“And
one should not forget that if they lose, India
will lose, not India
A. The pressure will be on them,” said the Bangladesh
captain Mushfiqur Rahim before the start of the three-match ODI series against India.
He
was upbeat and confident of getting the better of the world champions, to get
back on the winning track in style. But the bilateral went in favour of the
visitors leaving the hosts and its supporters stunned. Rahim was given a good
lesson by Suresh Raina’s men for underestimating the opposition.
In
this topsy-turvy world of international cricket, actions bear more importance
than words. The manner in which the Bangladesh
cricket team was defeated by a second-string Indian side is quite unacceptable.
After playing the game at the highest level for more than a decade, you are
expected to show some professionalism. Such a meek surrender simply puts the
Tigers’ ability to play cricket at the highest level under scrutiny.
Especially,
the shambolic defeat in the second ODI was horrifying. Even a county cricket
team would have chased down 106 runs with enough ease, but Bangladesh,
a team that has Test status, failed to do so and embraced defeat in the most
disgraceful manner. The team appears to have lost its way.
Our
planning remains somewhat mysterious. It is well known that the Indians are not
comfortable in playing on seaming and bouncy tracks; exactly why Bangladesh
cricket’s policy makers prepared such a track in the second ODI. What they have
missed out on, though, is the equally awful ability of our batsmen to tackle
swing bowling. Our domestic cricket hardly offer any fast-bowling friendly
tracks, and hence the outcome wasn’t all that surprising.
I
didn’t get the idea of playing Mominul Haque at No. 3. He is more comfortable
in playing at No. 4 position, and why he was not included in the second ODI
remains a moot question. In the last eight ODIs, Mominul has scored three
fifties and fared pretty well than some of the senior players who have done
nothing with the bat.
Moreover,
I firmly believe that, Imrul Kayes should have been given a chance at No. 3. Recently,
his domestic form has been better, and he is a sort of batsman who offers
composure to the brittle batting line-up. But, sadly, the selectors seem to
think otherwise.
I
neither understand the idea of including two out-of-form players in Nasir
Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad nor the idea of persisting with Tamim Iqbal, who
has been failing repeatedly despite getting so many opportunities. Do I see a
case of nepotism somewhere here?
But,
before the selectors take sterner steps against Iqbal, Riyad or Hossain, they
must think of bringing them back on the right track. It will be a big loss to Bangladesh
cricket if Iqbal fades away; we don’t get many of that quality here. Technical
flaws, if any, must be found out and rectified.
Have
the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) been smart enough to preserve the assets?
Over
the years, the BCB’s damage control policy has been poor. They have always
injected changes without fixing the problems appropriately. Such an approach
has never brought anything good to Bangladesh
cricket; instead, it has only resulted in us losing quality players and being
in an unstable position in the international cricket arena.
Where
does Bangladesh
cricket go from here? Have we lost our way? At present, the future of Bangladesh
cricket looks bleak. Until and unless the BCB shuns nepotism and whimsically
driven decisions, it will be tough for the nation to bounce back in the big
stage.
Thank
You
Faisal
Caesar
