Jolly bash on Bangladesh's wishful wicket

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sought an explanation from Sri Lankan curator Gamini Silva for preparing a slow wicket in Mirpur for the final of Tri-series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where the much-fancied hosts digested a heavy defeat. Without a doubt, the Tigers batted poorly on a wicket on which 222 runs were still chasable, but rather than pondering over their own mistakes, Bangladesh media made Gamini the scapegoat to hide the poor display of hosts.

Depending on the reports of a private television channel which was based more on doubts and not solid proofs, BCB media committee chairman, Jalal Yunus, wished to seek an explanation from Gamini. Mr. Jalal said, “We wanted to know from Gamini why the wicket behaved like that. It was a wicket of 320 runs. All of a sudden it turned out to be a slow wicket. This is a routine explanation, which we can always seek from an employee”.

According to Hindustan Times, “Officials said the slow wicket was contrary to the requirements of home team with experts identifying it as one of the main reasons behind the hosts’ debacle in the final”.

From a neutral point of view, it seems pretty illogical to blame a wicket for the defeat where the batsmen were dismissed or scripting poor shots and on the same track, Mahmudullah Riyad played an absolute gem and conveyed the message, there were no demons underneath the wicket.

But, sadly, the blame game and making scapegoats are a very useful tool Bangladesh.

***

Anyhow, Bangladesh always wish for wickets which would suit them more and being the home team, their wish is justified. But, there should be a difference between having result-oriented wickets and wickets which offer nothing but a jolly bash! A positive team would wish for winning a Test rather than enjoying a picnic on feather beds.

Bangladesh should wish for result-oriented wickets and not dead wickets as it’s a defensive approach.

The highly-rated local curator of Chittagong named Zahid Reza dished out a wicket, which is similar to National Cricket League of Bangladesh where eleven bowlers are used to dismiss the opening batsmen! Bangladesh wished for a 300-run track in Tri-series final and Mr. Reza fulfilled their wish at Chittagong without even thinking how appropriate is such a wicket for five-day matches.  

The wicket for the first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at Chittagong was like a road with nothing for the bowlers. A batsman could fetch runs with minimum footwork and defence while the bowlers found the going tough as neither was there any movement off the pitch for pacers nor air nor any sharp turn or grip for the spinners. There are plenty of runs hidden inside this wicket and the track might aid the spinners from Day 4 due to uneven bounce produced by the foot marks of bowlers but still their impact might be minimal. Until and unless any team bats very poorly, this Test might end as a dull draw.

Bangladesh had a great day with the bat though. The stand-in captain Mahmudullah Riyad elected to bat first after winning the toss without a second thought. From the word go, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, dominated the Lankan bowlers and their departure led to the commencement of a long and tiring day for visitors.

Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim batted with enough ease on a batting paradise and stitched a partnership of 236 runs for third wicket. It seemed, we were watching National Cricket League of Bangladesh, where the bowlers punished for their past sins as the batters keep on scoring daddy hundreds without facing any tough challenges. Mominul and Mushfiq batted in a picnic mood – on featherbeds such moods crop up automatically.

But still, at the fag end of Day 1, a lapse of concentration denied Mushfiq of a hundred while a misjudgment of length on such a dead track scripted the end of Liton Kumar Das. Blimey! Two quick wickets even on such a dull deck? Credit goes to the batsmen rather than the bowler.

Bangladesh’s jolly bash on their wishful track was a good one!

***

International Cricket Council (ICC) is busy these days regarding the state of wickets. Over the years, we have seen them to rate some of the wickets of heavyweight venues as poor. The Wicket of Johannesburg, which was used for third Test between South Africa and India, has been rated as poor and ultimately the ICC handed the venue three demerit points alongside the poor rating.   

It seems, whenever a track aids the bowlers a bit, the ICC is in a habit of handing them demerit points and poor ratings, but in fact, that is not the case. Even dull decks have earned the same last year.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test against England faced penalties which included a warning and a fine of up to $20,000 “given together with a directive for appropriate corrective action” fine for the deck which produced just 24 wickets over five days resulted in a tame draw.

So, before preparing a wicket it would be better for a curator to think whether he is taking his decisions emotionally or logically. His emotional decisions might backfire!

Meanwhile, the tendency to think too much about batsmen must come to an end. Cricket is game of battle between bat and ball. If everyone only thinks about the batsmen and their safety, who’ll think about the bowlers? Yes, watching a batsman scoring runs is always a treat to watch but it becomes a joke at the cost of a bowler’s misery who toils hard on dead tracks.

Test cricket cannot afford the dominance of only one aspect of this game, but it would be justified enough if a wicket is prepared by keeping in mind the benefits of both.   

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 31/01/2018 Jolly bash on Bangladesh’s wishful wicket

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

The inclusion of Abdur Razzak doesn't make any sense

When Bangladesh selected Anamul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Mithun and Abul Hossain for the Tri-series, one thing came to my mind, it was more about taking so called 'revenge' against Chandika Hathurusingha than logic. Now, the selection of a spinner, who past his best long ago, is not only funny but inappropriate as well.

Abdur Razzak has played 12 Test matches and taken 23 wickets at an average of 67.39!!! How can he be termed as an experienced Test bowler?

Bangladesh selection process has been a joke recently. Some cricketers are picked on the basis of media hype only, which is bad for future.

The domestic cricket of Bangladesh, be it the longer format or circus shows like BPL can never be the criteria of judging the quality of players these days.

It's a place where run scoring and fetching wickets are too easy and fishy. Merit and hard work are mostly undermined. That's why the performers out there found themselves as a fish out of water in international circuit. And for which, Chandika didn't even bother to follow our domestic cricket.

I cannot welcome Abdur Razzak in international cricket as because, I don't think he would deliver us the goods. Our team selection is getting comical day by day. On what basis such old horses and internet heroes are picked remains a moot question.

Aren't there any quality in pipeline that yesterday's men are summoned time and again? What's next? Tushar Imran?

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

The magic of Chandika Hathurusingha

This wind of change has started to blow in Sri Lankan cricket fraternity. In such a short period of time, Chandika Hathurusingha has delivered the goods for Islanders. It is expected, gradually, Sri Lanka would transform into a champion side by the magic of Chandika.

In the second ball of sixth over, Tamim Iqbal hammered one from Chameera by charging down the wicket but it went straight at the hands of Chameera who failed to grab it. It was a tough one to grab and in such cases a pacer get’s milliseconds to react. Chameera did not lose heart and came back with a well-directed short-pitch delivery and Tamim executed a mistimed hook shot only to be holed out to midwicket. Six or seven months back, Chameera would have lost his confidence after dropping the catch, but today, he showed the character to forget and fight back.

There is a change in this Sri Lankan unit.

In the fourth ball of eight over, Mohammad Mithun’s forward defensive shot was pushed to cover but a sloppy fielding allowed a single. That sloppiness on the field did not become contagious but in turn, it injected more determination among the Lankan fielders to give their hundred percent. In the first ball of next over, Thisara Perera scripted a direct hit from mid-off and Mithun had to walk for the pavilion.

It’s a different Sri lankan unit. 

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad stitched an inspiring partnership to bring Bangladesh back into the match. The Lankan skipper, Dinesh Chandimal was trying hard to break this partnership. During the drinks break, he was seen inspiring his men - a scenario which was not evident last year.

Just after the drinks break, Sri Lanka broke the partnership and bagged the scalp of Mushfiq. Chandimal witnessed how Mushfiq was attempting the sweep against Akila Dananjaya. He engaged a leg slip and advised Akila to target the middle and leg stump line only lure mushfiq to sweep. Mushfiq fell into the trap and holed out to leg slip fielder. A soft dismissal, but it was well orchestrated by the Chandimal, who was always written off as a skipper as he lacked leadership qualities.

Gradually, Sri Lankan cricket is changing.

Shehan Madushanka  has been termed as a young talent with a very good future. He was expected to feature in the Tri-series during the round-robin matches, but all of a sudden, he was included in the team for the finals by excluding Sandakan. It was a big gamble and a ploy to surprise the opposition and it actually worked. The young man ended up with a hat-trick on his debut.

Not only the seasoned customers, but the young guns on the bench also plays with a lot of aggressive and positive intent.

They play to win matches and they are showing the intention of playing a fearless brand of cricket.

The wind of change has started to blow in Sri Lankan cricket.

Even a week ago, Sri Lankan were a side who were cutting a sorry figure against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. They started off this Tri-series with a narrow-defeat against Zimbabwe and followed it up with a disgraceful defeat against Bangladesh. The optimistic fans of Sri Lankan cricket gave up their hopes about this team and kept on saying, not even a high profile coach like Chandika Hathurusingha can change this Sri Lankan side.

But Chandika does not even bother such defeats as he knows very well, Sri Lanka’s chance is not even over and he has the brain to turn things around. He kept on working with his fellow cricketers. He lost Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera due to injuries, but he remained calm and composed under pressure – maintained the team spirit within the team and only advised them to give their besta nd play a fearless brand of cricket, an advise which once transformed Bangladesh into a team to watch.

Chandika’s man management, team combination and advises worked like a magic. It cast a spell over the team which started to regain its lost rhythm and bounced back from rock bottom to storm into the finals by nailing all the equations before the all important match against the hosts.  

 “Actually, it was a hard time for the team and the Sri Lankan fans over the past two years, especially in the one-day format. But now, with the new coach, we've got some new strategies. We've got a lot of faith in him, and we've got some confidence. We're not thinking about the result. We are always thinking about how to play good cricket when we're in the middle. That's the main change we have in the team”.

Dinesh Chandimal said such before the start of the finals.

From his statement, one can only get an idea about how influencial Chandika had been on Sri Lanka in such a short period of time. Chandika has delivered the best and I am not all surprised with this. No sooner had he been appointed as the coach of Sri Lanka, I could realise,the heydays of Sri Lanka are around the corner and after the end of final, I could only say to myself, the magic of Chandika has started to work for Islanders. At the same time, I could only regret thinking, how could some of the sports journalists and fans in Bangladesh insult such a terrif coach? How could Bangladesh let such a champion coach go?

Note: This article was published at Cricketsoccer on 27/01/2017 The magic of Chandika Hathurusingha

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Video: Virat Kohli and his men celebrate at Johannesburg

After a lot of speculations, the fourth day of Test match commenced. Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar posed a threat, but in the end, it was India who won the Test. The Indian pacers rediscovered their bowling mojo and triggered a collapse. Virat and his men celebrated on the green canvass of Wanderers.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of Day 4 at Johannesburg……

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 28/01/2018 Video: Virat Kohli and his men celebrate at Johannesburg 

Video: Dramatic day at Johannesburg

The brave show by the Indian batsmen on a testing track gave South Africa a stiff target to chase. But the action of third day ended in a dramatic fashion as a ball from short of a length hit the grill of Dean Elgar which led the on field umpires and match referee to call of the day before scheduled time.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of Day 3 at Cricketsoccer…

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 27/01/2017 Video: Dramatic day at Johannesburg

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Faisal Caesar 

The pitch at Johannesburg is neither dangerous nor poor

The Johannesburg track is testing and neither can be termed as doctored or poor. It's nowhere near the Jamaica of 1998. For one crack on the good length area people shouldn't join the bandwagon triggered by the big guns.

If this track is poor then what about the Crater at WACA in 1996-97 or 2013-14? Or how would one term the tracks used in West Indies during 1988 and 1989 Test series against Pakistan and India? Or the Durban track of 1996-97 where Donald transformed into a demon against India?

Test cricket needs such tracks and I repeat, to make the contest interesting, the batsmen are needed to be tested. You're enjoying the best of Kohli only because of this track and nothing else. Tough conditions bring out the best of champions and Kohli's 41 had been the best I've seen in Tests for a while and without this track it would never have happened.

Before joining the bandwagon of the big guns, please, think, study and then give your opinion.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Video: Bumrah and Bhuvi make the day an eventful one

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar pitched on the ideal lengths to test the home team’s batsmen and restricted them below 200 runs. Their brilliant spell of bowling made the Test an evenly balanced one. India are leading at the moment with nine wickets in hand.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of second day in Johannesburg at Cricketsoccer….

