Bangladesh never runs short of spectacle. Every sunrise delivers a new headline, every sunset a fresh controversy, and almost without exception, the resolution arrives at the same address. At the centre of every crisis, real or manufactured, stands Sheikh Hasina, cast once again as the nation’s indispensable problem-solver.
Over time, this has become a ritual. Institutions malfunction, officials stumble, boards collapse into infighting, and then the Prime Minister is summoned, as if dysfunction itself were merely a prelude to her intervention. From governance to sports, the pattern is painfully familiar: chaos below, decree above.
What should alarm us is not that Sheikh Hasina intervenes, but that the system appears designed to require her intervention.
Cricket: The Nation’s Favourite Distraction
For more than a decade, cricket has served as Bangladesh’s most reliable escape hatch — a space where national frustration is suspended for ninety overs and patriotic emotion is safely redirected. What once united the country has now devolved into a theatre of egos, melodrama, and political patronage, where professionalism routinely bows to personality.
Cricket, in Bangladesh, no longer functions as a sport alone. It is a soap opera — endlessly episodic, predictable in structure, and immune to reform.
And in the latest episode, the lead role was played by Tamim Iqbal.
Tears, Timing, and Theatre
Barely three months before a World Cup, Tamim — the most recognisable opener of the last sixteen years — announced an abrupt retirement from international cricket. The setting was Chattogram. The delivery was tearful. The cameras were ready.
The timing was impeccable: the announcement came a day after a meek defeat to Afghanistan. The press feasted. Talk shows dissected. Social media erupted. It was grief, vulnerability, and spectacle packaged for national consumption.
Then came the inevitable twist.
Within twenty-four hours, Tamim reversed his decision after a three-hour meeting, not with selectors, coaches, or medical staff, but with the Prime Minister herself. Also present, predictably, was Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, because no Bangladeshi drama is complete without a familiar chorus.
A question of form, fitness, and discipline had now been elevated into a matter of political reconciliation.
Politics in the Pavilion
The Bangladesh Cricket Board is frequently described as “autonomous.” Yet when the Prime Minister must mediate between the board president, the captain, and a former fast bowler-turned-MP, the word loses all meaning.
Is Sheikh Hasina non-political?
Is Mashrafe non-political?
Of course not.
Their presence transforms every cricketing decision into a political statement. It blurs the already fading line between governance and showmanship. Cricket becomes governed by proxy, and governance becomes performance.
This is not leadership. It is a theatre.
Decline, Discipline, and the Blame Game
Lost beneath the melodrama is an inconvenient reality: Tamim Iqbal has been in visible physical decline. His chronic back issues are no secret. His mobility has reduced. His discipline and availability have repeatedly come into question.
Before the first ODI against Afghanistan, Tamim admitted he was “not 100% fit.” The response from BCB president Nazmul Hassan was not an internal review, but a public outburst, delivered to the media, not the dressing room.
That single moment triggered national chaos. Criticism intensified. Ego bruised. Pressure mounted. Tamim quit — and then, under political spotlight, un-quit.
Not resolved by coaches.
Not resolved by doctors.
Not resolved by administrators.
Resolved by Sheikh Hasina.
This is not crisis management. It is an institutional surrender.
The Numbers That No One Wants to See
Beyond sentiment and symbolism, Bangladesh’s cricketing failures are painfully quantifiable.
Since 2019, Powerplay statistics tell a grim story:
Strike rate: 68.95
Average: 30.09 (49 innings)
Runs: 2257
Wickets lost: 75
Elite teams use the Powerplay to dominate. Bangladesh uses it to survive.
Yet instead of confronting structural flaws — batting intent, fitness culture, long-term planning the national conversation orbits around reconciliations, egos, and emotional performances.
It is easier to host tea at Ganabhaban than to overhaul cricketing logic.
The Real Tragedy
This saga is not about Tamim alone. It is about an ecosystem addicted to dysfunction.
Players behave like celebrities.
Boards behave like politicians.
Politicians behave like selectors.
When a Prime Minister must personally mediate a captain’s retirement, the problem is no longer in the dressing room. It is systemic.
Bangladesh does not suffer from a shortage of emotion. It suffers from a shortage of accountability.
A Republic of Permanent Circus
Bangladesh today resembles a travelling circus that never packs up its tents. Every morning unveils a new act, every evening a fresh spectacle. At the centre of the ring stands the ringmaster, omnipresent, omnipotent, and carefully projected as the solution to everything.
Domestic failures are elevated into matters of “state concern.” Cameras roll. Headlines scream. The public applauds, while inflation rises, institutions decay, and responsibility quietly exits through the back door.
Tamim’s initial retirement may have been sensible, even dignified. Its reversal turned resolve into farce. By seeking political intervention, a cricketing decision was transformed into a loyalty performance. In the process, credibility was sacrificed at the altar of proximity to power.
And so the circus continues.
The ringmaster smiles.
The spotlight shifts.
The crowd applauds.
What it costs us, seriousness, standards, and self-respect, goes largely unnoticed.
Until the theatre ends, every crisis will demand the same tired conclusion:
“Hasina has solved it.”
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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