Ruwan for many options

After five overs of Taskin Ahmed and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, India looked unperturbed and had eased their way to a comfortable 26 for no loss in the quarterfinal at Melbourne. That's when skipper Mashrafe, against all the odds, introduced Nasir Hossain into the attack.
It's not as though Nasir is not used to bowling. He had bowled decently against New Zealand in the previous match as well. But to bring him on in the powerplay ahead of the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Rubel Hossain, displayed just how much confidence Mashrafe had in him.

Nasir's tight line and length left the batsmen in a quandary and the game turned in the next 10 overs. His figures of none for 35 in nine overs in a crunch encounter displayed just how much he had improved his bowling; and this of course wasn't just a coincidence. It seems to be a part of the plan set-up by the team management, keeping in mind the balance of the national team.

Spin-coach Ruwan Kalpage yesterday revealed how the management has been working with the part-time spinners in a bid to make them more effective with the ball.

"In the past, in these conditions in Mirpur we would have played just one or two pacers. But that is not the case now. We have pacers and spinners… we have progressed a lot. Now when we pick a team we look to provide the captain with a lot more options.

"For instance, in the last match Shakib [Al Hasan] and [Arafat] Sunny were the only ones who bowled out their quotas but we still put up a good performance because the captain had options," explained Kalpage at Mirpur yesterday.

"Shakib and Nasir are two top order batsmen who can bowl well. We are also hoping to get Sabbir [Rahman] going in the T20s. If that works out we will have three top order batsmen who can bowl well and have more options," he added.