Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque :
Our tigers were real challengers ready to give team India a tough fight. And they did it with a superb batting performance. The target they set for the formidable batting line up seemed quite difficult to reach. Yet Dhoni had the last laugh thanks to our wobbling bowling performance without maintaining a steady line and length. Before joining India in final the tigers displayed a majestic performance in bowling. With only two wickets down India completed its unbeaten winning spree. Our bowlers performed short of Mustafizur Rahman. Contrary to our expectation our bowlers failed to rise to the occasion dismantling the frontline and middle order to stem Indian batting onslaught.
Mighty Indian cricketers won T-Twenty Asia Cup in the final. Bangladesh fought gallantly with a seemingly excellent batting line up creating climax and much enthusiasm among fans but ultimate victory to clinch the trophy with six balls to spare and eight wickets in hand was a pretty emphatic one in the final analysis. ” Bumrah and Ashwin were the stars for India with the ball, before Dhawan and Kohli sealed the chase with that partnership. Dhoni had played only nine balls in the tournament”
According to TV reports:
It is raining heavily at Mirpur and the ground is full of water. As of now, the toss is delayed. But with the rain pouring like torrents, it will be really tough for the groundsmen to clear the water, and even if the game starts, it will be a shortened one. Heavy downpour accompanied by thundershowers threatened to play spoilsport in the final of the Asia Cup T20 between Bangladesh and India. The much hyped grand finale saw an anti-climax of sorts when there was a slight drizzle in the beginning with groundsmen covering the pitch area. However just as they had removed the covers, there was sudden thunderstorm, which saw the TV crew commentators and players sprinting to the confines of the shade with the heavy pitch cover being blown away. The stadium plunged to darkness as the lights went off. Shere-e-Bangla Stadium has brilliant drainage facilities that one witnessed during 2014 World T20 final, which started 45 minutes post scheduled time but the groundsmen had prepared the ground. In case of no play, the trophy will be shared as both teams are scheduled to leave for India on Monday.
Jubilations all over the country with enthusiastic participation of cricket fans deserve special mention. We think only cricket can ignite patriotism enabling the masses to stand through thick and thin. That our cricket team is rising to scale is due to unprecedented enthusiasm displayed by the young fans. Realizing the pulse of the enthusiastic fans a plenty of toy tigers thus created for sale in the shops attracted them. Many among twenty five fans in the stadium were seen dancing with toy tigers. The kids who could not trek to the stadium for not managing ticket as a golden dear purchased toy tiger and watched match in TV.
All of us amidst cricket mood waiting for the moment to come. But we pulled a long face when northwester hit the city causing much delay. Our mood came down to anti-climax. Anxiety gripped us with the apprehension that late start with 5 or more over cut would spell disaster going against the tigers! It was really hard for the players to keep the spirit in the event of natural disaster. Tigers were well prepared for the scintillating performance being encouraged by the victories against Pakistan, Sri lanka and UAE. As ill luck would have it storm betrayed them.
Although the tigers lost in the final they were down not out. They way they played bear the hall mark of professional excellence. Indian team facing the tigers was perhaps the best ever with strong batting and well balanced bowling. For this reason team India was able to carry the day with fortune of nature smiling on her face. In fact northwester accompanied with rain threw cold water on the spirit of tigers and the fans. Even then had there been Mustafizur Rahman the result would have been otherwise.
Now in the midst of commercialization and globalization of cricket T- Twenty has been passing palmy days with players deeply entrenched in it. ICC has already evinced a keen interest in it considering huge gate money and increasing enthusiasm of the cricket fans. It is really heartening to note that team Bangladesh is coming of age in all formats of cricket. In T- 20 it has improved a lot beginning to beat Pakistan and Srilanka-the Asian heavy weights. What we need is incredible agility, body fitness and temperament to become champion in shortest version of the cricket. Winning a cup in any big tournament like this is not a far cry. We expect tigers would do well in T- 20 world 2016 now progressing in India. According to the latest news tigers won in the first encounter against Holland.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Professor, department of Public Administration, Chittagong University)
