The Bangladesh
batting line-up has an irritating tendency to collapse. When the chips are down, the side does not
have cool brains to steer the ship through troubled waters to safety. The team
lacks a much-needed finisher.
Another chapter in Bangladesh ’s
saga of collapses was seen in the game against England .
From a comfortable 155 for three, Bangladesh
slumped to 169 for eight. The writing was on the wall, so it seemed. The packed
stadium had emptied out when they realized that 58 runs were needed and just
two wickets were left.
The English bowling was pumped up. Bangladesh
needed epic efforts to script one of the greatest fightbacks in ODI cricket. At
the crease was the youthful Mahmudullah Riad and Shafiul Islam, a tailender
with no batting pretensions.
The 42nd over saw Shafiul pummeling Graeme Swann with rare
disdain. A big wind up and even bigger swing through the line, sent the ball
for four over cover. This was to the fourth ball. The last ball sailed over for
a six as Shafiul leant back and sung Swann a mile over long-on.
This was something new for all of us. Was that Mashrafe
Mortaza there? No, he was not! It was the young, thin Shafiul who meant
business. His eyes were sparkling, his body language reflecting confidence and
his mind absolutely calm in what was a tense situation for most people.
Shafiul’s guts was being supported by a cool and composed
youngster, Riad who ensured that no matter how well the English would bowl, they
would not be able to remove him from the wicket. Riad was an immoveable object.
He blocked, blocked and blocked and took the singles and
twos by picking the gaps amidst of a packed English field which was in no mood
to allow any ball pass them by. And the boundaries he hit were executed
according to the demand of the situation. There was simply no rashness in Riad’s
shots. His temperament is something that the team needs all the time and why he
was absent after the match against India
is a mystery to many passionate Bangladeshi fans. Riad is pure middle-order stuff;
better then the shaky Rokibul and the erratic Ashraful.
On many occasions he has saved his domestic team in tricky
situations. He has the kind of temperament any team would love to have – especially
for a team like Bangladesh ,
whose middle-order lacks stability.
Riad has the qualities of Michael Bevan and Mike Hussey. His
reassuring stay is a great influence to his batting partners and he is
brilliant at rotating the strike.
Had not Riad been there against England ,
had he not protected Shafiul, and then surely Bangladesh
cricket would have been a target of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s nonsensical comments. And
perhaps they would have been an ugly target of the immature Bangladesh
fans as well who just can’t accept defeats.
In him, Bangladesh
has found a finisher. In the history of Bangladesh
cricket there had not been a finisher who could manage critical finishes by
staying till the end. Riad is the finisher for the Tigers now while Shafiul
Islam is the sting in the tail.
Thankfully Riad was playing against England .
Thankfully Shafiul showed immense guts and courage to face the tough challenge –
two heroes on that night at Chittagong
who scripted a World Cup history a chapter in heroism and never-say-die spirit.
Note: This article has been published in Cricket Country on 14/03/2011 http://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/icc-world-cup-2011-two-unsung-men-who-turned-fantasy-into-reality-1196
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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