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 25/01/2018 Video: Bumrah and Bhuvi make the day an eventful one

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Faisal Caesar 

Why Shakib Al Hasan should bat at number 5

Bangladesh’s middle-order failed to handle the pressure again. The elevation of Shakib Al Hasan at number three has created a hole in middle-order and thus, he should come out to bat at number 5. 

 “I am not yet satisfied. We understand that in order to become a big side we need more quality. There are many options going forward and we want to be tight and do better”.

Khaled Mahmud to media on Wednesday

Khaled Mahmud, the technical director of Bangladesh Cricket Team, was not satisfied enough after the comprehensive victory against Zimbabwe on Tuesday. The 91-run win gifted Bangladesh the aura of invincibility in the ongoing Tri-series, but still, Khaled Mahmud demanded more from the team. He sounded like the coach of a champion side who always expresses his intention to improve more and why not? The Tigers have been unbeaten in five games in a row and obviously, you would wish to push your limits a bit more.

Mr. Mahmud also added, “Yesterday, there was an opportunity for the middle order to prove themselves but it didn’t happen. When the top-order fails, the middle-order takes responsibility in the top sides”.

Indeed, Bangladesh middle-order were not up to the mark against Zimbabwe on Tuesday. They were rusty and put Bangladesh in the soup with poor shot selections. Gallant efforts from lower-order and brilliant bowling saved the day for Bangladesh, but the fragility of middle-order remained a concern.

 Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman got the opportunity again today, but sadly, the outcome had been the poorest than the previous game.

The game ended before the floodlights were lit as Bangladesh digested a defeat of ten wickets. They were bundled out for 82 in 24 overs. As soon as the Sri Lankans dismissed Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal quickly, the rest of the batting order played irresponsible strokes and showed no intent to stitch partnerships – the Lankans stormed into the final in a commendable fashion.

Chandika Hathurusingha’s men have gunned down the Tigers to gain the much needed psychological boost before final on Saturday.

It was an unimportant match for Bangladesh as they booked the tickets for the finals earlier and for which, they were expected to play without any added pressure. But the lack of pressure must not make a team relaxed enough and script a shambolic performance. International teams which wish to become the best never relax but always come out roaring. Certainly, Bangladesh allowed Sri Lankan to gain the psychological advantage.

Shakib should bat at number 5   

From the start of the Tri-series, things always looked rosy as because two of the best players of Bangladesh – Shakib and Tamim – were scoring big with the bat in a consistent fashion. Their conversion rate has been so good, it masked the chinks in the batting order of Bangladesh. Gradually, the real picture came into the scene when the middle-order was put under pressure.

The think tank of Bangladesh cricket decided to play Shakib at number three which in my opinion was not an ideal move. The elevation of your best player at the top automatically hampers the balance of batting order and also, it leaves the middle order without the services of a southpaw.

A left-handed batsman in the middle order has always proved to be a vital factor in many One-day International and Test matches.  They not only add a different dimension in the batting order but also disturbs the line and length of the bowlers if he is batting with a right-handed batter. Then, a fielding captain is forced to change field placements in between overs. Again, wicketkeepers find the left side difficult and are prone to be clumsy keeping to left-handers.

Shakib has been batting at number five for a long time and contributed immensely under pressure. No one can forget his historic partnership with Mahmudullah at Cardiff against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy last year, which helped Bangladesh to enter the semi-final of a mega-event for the first time. 

Then, in 2016, Shakib - who came out to bat at 132 for 3 - along with Imrul Kayes gave England the scare in the first ODI at Mirpur. In 2008, in the second ODI against South Africa at Mirpur, Bangladesh were reeling at 18 for 4 when Shakib, batting at number 5, stitched a partnership of 119 with Raqibul Hasan for the fifth wicket and saved the Tigers from humiliation. 

There had been many instances where Shakib’s ability to handle pressure as a competent number 5 batsman was evident. Moreover, he has scored 3757 runs while batting at number 5 in ODIs. 

Given the current situation of Bangladesh middle-order, using Shakib at number three is nothing but a waste. His ability to soak the pressure at number 5 should not be undermined and one must not forget, a bowling all-rounder’s best position is either at number five or six and over the years, Shakib has been brilliant in that particular position.

Bangladesh need to use their best cricketer smartly.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 25/01/2017 Why Shakib Al Hasan should bat at number 5

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Video: South Africa shine on a greenish Johannesburg track

India included five pacers in their side but surprisingly, they won the toss and elected to bat first on a greenish track. As usual, the Indian top order struggled but Pujara kept fighting in an ultra-defensive mode, which also did not last long as India were bundled out cheaply in their first innings. The South African lacked the incisiveness of previous two Tests but still were able to gun down India by virtue of India’s poor shot selection.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of first day in Johannesburg at Cricketsoccer….

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 25/01/2017 Video: South Africa shine on a greenish Johannesburg track

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Faisal Caesar 

Video: India look to restore pride at Johannesburg

India set foot on South African soil with high hopes, but after two Test matches, the picture had not been pretty for them. South Africa outthought and outplayed them when it mattered the most. India have lost the series already but they would be looking to restore pride at Johannesburg where they have a decent record in the past.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Me discuss the build-up of third Test at Wanderers.

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 24/01/2018 Video: India look to restore pride at Johannesburg

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

A commendable victory for Bangladesh, but……

“Bangladesh, who have been a dominant force in this Tri-series so far, should not overlook the wayward batting display of their batters. The repeat of such a display might cost the Tigers badly in upcoming matches”.    

Yet another failure of Anamul Haque brought Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal together at the crease and for one and half hours, the spectators present at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium only enjoyed Bangladesh’s serene progress on a track where the spinners had the ingredients to test the batsmen. But, both Tamim and Shakib handled the spinners with authority. The scoring rate was slow but steady. Bangladesh were well poised to post around 270 to 290 on the board and the kind of batsmen was waiting in the dressing room, the possibility of 300 runs could not be ruled out.

