What kind of attitude do you expect from your team? Surely,
you will always want them to be fearless. There is no adventure in witnessing a
team which tends to play in a defensive manner. There is no allurement in
witnessing a team which tends to surrender meekly. A team has to have that
spunky attitude to demand respect and earn accolades from its critics.
Throughout this World Cup, New
Zealand have been the best attacking side.
Brendon McCullum has been central to New Zealand ’s such
eye-popping performances and under his leadership, the Kiwis have displayed
fearless aggressive brand of Cricket. Before the clash against Bangladesh ,
their pace bowlers have been merciless. They hunted the opposition batsmen like
a predator and devoured them in ruthless fashion. One has to be fearless while
playing against them.
Alien conditions for
Bangladesh
At Hamilton , the
conditions were ideal for New Zealand ’s
pace bowlers to put chills down the Bangladeshi batsmen’s spine. The ball
swung, beat the bat regularly and a Test match like field was set to trigger
apprehension.
Normally, Bangladesh
are not habituated to play in such conditions and very few expected them to
fare well against the New Zealand
pace bowlers, but in this World Cup the Tigers have rediscovered their lost
self belief. They have now started playing a fearless brand of Cricket which
was evident against New Zealand .
Despite losing two wickets early, the Tigers shrugged off
the fear factor and continued to fight back against the best team of the
tournament. It was that unsung hero of Bangladesh
cricket, Mahmudullah, who orchestrated yet another glorious script for his
country by stitching fruitful partnerships and notching up his second
consecutive World Cup hundred. Bangladesh
lost wickets in crucial stages, but Mahmudullah’s resolve and courage never let
Bangladesh lose
the momentum.
With plenty of dynamic batsmen in the side, chasing 289 runs
in 50 overs should have never been a tough task for New
Zealand . But they were made to sweat and at
one stage it seemed that Bangladesh
might maintain their recent unbeaten record against them. The Tigers fought
tooth and nail.
Gamble didn’t pay off
Shakib Al Hasan led from the front with the ball and gave Bangladesh
important breakthroughs and stranglehold New Zealand ’s
serene progress. Bangladeshi bowlers always had an edge over the Kiwi batsmen
but in the death overs, when it seemed that yet another World Cup glory waiting
for Bangladesh, Shakib made a blunder by not bowling the inform Rubel Hossain
who decimated England a few days ago.
He gambled with Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah’s offspinners
in the death and in my opinion, it’s not worthy enough to gamble when you have
the best option available. A Shakib-Rubel combination was much needed. Things
could have been different had Rubel operated from the 46th over.
I was left wondering whether Bangladesh
wanted to win or not. Yes, they certainly have put up a brave effort against
the best side of the tournament, but wouldn’t a win be a big psychological
boost for them? As an ardent follower of Bangladesh
cricket, my expectations are bigger and I want the Tigers to win the maximum
amount of matches and not just sit back and smile with these ‘brave’ efforts
every now and then.
Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on 14/03/2015 ICC World Cup 2015 - Bangladesh should start dreaming big
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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