An ignominious show!

Bangladesh, one of the co-hosts of the current World Cup cricket, shockingly and surprisingly went down to the West Indies, giving the visitors a cake-walk. Hardly anyone in Bangladesh or elsewhere could anticipate such a humiliating defeat for the side, which may not be a force to reckon with in cricket, but certainly are no longer the "minnows". Some called the result that saw the home team's worst performance in the one-dayer in recent times as "upset" and some others described it as totally unanticipated. True, the outcome was beyond imagination for many for the obvious reason that who could foresee that the Bangladesh side that earlier beat Ireland and posted a respectable score against the mighty Indians, despite the defeat, would go down to the Carribbeans without a fight! Bangladesh scored a paltry 58 while electing to bat first after winning the crucially important toss and predictably, the opponent romped home too easily, losing only one wicket and finishing the game with nearly 38 overs to spare. Indeed, it was a very disgusting and ignomious show by the Bangladesh side, sending its fans to rub their eyes in utter disbelief. The outcome sent shock waves throughout the country as the spectators at the Mirpur cricket ground were simply frustratingly stunned along with those glued to the television sets. Admittedly, cricket is a game of uncertainty and upsets are not uncommon. Although the West Indies are now largely a shadow of the once formidable cricket prowess, they are still not an "underdog" nor a weak team. Few counted on a Bangladesh victory over them, even though a win for the home team was not totally unexpected. But in all fairness, the visitors were the favourites and none would have really felt that bad if the defeat would have come through a competitive encounter. But what we saw was hard to digest for many and the love and admiration for the "Tigers" suddenly disappeared, giving way to anger and despondency. It is idealistic to say that such things should be taken sportingly. But then human psychology is such that taking "sportingly" certain things proves to be too difficult in practice and that is the reality. A friend's son succeeded in procuring a ticket for that match after great efforts, but he left the ground before the match was over. Another friend, a great cricket enthusiast for many years, came all the way from the United States to watch the matches in Dhaka. He had an expensive ticket that also provides complimentary dinner. He was utterly aghast as he even did not get the chance of having the sumptuous meal since the match was over much before the scheduled dinner time! Another young fellow, who purchased a ticket from the blackmarket by paying nearly ten times more then the actual price, tore off the ticket in sheer anger just after Bangladesh were bundled out for an unbelievably small score and he did not wait in the ground any further as he thought there was no point of watching the opponent's batting, the outcome of which was a foregone conclusion. Clearly, a pall of gloom descended the country following the defeat. My friend Shabbir Yusuf was, nevertheless, unpuzzled and he remains optimistic! A former sportsman himself, he finds great future of cricket for Bangladesh. "I do not lose heart", he says without being dejected and this is something different from many others. True, we want to pluck up courage; taking the cue from Shabbir. There was no point of jeering at the relatives of captain Shakib in his home town or stoning the bus of the West Indies team - and that could be out of mistake, thinking that the bus was carrying the Bangladesh side. The outcome of the match was definitely not an "upset" as a Carribbean victory was certainly more likely. But the defeat was an ignominy, even when seen in the context of unpredictable nature of cricket. Nonetheless, we want to hope against hope and want to put the recent experience of such a defeat behind. But, we have one expectation - that is performance with responsibility and seriousness - which is vastly absent in the case with some of our players, who are too casual. After all, one has to remember the emotion and national pride of the people while representing them at any level. ...................................................... E-mail: zaglulbss@yahoo.com