All of a sudden, Shakib’s whims showed up and was stumped while trying to play a rash shot against Sikandar Raza.  In the blink of an eye, Bangladesh were reeling at 170 for 8 with seven overs still remaining. The dismissal of Shakib triggered a collapse and for a while, the cries of Zimbabweans filled the still air.

Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza bowled well as they made the ball to turn and bounce, beat the bat several times while Kyle Jarvis’ experience proved handy enough as he pitched the ball more on the areas where the bounce kept low and confused the batters, but with the deliveries by which they fetched wickets were not at all wicket-taking ones.   

Mushfiqur Rahim attempted a mistimed sweep shot against a fuller delivery from Raza and holed out to short fine leg. Mahmudullah played a wrong-one with a half-stride forward and was trapped lbw. Tamim followed the Shakib way to walk for the pavilion. Sabbir Rahman holed out for short midwicket without exhibiting enough footwork. Nasir Hossain attempted his favourite late-cut too early to get caught behind – Bangladesh slid rapidly in the quicksand and had Mustafizur Rahman and Sanzamul Islam not flexed their muscles, Bangladesh might not have crossed 200.

Even though anything under 200 runs would not have triggered a panic attack as Mashrafe Mortaza and his boys came out all guns blazing with the ball and devoured Zimbabwe. It was a ruthless display by the home team where Mashrafe got the line and length spot on with the new ball and then Shakib’s arm-balls and accuracy stranglehold Zimbabwe in the first power-play.

When Fizz started his spell, life became tougher for Zimbabwe. Fizz was at his brilliant best tonight as he swung the ball away while bowling from round the wicket and made it come back from over the wicket. Then he pitched on that don’t-know-zone to Raza, who looked threatening enough, who failed to negotiate it more often.

Bangladesh handed Zimbabwe a 91-run defeat, but such a comprehensive victory must not mask the loopholes of Bangladesh middle order which showed signs of the older days when Bangladesh used to collapse after stitching a solid partnership.

Bangladesh batting was wayward

One cannot say confidently, today's’ performance has been neat, but there were points to ponder for the home team’s think tank and that is their lack of discipline when the partnership between Tamim and Shakib broke.

In a 50-over match, the middle overs are a very important phase. Discipline is a must in this phase to carry on the good work scripted by the previous batters and kept the situation under control with composure so that panic doesn’t show up. Any rush of blood in this phase can spoil everything and Bangladesh’s middle and lower-middle-order batters killed the festive mood with their wayward batting display.

No team enjoys a good day at the office every day, but the best teams work on the mistakes after having a bad day. Even if they win, they don’t forget to learn from their mistakes and Bangladesh, who have been a dominant force in this Tri-series so far, should not overlook the wayward batting display of their batters. The repeat of such a display might cost the Tigers badly in upcoming matches.     

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 23/01/2018 A commendable victory for Bangladesh, but……

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Faisal Caesar 

Sri Lanka's batting lacks discipline

Sri Lanka’s batting lineup made the weather heavy for nothing and it seemed, Zimbabwe would beat them again. But finally, Sri Lanka have won a match and they are still breathing in this tournament.

Over 9.1, Tenda Chatara To Upul Tharanga: OUT, oh my, that's some terrible shot selection. Tries to cut from right in front of the stumps. It has cut in from a back of a length and come in so sharply that it almost took the glove. Inside edge and onto the stumps.

Over 21.5, Muzarabani to Kusal Perera: OUT, Murray, the sub-keeper, snaps up the outside edge. Good length and angling away wide outside off, Kusal Perera has a lazy waft at it a long way away from the body and nicks it behind. No fifty for him and his fitness is under the cloud as well.

Over 23.6, Muzarabani to Kusal Mendis: OUT, Kusal Mendis shuffles a fair way across off stump and exposes the leg stump. He grants Muzarabani free access to hit the leg stump. The bowler sends the leg stump cartwheeling. The batsman aimed to clip it away to the leg side but made no contact. No fifty for Mendis as well. Both set batsmen are gone.

25.3, Muzarabani to Niroshan Dickwella: OUT, slashes at a short and wide delivery and hang on, he's got a clear edge here. Oh, dear! Sri Lanka making this way harder for themselves. It was turning out to be a cruise. This was really not a delivery that deserved a wicket.  

Source: ESPNcricinfo live ball-by-ball commentary

What do the above dismissals indicate?

It’s nothing but a lacklustre attitude while executing shots.

Upul Tharanga, who has played 221 One-day International matches so far, chose to cut a ball right in front of the stumps. A batsman who has 221 matches of experience under his belt attempts to execute a shot which was needless when his team needed one of their most experienced campaigners to exhibit composure rather than poor shot selections. His nothing-cut-shot left Sri Lanka lose an early wicket inside the first power-play.

Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis stabilized the situation with maturity and just when the Sri Lankan dressing room started to relax a bit, yet again, madness intervened.

 Perera chased a wide one unnecessarily to gift a catch to the sub-wicketkeeper followed by Mendis, who left everyone thinking for what reason he shuffled across the stumps too much to expose his leg stumps! The result was, Mendis’ leg stump went for a walk down the Mirpur ground, while Mendis, made a long walk back to the pavilion with a bemused face.

One over later, Sri Lanka’s new poster boy, Niroshan Dickwella slashed hard at another wide delivery outside off as if he was playing gully cricket in Old Dhaka and he was desperately needed to hit the ball by hook or by crook to impress someone to make his day eventful. But such sort of desperation has no value in international cricket. Dickwella put his team in a huge trouble.

A batting unit without composure

From 103 for 1, Sri Lanka slumped to 117 for 4. The importance of winning the crucial moments and strengthen the gained momentum were devalued in the twinkle of an eye. All of a sudden, yet another Sri Lankan defeat against Zimbabwe seemed a great possibility.  

But thankfully, Dinesh Chandimal and the in-form Thisara Perera did not let things go uglier and resuscitated the tattered innings with calm and composure to register Sri Lanka’s first win in 2018.  

