Subash Bagmar :
The whole country is disappointed. We are an emotional lot. We support our cricket team with a lot of passion. I cannot imagine any other stadium in the world where the players are cheered for as loudly as ours during this World T20 Cup. The results have not gone our way. We have lost three out of three in the main rounds – being hopelessly outclassed. That probably has hurt our pride more than anything else. The other four teams in the group are all respected well established sides. It is not unexpected that we can lose to them. But it was depressing the way we could not even compete.
“What went wrong?” – one may ask. If we knew the answer; if there was a way to turn it all around – I assure you there are enough people passionate about our cricket who would have taken those steps.
I would honestly assume there are no simple answers. It is a great honor to represent your country at these games. I am confident our players value their place in the squad, and they are as sad, if not more, when our team loses.
Having said this, we cannot comprehend why we would lose all our wickets for 108 against an ordinary bowling attack like Hong Kong in the preliminary rounds. Before the preliminary rounds began, there was much anger addressed towards the decision of ICC to make Bangladesh fight for a spot against three non-test sides for the final 10. When that round began, some of the zealous fans were over the moon with our wins against Afghanistan and Nepal.
Afghanistan, if you remember, are the same side which routed us out in the Asia Cup. In fact, we were blanked out in all four games we played in the Asia Cup (against Afghans, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) as well as going winless against the touring Lankan team (both series were played earlier this year).
Yes there is a strong argument for some players taking their places for granted and our selectors not looking for replacements in case the incumbents fail over and over again. That argument gains momentum whenever we have debacles like our game against HK.
What goes right when we do win? Usually it is a game where the team does not commit silly mistakes (dropped catches, missed stumpings etc) and there is a concerted batting performance. But a win usually is ensured when a Batsman shines for that day (Mushfiq, Shakib usually involved in the starring roles) or on occasions a Bowler does do (Rubel Hossain against NZ, Shakib or Razzak with their tweakers). I do not remember a one-man show. When we play well, we play as more than a team; we play as a nation.
A win means more than just another win against another cricket team to us. Perhaps that is why we are delirious when we play well. On the flipside, we condemn our players when we don’t. Sometime we are very very harsh.
One excuse our players can give is – we were placed in a group with the Asian Giants of Cricket: India and Pakistan.
West Indies is the current World Champion. As I write this (on Monday), we have not played against Australia. Perhaps, that is the game where we can slightly redeem ourselves. On our slow and low pitches our team is dangerous against teams who are slightly suspect against quality spin – England, South Africa or New Zealand. India and Pakistan know how to approach the game in these conditions and they overwhelmed us. There is an alarming concern with our fielding in the games.
We have dropped many catches. We also ran poorly between wickets and missed some run-outs/stumpings. Perhaps we are suffering from fatigue or perhaps we are suffering from a state of depression which the Asia Cup placed us in.
We love our cricketers. We will continue giving them our support and well wishes. We have high hopes from them. Perhaps in time, they will reward us for our patience.
