Bangladesh need the Mashrafe Mortaza flair

He exploded onto the Bangladesh cricket scene like a meteor when he, as an under-17 rookie, caught the attention of coach Andy Roberts, who was acting as the team's temporary bowling coach, way back in 2001. Roberts noticed the raw energy and hunger to fetch wickets in that boy and remarked that the boy has a big future ahead of him. That young boy hailing from Narail was drafted into the Bangladesh A team on Roberts's recommendation. After playing just one match, the young lad was given a Test cap against the touring Zimbabweans, without having played any first class cricket.

 The name of that boy is Mashrafe Mortaza. In the first Test, while he was given the new ball to bowl, there were some unhappy faces in our medical college's students common room. The image of the tall, lanky Hasibul Hossain still loomed large in the minds of the Bangladeshi fans and they were not ready to accept any replacement for him. But as soon as Mashrafe ran in and delivered the ball at pace, that unhappiness slowly started fading away, the doubts started to evaporate and there was an air of pleasant surprise all around. "Wow!" was the reaction of some of my friends. "Is the boy from Bangladesh?" some asked as I strongly felt a speed merchant has arrived for us.

But the hopes of a Bangladeshi fan are quite often followed by despair. We just couldn't relish Mortaza's bowling over the next few years the way we hoped. Injuries affected his career badly and he started missing more games than playing. Mortaza's action was rickety, which affected his fitness badly, inviting a number of injuries on a continuous basis. Moreover, he was never handled shrewdly by his captains who unnecessarily bowled their premier bowler in long spells without realizing that his body needed enough rest to overcome the stress of a spearhead. His back and lower extremities took the brunt of that workload, depriving the team and the fans of what could have been a legendary career.

But one special quality that separates Mortaza from others is his strong will to get up every time he is knocked down by injuries. No matter how many times injuries threatened to jeopardize his career, Mortaza has always managed to come back. To Bangladeshi fans, Mortaza is a symbol of courage, and his popularity, during his prime, even diminished the aura of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

Mortaza has the amazing ability to catch the pulse of his fans, which is perhaps why he has always felt the strong urge to work hard for a comeback. Overcoming the latest injury that has now kept him out for more than a while, Mortaza has started playing active cricket again. In the ongoing Dhaka Premier League, he was seen bowling close to his best. There were those rib-crashing bouncers, movement off the seam and sharp pace. In the thrilling match against Abahani Limited, Mortaza - representing Mohammedan Sporting Club - picked up four crucial wickets and those who watched him in action during that match could see that he is not finished yet.

If he manages to win his place back in the national squad, which the whole of Bangladesh will pray for, it will boost our bowling attack in the upcoming series against New Zealand. But only time will tell if his body can hold itself together for the stress of international cricket - once again.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Note: This article has been published in Cricketnext.com on 26/09/2013 Bangladesh need the Mashrafe Mortaza flair  

Effulgent Zimbabwe, shoddy Pakistan and the bossy BCCI

 The final day of the second Test between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was supposed to be a gripping contest. Pakistan found themselves in a position quite similar to the Multan Test match against Bangladesh which took place ten years. In that stunning contest, Inzamam-ul-Haq turned into a one-man army to leave Bangladesh bemused. The same was expected from Misbah-ul-Haq who had been the last hope for Pakistan but sadly it was not to be. Misbah couldn’t emulate Inzamam and he was left to witness a rapturous celebration by the Zimbabwean team who registered a historic win.

Yes, Harare witnessed the victory of team spirit and the downfall of lackluster attitude. Before the Test series started, the Zimbabwe team found themselves in troubled waters. They were marred by petty quarrels with their Board regarding payment issues and their players even threatened of not participating in the Test series. The situation was muggy and keeping all these off-field issues in mind, it’s never easy to give your best shot!

But the Zimbabweans did fire all their cylinders and from the word go they looked the more confident unit than Pakistan in the first Test. They lost the battle of temperament in the first Test but they toppled Pakistan in the second encounter – courtesy of unflappable spirit and of course, the drab display of the Pakistan batsmen.

Again, the Pakistani batsmen were gripped and engulfed by the apprehension of chasing down a total. This has been a serious problem since the late 90s and this problem has not yet been solved. Bringing the best batting coach for the Pakistan team and arranging a coaching camp for a brief period with the best batting consultant couldn’t trigger magic as Pakistani batsmen failed to demonstrate the application prerequisite for Test matches. A test match is a philosophy and has no room for rashness or madness. It demands a meticulous and methodical approach.

In the longer formats of the game, you need to be patient and rely on occupying the crease and maneuvering the strike rather than donning slapdash attitude towards batting. Most of Pakistan batsmen essayed some flashy strokes, got starts and then perished in an awful manner. Such an approach can never bring goods and always invites perilous outcomes no matter against which team you are playing. The Zimbabwe tour had been a shoddy one for Pakistan where, time and again, they got kicked around like club cricketers.

But, it’s hard to undermine Zimbabwe’s tremendous achievement. Their victory in the first ODI match can be written as a slip on a banana peel to which anyone can buckle but to win a Test match, you need to pass the examination of temperament and skill, and can’t be labeled as a flash in the pan. Zimbabwe have shown the world how adversity can be trampled underfoot with discipline and willpower. Neither their bowling-attack nor the batting line-up is anything frightening but what made Zimbabwe the superior side is their rock-solid determination to do well. They didn’t allow a pabulum attitude within them and stuck to their task to reap a rich harvest.