Over the last couple of years, along with bowling and fielding, Sri Lanka’s batting has made them suffer a lot. The major problem has been their shot selection which is needless strokes most of the times. Just when a Tharanga or Perera or Mendis starts to get settled at the crease, they tend to dish out a poor shot and trigger a brain fade which becomes horribly contagious.

The batting display in the second and third match of the ongoing Tri-series in Bangladesh was nothing but a story self-destruction. The batters were only to blame themselves and no one else for their poor choice of shot selection.

The Lankan batters would look good while scoring 30s and 35s and after that, their innings meets either a tragic or comical end. When their innings of the 30s and 35s require occupying the crease, strike rotation and controlled aggression, they, perhaps start to think, time has come to exhibit adventurous strokes and thus, they have been inviting unnecessary troubles – the outcomes have only been disgraceful.

In the all-important match against Zimbabwe today, Sri Lanka exhibited the right kind of aggressive intent on the field while bowling and fielding, Their bowlers, especially the pacers used the short balls effectively. Their line and length have been more attacking than the previous matches while Sandakan provided the X-factor in the middle overs which Sri Lanka lacked in the earlier matches. Then, most importantly, the Sri Lankan fielders dropped few catches which helped them to restrict their recent nemesis under 200-plus score.

It should have been an easy chase, but the top and middle-order’s mind-boggling batting display almost ruined Sri Lanka’s further chances in this tournament.

Sri Lanka won at last, but the batting is needed to be more disciplined.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 21/01/2017 Sri Lanka's batting lacks discipline

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Bangladesh 1 Chandika Hathurusingha 0

“It was a comprehensive victory for the Tigers. They buried the thoughts of former coach outsmarting them with his tactics and delivered the best in a commendable fashion”. 

 After a disastrous series in South Africa, the Bangladesh cricket fraternity was turned upside down when head coach Chandika Hathurusingha resigned from the post followed by a change of guard in test captaincy as Shakib Al Hasan was reappointed in place of Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh remained without a coach with the new season looming large in the minds of Bangladesh cricket’s hierarchy. Bangladesh Cricket Board knocked the doors of various high profile coaches, but there was no positive reply from anyone.

In the meantime, Chandika took the responsibility of his team who were travelling through a tough time. Chandika felt, his country needs him in such a testing period and it’s always one of the best honours for anyone if he can deliver his country something best.  He set foot on Bangladesh soil to start his journey as the head coach of Sri Lanka and his opponents would be his former students, whom he nurtured and polished as one of the competitive customers in world cricket within two years of time.  

Chandika knows the strength and weakness of each and every Bangladesh player and there was a certain amount of fear in the minds of fans and critics, Chandika might exploit the weakness of this team at its maximum. But in fact, the story was different when Chandika’s men met against his old team in the third match of ongoing Tri-series in Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka’s start was not good in this Tri-series. They failed to overcome the Zimbabwe scare. In that match, they just lacked discipline and temperament and everyone thought, the Islanders would work on their shortcomings to bounce back in the much-awaited encounter against Bangladesh.   

But Sri Lanka remained the same as previous match.

Their bowling was below-par while the fielding was sloppy. The Lankan bowlers hardly could create an impact and leaked runs easily like they did against Zimbabwe.

Though Bangladesh did not mind facing such a below-par bowling and fielding unit. In front of their old teacher, they dominated the Lankan attack without showing any signs of sympathy. Tamim Iqbal was composed but Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad and Sabbir Rahman smothered the Lankan bowlers with a rare disdain. Boundaries and sixes overflew at Mirpur on an absolute belter of a wicket.

The onslaught of Tigers halted at 320 for 7 – a total which was not a tough one to chase on such a wicket, but Sri Lanka made a mess of it.

In the last encounter against Zimbabwe, poor shot selection let down Sri Lanka and they repeated it again on Friday. The Lankan top order triggered the button of destruction themselves by executing rash strokes whereas, this track required a keep-the-basics-right type of approach and no rocket science.

They lost the cream of batting order in a quick succession and succumbed to a heavy defeat.

It was a comprehensive victory for the Tigers. They buried the thoughts of former coach outsmarting them with his tactics and delivered the best in a commendable fashion.  After the dominating victory against Zimbabwe, this ruthless display against their former coach’s men, only indicates the confidence among the boys and their hunger for success should guide them to achieve more.

Even though the dominance of Bangladesh was great to watch, but the disgraceful show of Sri Lanka was not at all satisfactory. Things won’t change for them within a week, but they would need time to make a comeback. Chandika is a very good coach. Sri Lanka need to give him enough time to bring back Sri Lanka on the right track.

Note: This article was published at Cricketsoccer on 19/01/2018 Bangladesh 1 Chandika Hathurusingha 0

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Faisal Caesar  

Video: Ngidi floors India

Lungi Ngidi might have played just nine first-class matches and had a little experience under his belt, but he proved his worth with a six-wicket haul on the final day. He proved, he was not included in the sided on the basis of quota but sheer merit as his technique and temperament have impressed all. India, the number one Test team in the world, were gunned down by the versatility of Ngidi, Rabada and South African unit as a whole.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Faisal Caesar discuss the action of final day in Centurion at Cricketsoccer. 

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 18/01/2018  Ngidi floors India

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Faisal Caesar 

Sri Lanka need to buck up

Zimbabwe overcame the threat of Thisara Perera and scripted a thrilling victory against Sri Lanka. Yet again, the Lankan Lions were defeated by the boys from Zimbabwe and the Islanders need to realise the importance of a positive mindset and discipline in upcoming matches.

Over the last couple of years, the going has been tough for Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan cricket fraternity witnessed the departure of two of the most gifted cricketers to leave the stage. The retirement of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara triggered a transition period which, day by day, is taking ugly turns to instill frustrations not only among the Lankan fans but neutral fans as well, because, Sri Lanka are one of those teams who’re equally loved and adored by all like the West Indies.

