Bangladesh v West Indies - Well done Elias Sunny but be careful!

 Yesterday, a young man named Elias Sunny hailing from Chittagong hit the headlines because of his brilliant bowling exhibition against West Indies. He took seven wickets in the Test match and a six-wicket haul in the first innings on debut.

Elias had bowled well and tested the Caribbean batters with his flight and accuracy and he is not one of those Bangladeshi cricketers who have earned his Test cap without playing domestic cricket in an appropriate manner. He has made his Test debut at the age of twenty five and for a Bangladeshi cricketer to make his debut at this age is quite surprising as the Bangladesh Cricket Board is habituated to gift Test caps cheaply.

But in case of Elias Sunny, it has been pretty different. He has earned his Test cap after proving himself well in the domestic circuit. It took Sunny seven years to play for Bangladesh and the way he bowled in Chittagong hinted that how spending enough time in domestic cricket can install professionalism in a cricketer.

The reason for this professional attitude has been the reward of watching the ups and downs in the domestic cricket where Sunny has spent almost nine years. It was in that domestic cricket, Elias Sunny, the smiling and charming Chittagong lad, has learned how to deal with failures and conquer adversities.

Another left arm spin bowler has emerged from Bangladesh and along with Shakib, Razzak and co, it is expected that, Sunny’s name will be heard regularly in the days to come.

But the question is, how long Sunny would last? I mean, even in the past we have seen the demise of Enamul Haque junior and many other promising players. The way the media and fans are euphoric about Sunny, it simply triggers fear in my heart as because, our over-hyped attitudes give birth to stars in no time and it affects those players badly. Suddenly, they lose their way and get vanished.

The media and fans need to understand the difference between encouragement and over-hype. Over-hype creates sudden-stars only to script premature ends. So, the media and fans must be sensible enough while Elias Sunny needs to keep his feet on the ground. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar