Saturday, November 22, 2008

ICL Bangladesh

ICL's newly inducted side ICL-Bangladesh take on a galaxy of international stars constituents of the formidable ICL World side in the tournament opener at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad tomorrow, Sunday, November 23rd. The Talented Bangladesh side picked from ICL's Dhaka Warriors side would primarily depend on its strong batting line-up, in what is expected to be a high scoring cricket encounter.

The big player to watch out for would be undoubtedly Alok Kapali, ICL first centurion along with openers Shahriar Nafees & Mohammad Nazimuddin, and dashing middle order batsman Aftab Ahmed. The bowling responsibility will rest on the able shoulders of the two left arm spinners Mohammad Rafique & Mosharraf Hossain, with Kapali playing the vital clog as the third spinner. If one has to point out one weakness in the talented Bangladeshi side, it has to be its pace department, which has yet to come to terms with the T20 Format of the game. For Bangladesh to remain competitive it will be critical for pace-men Mohammad Shariff & Tapash Baisya to work up some disciplined line & length so that easy runs are not given away in the critical opening overs of the opposition innings.

On the other hand, is the ICL World team led by the experienced Chris Harris. The side boasts of some of the biggest names in the business across all departments of the game and start the tournament as one of the favorites. The batting will be led by one of the best T20 players of the world Ian Harvey, ably supported by Murray Goodwin, Damien Martyn & Marvan Atapattu. The World side bat deep with their lower middle order reading in-form names like skipper Chris Harris, Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener & Justin Kemp. The bowling will be spearheaded by a rejuvenated and inspired Jason Gillespie, who gave a brilliant account of himself, representing Ahmedabad Rockets at the recently concluded ICL 20s Indian Championship. The spin department will be led by one of the best performing players in the ICL Nicky Boje, who adds flexibility and strength to all departments of the game for the ICL World.

Based on the performances of the players in the recently concluded ICL 20s Indian Championship; ICL World should start as favorites, in what is expected to be a high scoring cricket encounter. The key battles should be between the Bangladesh batsmen Vs the formidable ICL–World pace attack, along with that between the Bangladesh spinners & ICL–World batsmen.

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