The last year was an absolute nightmarish journey for the Islanders who could hardly register anything satisfactory to overcome the ugly transition period. The defeat against Zimbabwe in the ODI series was one of the lowest points in history of Sri Lankan cricket and the heavy defeats against India at home and away only dented the psychology and inflicted wounds after wounds in each match. Yes, it's always tough to stabilise things during any transition periods, but if the period only prolongs with the passage of time, it requires drastic but constructive measures to bounce back.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board realised the importance of taking productive measures and thus, appointed the ex-head-coach of Tigers, Chandika Hathurusingha, who surprisingly resigned last year and then, last week, the reappointment of Angelo Mathews hinted, the return of Sri Lanka’s hey days are not so far.

But after the second match of ongoing Tri-series in Bangladesh, the optimism of the fans was mocking them.

Sri Lanka’s first encounter was against Zimbabwe, the team which triggered shock waves across the island last year, and the ideal belief among the fans was, their team would not digest a defeat against the lower-ranked team anymore. But sadly, Zimbabwe proved to be the more confident unit against Sri Lanka yet again and the “band of boys” hung on to an absolute cliff-hanger at Mirpur to register their first win of the series.

It was a different Zimbabwe. While they were left reeling against the hosts, they changed colours in a dramatic fashion against Sri Lanka and played with a lot more intent. They took the attack to the Lankan bowlers and scored runs at will and while bowling, when Thisara Perera posed a big threat of pulling the match out of the fire, they did not lose heart but maintained the composure to outweigh the Lankans and bag a thrilling victory.

Sri Lanka lacked discipline

While Zimbabwe celebrated under the lights at Mirpur, Sri Lanka were left pondering about what might have been had they showed more intent and exhibited discipline with the bat and ball. I felt, the Lankans were not yet out of the nightmare of last year and the horrendous results are still looming large in the minds of Lankan players which is hampering them from displaying the positive attitude.

With the ball, The Lankan pacers and spinners were at bay when Hamilton Masakadza and Solomon took the attack the cleaners in first power-play. Their length was on the shortish side and half-volleys cropped up regularly while the line was more on the leg side and in the age of power-hitting, such sort of bowling display is sure to be treated mercilessly.

Zimbabwe kept on scripting partnerships, but clearly, the Lankan bowlers lacked the cutting edge to put them on the backfoot. Boundaries came thick and fast and so did the singles and couples manoeuvring the strike was easier as the likes of Sikandar Raza could find the gaps at ease, which also indicates, Angelo’s field setting was a tad defensive. Neither a defensive field can fetch wickets nor can they stop the flow of runs and moreover, they allow a batting unit to settle easily.

Be it in a Test or 50-over format, you need to contain from one end and attack from other, but again, your bowlers need to have the cutting edge and that’s where Lanka failed to cash in yesterday.  Perhaps, Anglo had no choice but to look for containment as his bowlers were not disciplined enough.

Zimbabwe posted a huge total and Sri Lanka’s reply should have been all about controlled aggression and productive partnerships. While Kusal Perera, the clone of Sanath Jayasuriya as they say, kept on slicing the attack from end, at the other end, wickets kept on falling at regular intervals.

Sri Lanka’s dismissals had been the story of selecting poor shots rather than brilliant bolwing. Until Thisara unleashed a havoc, Sri Lanka’s chase was not in the right direction at all. Thisara’s aggressive knock took Sri Lanka close to win, but when 15 runs were needed from 18 balls, discipline was the order of the day again for tail-enders who could bat, but the Lankan Lions were tamed by Zimbabwe.

Don’t write off Sri Lanka

It’s too early to write off Sri lanka. A defeat against one of the lower-ranked teams hurts, but one must give credit to the opposition for their efforts and learn from the mistakes. Chandika Hathurusingha needs to polish the mental aspect of this Lankan unit and instill self belief like he did in case of Bangladesh in 2015. Chandika has the talent to bring back Sri Lanka on the right track, but for that, he needs to make his men realise the importance of a positive and aggressive mindset and discipline. 

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 18/01/2018 Sri Lanka need to buck up

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Faisal Caesar 

Video: South Africa are flying high

The South African bowlers put India on the backfoot on Day 4. After taking a very good lead, the Proteas came all guns blazing to set jitters in the Indian top-order. Lungi Ngidi scripted the end of Virat Kohli and India are reeling at 35 for 3 at stumps. It would be tough for the visitors to survive the heat of South African pacers on final day on such a treacherous track.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Me discuss the action of fourth day in Centurion at Cricketsoccer…..

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 17/01/2017 Video: South Africa are flying high

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Faisal Caesar 

The Tigers made Bangladesh forget about cold wave

"Bangladesh started off with a bang this year. They can get satisfied with this performance but not relax as because, they still need to work harder on some of their shortcomings in upcoming matches, especially against Sri Lanka". 

Bangladesh’s weather is pretty chilling at the moment. The biting cold wave from a week ago has disrupted the normality of people of Bangladesh. At Nilphamari the temperature was 3-degree C while in Dhaka the temperature is fluctuating on a regular, but it’s not increasing beyond 10-degree C.  The people of this busy and chaotic capital city are cold-bitten and their life has become stagnant.

They required something to regain their energy and no event can be as big as a cricket carnival in Bangladesh to trigger heat production in the hypothalamus of cricket-loving passionate people of Dhaka and whole Bangladesh.  The cold wave is still persisting in the country but the passionate fans are not even caring about the intensity of winter as they are already energized by the sight of their favourite stars dancing and rejoicing on the green canvas of Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

In 2018, the journey of Bangladesh cricket team started off with a Tri-series which includes Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and then, they would compete against the Lankans in a Test series after the end of this triangular tournament. The last few months of 2017 witnessed moments of chaos in Bangladesh cricket’s fraternity. It was very sad to lose one of the best coaches in world cricket. Then, a change in Test captaincy instilled a sense of unacceptability and anger in the minds of many and to move on without the services of a head coach, surely, was not expected by many.

But, Bangladesh, over the years, have developed the courage and confidence to tackle any situations and when a smart and intelligent Board President like Nazmul Hassan is around, one can still think of stability and harmony. Yes, Mr. Nazmul Hassan is not a popular figure among fans and local media as because, he has been portrayed as such by a section of media personalities, which still leaves me baffled, thinking, how could some people be so blind!

Anyhow, that’s a different issue and there is no need to discuss that with enough depth here.

Bangladesh start the year with a bang, the cold wave get’s beaten

The crowd did beat the cold wave and gathered in Mirpur’s National Cricket Stadium to witness their team. The wind flowing from the North was bone-chilling and made the body to shake but when you watch the best in the business, Shakib Al Hasan to strike gold in the very first over, automatically, the catecholamines secreted from Suprarenal glands due to the effect of sympathetic nervous system, initiates heat production in the hypothalamus and then, you don’t even care about the might of cold wave or north wind.  

    

Gradually, the cold wave gives up hope of stagnating life, when the fans witnessed Mustafizur Rahman dishing out his cutters to leave the Zimbabwean batters clueless. It was the old Fizz for which many of the passionate fans were waiting eagerly to enjoy for a long, long time.  Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza did decipher Fizz’s cutters, but for the rest, it remained a mystery and on a slow deck, those posed a big threat to the Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe tried to stitch partnerships, but they were not able to ensure stability. Rubel Hossain ended the formalities by disturbing the timber to restrict Zimbabwe below 200 runs and chasing such a total was nothing but a cakewalk for the experienced batting lineup of Bangladesh.

A good start for the Tigers and they made Bangladesh to forget about cold wave.

But.....

It was out and out a professional performance by the home team, ‘but’ in my opinion, it was more about the mediocrity of Zimbabwean side than Bangladesh’s display. They lacked the cutting edge, technical efficiency and ideal temperament to weather the storm and thus, threw away wickets. Batsmen like Taylor and Raza did show the importance of getting on the pitch of the delivery with an initial backward movement against Fizz and Bangladesh spinners, but they were undone by the lack of temperament and perhaps, their shortage of matches each year, played a role in cropping up such a mediocre temperament.  

Bangladesh can be satisfied with a win, but they cannot relax as their big test would be against Chandika Hathurusingha’s Sri Lanka. After watching Bangladesh’s batting yesterday, I felt, they still were not comfortable enough to go behind the line of the ball on a track which gave evidence of uneven bounce. Then, Bangladesh’s fielding was also sloppy – Malcolm Waller was dropped twice, even though he repeated the mistake to script his own downfall against Sunzamul Islam.  Meanwhile, Anamul Haque’s rush of blood can also prove handy in upcoming matches. You don’t hole out to midwicket so early in a 50-over match.

Zimbabwe failed to utilise such things, but Sri Lanka would not be as mediocre as Zimbabwe.  

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 16/01/2018 The Tigers made Bangladesh forget about cold wave

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Faisal Caesar   

Video: Two masterclasses on an eventful day

Virat Kohli led from the front and scripted one of the finest knocks by an Indian batsman away from home. He was like a one-man army and motored the innings like a commander to stabilise India's innings. At the other end, AB de Villiers made the day more gorgeous with his composure by essaying another stabilising knock to pull the South Africans out of the rut on a day which offered high-quality Test cricket.

Deep Dasgupta, Arunabha Sengupta, Sandipan Banerjee and Me discuss the action of third day in Centurion at Cricketsoccer.....

Note: This video has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 16/01/2017 Video: Two masterclasses on an eventful day 

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Faisal Caesar

Leonidas – the real inventor of the brilliance of Brazilian football

“While Pele put Brazil on the map as one of the powerhouses of the modern game, the seeds were planted by Leonidas da Silva”.

“He’d help break down racial boundaries, helped bring about professionalism to Brazil, and dominated the Rio State Championship with three different clubs: there really wasn’t much left for Leonidas to revolutionise, yet somehow he managed to”.

Alex Caple

How beautiful is it to watch the bicycle kick? How stunning is it for the spectators present at the stadium? Whenever I watch the videos of bicycle kicks on YouTube, I am astonished. A footballer needs to throw his body up in the air, make a crumbling movement with their lower limbs to get one leg in front of the another to strike a flying ball above head level – now, that is pretty complex and tough. But still, when you look at it, it seems so easy, doesn't it?

Bicycle kicks on YouTube and Google is all about Pele, Rivaldo or Wayne Rooney. Especially, Pele who rejuvenated this kick in the international friendly against Belgium in 1965 and thus, whenever, the topic of bicycle kick crops up in a conversation, Pele’s name dominates with a great authority. Yes, Pele, the all-time great footballer in the history of football, is in the heart and soul of each and every Brazil football fan all over the globe.

Many still see Pele as the inventor of bicycle kicks whereas according to “La chilena, lo más famoso que Chile le ha dado al fútbol”, bicycle kicks first occurred in the Pacific ports of Chile and Peru. In the first edition of the South American Championships, Chilean footballer Francisco Sanchez Gatica demonstrated the style and gradually it spread all across South America and the continent's biggest country, the land of Samba, mastered the skill with a rare touch of joy.

A tough journey

In Rio de Janerio, September 6, 1913, Leonidas da Silva was born. Football was still was one of the most popular sports and little Leonidas was inspired by the locals playing football during their leisure time. People surrounding him made the game a spectacle which was hard for him to ignore and gradually, football became a part and parcel of his life.

Once upon a time, football was a hard and muscular sport ran by the Christian British School. If you wished to play with the ball, play it hard and inject more physicality into the game, but as the British spread football throughout the continent, the simple and fun loving people of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile or Peru transformed the game into “subtle, fluid, balletic activity, ideal for the player with a low centre of gravity”.    

Such sort of perspectives fit well for Leonidas.

When Leonidas began his journey as a professional footballer, it was not an easy journey for the little man. Social obstructions made the path pretty tough for him. Even though slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, discrimination still existed. The British introduced football into Brazil and since then, for a long time, it remained a sport for the elites and thus, for the black community and lower classes, it was somewhat tough to think about achieving higher goals by virtue of playing football.

 Alex Caple wrote, “Brazilian football has been rife with racial discrimination since its beginnings, and Leonidas was very much at the centre of that struggle. It’s an unfortunate truth about the great, historic Brazilian players that their battle with racism is usually a major defining characteristic of their career. Leonidas found himself playing in a strange time, however, caught between a period where his race kept him out of the national team and eventually seeing the multi-racial makeup of Brazil be heralded as its greatest asset. That change in attitude, even if it wasn’t universally held, was largely down to the success of Leonidas”.

