For all the Bangladeshis, the Tigers had been their
valentine this year. But not the kind of Valentine’s Day the Bangladeshis
expected to celebrate. They all expected to rejoice as they were hopeful that
the Bengal Tigers would bounce back in style in the second T20 international
against Sri Lanka
at Chittagong but sadly, they were
left to rue as the Tigers could only gift them a gift hamper full of sorrows.
Like the first T20 international, the second one too went
down the wire, but it was Sri Lanka
who survived the battle of nerves and thus, leaving the Tigers stunned. Mashrafe
Mortaza, the stand-in captain for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim blamed lady luck
for the first T20 defeat and I guess so, he will blame the luck again for the
heart-racing second T20I as well. Even, I guess, the local newspapers too will
start blaming luck.
In the first T20 international in Chittagong, the Tigers
came back strongly to strangle hold a breezy Sri Lankan start by exhibiting
fantastic athleticism in the outfield by taking some acrobatic catches. The
Lankan wickets kept on falling at a regular interval and it seemed that they
wouldn’t be able to post a fighting total.
Bangladesh were in a position to restrict the Lankans below 150
but despite those mind-blowing fielding exhibitions there had been little
effort to stop those singles and couples which the Lankans picked up with ease.
Or, I think, I should say that the fielders were not set appropriately
according to the bowling.
In the final over, the captain, Mashrafe Mortaza came to
bowl himself and haemorrhaged 12 runs. One thing, I must say that, the
Bangladeshi pace bowlers have never been effective in the slog overs. Time and
again, they are habituated to get battered pathetically and in case of Mashrafe
it was nothing different. Mashrafe should have used Shakib in the final over.
In the middle overs, the Bangladeshi batsmen failed to fetch
runs and dot balls led the asking run rate to escalate. Dot balls are a curse
in this format of the game and they only build pressure to make mistakes. I
still keep on thinking why the Bangladeshi batsmen don’t maneuver the strike
and concentrate on picking up singles and couples. They are very important in
any format of the game. They are vital to keep the scoreboard moving and easing
the pressure.
In the crucial stages of the game, Bangladesh
lost important wickets and the game, which was not supposed to be an absolute
cliff-hanger, went down the wire. Bangladesh
needed 17 runs in the final over. Anamul could only manage 14 runs as he was
dismissed off a full-toss from Thisara Perera. That full-toss is still a matter
of debate of whether it was a no-ball or not.
In the post match conference, captain Mortaza blamed luck,
but before blaming he should have thought about his final over, the dot balls
and the improper field placements. It was not all about the luck only.
In the second T20 international in the same venue, the
Tigers’ batting was substandard. They were in such a hurry that it seemed they
were more committed to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In the end a paltry total of 120
runs had been posted and on this track it was supposed to be a cakewalk for the
mighty Lankan batting line-up. The Lankans reply with the bat as similar to Bangladesh .
It seemed that they had found lovely valentine in Bangladesh
and at one stage they were reeling at 50 for 6!
But the Sri Lankans fought back strongly through Kumar
Sangakkara – Bangladesh ’s
biggest nemesis – throughout the tour and Thisara Perera. They scripted a vital
partnership of 46 runs, which was built more on singles and couples which were
fetched with ease and still, tonight, one could notice inappropriate field
placements. Rubel Hossain dismissed Sangakkara and raised the hopes for the
Tigers, but Perera kept on fighting hard and took the game to the last over
where Sri Lanka
needed nine runs off six balls.
In such a pressure-cooker situation, any captain would throw
the ball to his best bowler and without a doubt Bangladesh ’s
best bowler is Shakib Al Hasan who has all the qualities to handle pressure in
the best manner. But Mashrafe Mortaza threw the ball to Farhad Reza, whose
gentle-medium pace is always a treat for the big hitters. And with sublime
hitters like Perera and Senanayake around how logical it was to throw the ball
to Farhad Reza remains a moot question.
Farhad bowled full but they were easy to pick up due to lack
of pace, runs came in with ease and in the last ball when two runs were needed
off one ball, Farhad Reza dished out a short of a length ball going down leg,
which was dispatched by Senanayake behind square to make the Valentine’s Day an
eventful one for the Sri Lankans while for Bangladesh it turned out to be
gloomy.
Would you like to blame luck here? Shouldn’t Shakib be
bowling the last over? Shakib already had two overs left to bowl. Even the
nagging, Arafat Sunny’s full quota of overs wasn’t used. Again, the Lankans were
given to pick up the singles easily. The urge to stop those easy-pickings weren’t
there. Too many, bowling Farhad Reza the final over had been a Mashrafe Mortaza’s
gamble. But, I think, it was an overcooked biryani which I couldn’t digest at
all.
Blaming luck is a lame excuse. In most of the cases, your
acts define your luck. In both the T20 internationals, Bangladesh
made some silly mistakes for which they paid a heavy price. Always remember, “Shallow
men believe in luck or circumstance. Strong men believe in cause or effect.” (Ralph
Waldo Emerson)
Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on15/02/2014 Bangladesh v Sri Lanka T20I: Please don't blame luck
Thank You
Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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