against other teams honey, otherwise I may have to injure you.

On second thought, maybe I will injure you...