Leonidas’ wife said, “Being black, he believed he always had to do more to have his worth recognised. Back when he was playing, a large part of the athletes were still the sons of high-class families”.

At the start of the twentieth century, the scenario began to change in Rio and Sao Paolo. The inflow of immigrants from Europe and the Middle East made the land a fertile one for progress and urbanisation and social discrimination started to ebb away slowly but steadily.

Uruguay were the first team to open the gates for black players, but Brazil remained a bit more conservative in its approach, but things changed when Leonidas scored two goals against the then world champions to beat them in their own backyards in 1932. Brazil started to think differently about their black citizens and the emergence of Domingos da Guia – one of the best centre-backs in the history of Brazil - forced Brazil to shun their conservative approach.

 Brazil's hierarchy could not ignore Leonidas. As a teenager, he caught everyone’s attention as an inside-right with the Bonsuccesso club of Rio de Janeiro in 1931. When Rio played Sao Paolo in the Brazilian championship play-off, he struck twice in a 3-0 win after being picked and was automatically chosen for the Brazilian squad to meet Uruguay in the annual Rio Branco tournament. He was then a reserve, but the following year he was the first choice in the same competition and the rest is history.

The Uruguayans were impressed with little man’s skills and signed him for their club, Peranol, in 1933 and one year later he returned to Brazil to play for Vasco da Gama. He then joined Botafogo and won another Rio State championship in 1934. In 1936, he joined Flamengo and played there until 1941. He was one of the first black players to join the then club of elitists, Flamengo.

When the world fell in love with Diamante Negro

Leonidas was included in the Brazil squad for the 1934 World Cup, but Brazil failed to impress in Italy. Four years later, Leonidas made the World Cup in Paris his own. He was the delight of the crowd. He terrorized the defenders with his pace, flexibility and power. In the opening match against Poland, which is still considered as one of the best matches in the history of the World Cup.

About that thrilling encounter at Strasbourg, Brian Glanville of Guardian wrote, “A first-half hat-trick by Leonidas, undeterred by the heavy, muddy conditions, saw Brazil 3-1 ahead at half-time. At one point in the second half, he took off his boots and threw them across the touchline to his trainer, Pimenta, but the Swedish referee made him put them on again. An extraordinary rally by the Poles saw them level at 4-4, but Leonidas scored again, as did his inside right, Romeo, and Brazil ran out winners by the odd goal of 11”.

In the quarter-final and replay match against Czechoslovakia at Bordeaux, he scored on both occasions. It was a brutal affair and in the first encounter, Leonidas was seen limping around the pitch. Then came the defining semi-final match against the reigning world champions Italy in Marseille. But surprisingly, Brazil's manager Adhemar Pimenta decided to rest Leonidas. It was a blunder of a decision and Brazil paid a heavy price.

Brazil lost the match. Leonidas came back to play the third-place play-off match and struck twice.

Leonidas was the top scorer in that World Cup and after his enthralling display in France, he was given the title “Diamante Negro” (Black Diamond). In the next year, Brazilian chocolate manufacturer Lacta purchased from him the right to name a chocolate bar as Diamante Negro. This chocolate brand is still a commercial success in Brazil.

The world fell in love with Leonidas after the World Cup in France.

The Second World War prevented him from participating in the 1942 and 1946 editions of the World Cup as war halted the event for eight years and with that, the world failed to enjoy more of the Diamante Negro.

Magia Negra

Leonidas started his journey as an inside-right, but with the progress of time, he developed as a dynamic centre-forward. Many people used to call him the rubber man for his astonishing flexibility with the ball at his feet. Of him, it was said by Jerry Weinstein “He was as fast as a greyhound, as agile as a cat, and seemed not to be made of flesh and bone at all, but entirely of rubber. He was tireless in pursuit of the ball, fearless, and constantly on the move. He never conceded defeat. He shot from any angle and any position, and compensated for his small height with exceptionally supple, unbelievable contortions, and impossible acrobatics”.

He was without a doubt the first greatest star in Brazil football. He transformed Brazil into Brazilians and made the world realise the Selecao would never be an ‘also playing’ side in any major tournaments.

“[Leonidas] was simply amazing. He was our stick of dynamite. He did the impossible. Each time he touched the ball there was an electric current of enthusiasm through the crowd,” wrote a Brazilian reporter during the 1938 World Cup.

He took the bicycle kick to a new level

Many still believe Leonidas was the inventor of the bicycle kick and even Google displayed a doodle four years ago on his hundredth birthday, but in fact, it’s not at all true. I have mentioned earlier about the origin of bicycle kicks, but they were nurtured by Leonidas and showcased by him on the global stage. While others made it look more like a fighting tool, Leonidas made it look more spectacular.

Alex Caple wrote, “His acrobatics were so renowned that Leonidas is credited with popularising the bicycle kick (it’s been said that he invented the move, although that’s certainly not true. He did, however, take the move international)”.

You can relax by watching the Bicycle kicks video of Pele, Rivaldo, Zico or Ronaldinho on YouTube, but if you call yourself a “die-hard fan of Selecao’’ then remember Leonidas and his immense contributions to make this skill popular.

The legacy

The legacy of Leonidas cannot be expressed in just a few words. His impact on Brazil society and football is huge – from breaking the social barriers to give Brazil the recognization in the international arena, the impact of Leonidas is a matter of pride and respect for each and every Brazil fan.

He overcame the ugliness of racism, gave professional football momentum in Brazil, he was a dominant force in both state championships, he was the first ever footballer from outside Europe to make a mark in that continent, he made Flamengo famous, he showed the world how to play football in a more flexible fashion and he was the first big star of Brazilian football.

Brazil and world football owe a lot to Magia Negra.

Note: This article was published at Cricketsoccer on 14/01/2017 Leonidas – the real inventor of the brilliance of Brazilian football

Thank You

Faisal Caesar