Zimbabwe now rank ninth in the ICC Test Championship rankings replacing Bangladesh. Certainly, Zimbabwe’s success hasn’t charmed many of the Bangladeshi fan followers but rather than getting envious, it’s better to accept the fact that Zimbabwe’s achievement as a Test team is far better than Bangladesh. Bangladesh are yet to outclass any bigger Test nations and the Zimbabwe win should make them determined to improve more in the Test matches. In the last thirteen years, Bangladesh haven’t been up to the mark in Test matches and just four wins in these thirteen years indicate how much they lag behind. They receive better facilities and better salaries than Zimbabwe and the Cricket Board is more stable than Zimbabwe. But still, in Test cricket, we haven’t struck the desired gold.

Since, their re-entry to Test cricket in 2011, Zimbabwe have notched up three Test wins and one of the victories is against a major Test-playing nation, Pakistan. Three Test wins in two years is a far sounder achievement than four Test wins in thirteen years!

Who are improving more?

Ask yourself. 

By the way, Bangladesh will need to play a qualification round for the World Twenty20 next year. Have you ever heard a host nation to play a qualification round? Isn’t it something uniquely daft? And this weird rule cropped up from nowhere! Shouldn’t this sort of rules be informed a bit earlier? Isn’t this insulting for the host nation?

Such questions would have never cropped up if the ICC had some backbone. Frankly speaking, they are an organization controlled by the most powerful cricket boards in world cricket – BCCI! With powers comes responsibility but what responsibility the BCCI have shown so far remains a moot question. To the BCCI, cricket has become a money-making machine rather than a game and their actions are only creating deep bruises. They are running the world cricket like an autocratic army General – an approach that you don’t accept from a democratic nation like India. James Astill in his excellent new book on the modern powerhouse of Indian cricket The Great Tamasha said - ‘an oligarchy, a democracy stage-managed by a corrupt super-elite.’ Should we say the same in the case of the BCCI?

I think, yes!

It sounds bad but its dam true!

Why was the South African tour being halted, or should I say, canceled? Was it done only for one person’s personal landmark? Was it done due to BCCI’s ego clash with Cricket South Africa? Couldn’t it be settled by any other means? Was it not simply bad to ignore all the cricket fans from enjoying the epic clash between Tendulkar and Dale Steyn? Will Darren Sammy vs Tendulkar be able to generate the same euphoria?

As the most influential Cricket Board, the entire cricketing world expects a gracious and fair approach from them but sadly, the BCCI only believes in ‘Might is Right’! Every autocratic and arrogant regime meets a sad end. The BCCI mustn’t forget this.

Note: This article has been published on Cricketsoccer.com on 18/09/2013  Effulgent Zimbabwe, shoddy Pakistan and the bossy BCCI

Thank You
Faisal Caesar

Bangladesh media can ill-afford ignoring domestic cricket

After long speculations and after much chaos, the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) commenced on September 10. With not much action in the offing and Bangladesh cricket getting embroiled in off-field controversies, the DPL breathed some life into Bangladesh cricket. After all, it's the battle between bat and ball that matters the most to fans and cricketers of Bangladesh.

The DPL has started with a bang. On the opening day, at Rajshahi, while chasing Prime Bank's huge total of 334 - courtesy Ziaur Rahman's swashbuckling 89, Mahmudul Hasan's breezy 54 and PBB Rajapaksa's quickfire 107, Brother's Union found the going tough. They lost the match, but the Shahid Kamruzzaman stadium at Rajshahi witnessed an inspiring knock which made the environment absolutely electrifying.

Nafees Iqbal turned into a one-man show with a sizzling knock of 150 off 140 balls, which included 21 boundaries and a six, to keep BU hopes alive. But sadly, none of the other batsmen could provide support to Nafees's controlled aggression.

The sad part of the whole show, though, is that cricket fans across the country, other than a few locals who were at the stadium, couldn't witness that stunning performance by Nafees, because there is no TV coverage at all of DPL. As a matter of fact, there is not even active publicity of the league. But why?

Bangladesh has so many TV channels and I think the coverage of DPL would have brought much solace to cricket-hungry people during the international off-season. If there can be enough energy, money and enthusiasm to telecast the Bangladesh Premier League, then why not our longer-version domestic formats? The Dhaka Premier League and the National Cricket League are the nurseries that groom future stars and deserve enough coverage on TV. That's why we need a separate sports channel.

In India, Ranji Trophy generates enough enthusiasm. The Indian fans and experts give it utmost importance, and their electronic media is hugely responsible for this as they deliver the action straight from the field to the living rooms, while the print media dish out amazing articles and statistical analysis to keep the nation engaged with their domestic cricket. The same thing happens in other major cricket-playing countries like Australia, England, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Sadly, that's not the case in Bangladesh. Our media as well as our sponsors need to catch the pulse of the nation. TV channels do need their fair amount of entertainment and news, but they can't ignore cricket that keeps the nation's heart beating. By doing that, they are depriving Bangladeshis of worthy cricket action.

Note: This article has been published on Cricketnext.com on 16/09/2013   Bangladesh media can ill-afford ignoring domestic cricket

Thank You

Faisal Caesar