Rubel Hossain the best pacer in the tournament, says Russel Arnold
After defeating Sri Lanka in a thrilling encounter to book a place in the final of the Nidahas trophy, where the Tigers will take on India, Russel Arnold has praised the Bangladesh side and was of the opinion that India will find it difficult to beat them.
In an interview to Cricinfo, Arnold was stated as claiming that the experience of Bangladesh is helping them. He also added that after a difficult period at the beginning of the year, they are finally beginning to settle down.
“Well, from Bangladesh’s point of view, most of this team has been together for a long time, so there is a lot of experience. I think early in the year, there was a bit of a blip when the cricket was being played in Bangladesh. They lost a coach, so [a] bit of panic I reckon. But now they are settling into playing their type of cricket again.”
He further praised the Tigers for showing variety in their approach against their batsmen in the last game while also stating that Bangladesh won’t be an easy opponent for India given that the Men in Red & Green will use their experience.
“The results have shown that they are a side that are improving and they are a side to be reckoned with. I was extremely impressed with their performance yesterday [on Friday, 16th March, 2018]. The execution, the variety they showed in picking up Sri Lanka’s 5 wickets early was very, very good.”
“When it comes to the batting, there’s immense depth as well. I think they won’t be easy meat for India. India will have to be on their top to beat a team like this because they are using all their experience. Just look at what Mahmudullah Riyad did [against Sri Lanka in the last game]—48 was required, he scored 43 of them all on his own. “
When he was queried about the key members of the Bangladesh team, he named the likes of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan and Rubel Hossain. He was, in particular, very praiseful of Rubel and labeled him as the best pace bowler of the Nidahas Trophy for being clever with his length.
“Mehidy Hasan Miraz has been brilliant with his little off-spinners. And now that Shakib is back, he is always going to be useful and India have lots of right-handers, but standout has been Rubel.
“Rubel Hossain has been the standout fast bowler from all the teams because he is getting it to go through and he is using a length which most of the other bowlers are not using and that’s the yorker length.
“He bowls the short one, whereas other fast bowlers are continuing to bowl the short one, he is using it as a surprise weapon. That’s why he is been difficult to score or even to pick of.”
Mustafizur Rahman, meanwhile, has been subdued in this tournament. He might have taken wickets—taking six wickets in four games—but he is not bowling at the level which became the norm with him when he entered the scene. Arnold, however, believes that he will eventually settle down and become a dangerous bowler once again.
“Well, he has changed a little bit, in my opinion. He has got a little pace behind him, so with that pace, his length has changed. Whereas in the past he was very effective with the slower ball and slightly fuller length.
“So few changes have happened to his game, but I think he will settle down soon he will find out that these are the changes that he will have to make. He will have to be very careful of the length that he is bowling and be effective once again.
“Yes he has not been impressive as he used to, but that tends to happen when bowlers have been exceptional—or even batsmen—you always look for those high standards, but looking around he is doing a decent job.”
