What Bangladesh cricket needs

Bangladesh cricket is just fresh from two major international cricketing events: the Cricket World Cup and the one-day series against mighty Australia. These encounters also gave Bangladesh the opportunity to assess its cricketing prowess at whatever level it exists and the overall condition surrounding the game both in terms of strengths and weaknesses. The two events are now over, but these are now coming into thorough introspection in Bangladesh and especially the first one in all the major cricket playing nations. They are looking at themselves with a view to understand the conditions as far as their teams are concerned in the arena of world cricket in the light of the recently concluded world cup tournament. Several nations have gone into the task of overhauling of the cricket including the structure of the concerned bodies in a bid to rid of the shortcomings as far as possible and inject fresh ideas and enthusiasm. Even captains of some good teams have quit voluntarily from their positions to facilitate development of new leadership. Bangladesh too cannot remain isolated from such developments since the nation was very much in the thick of the world cup tournament and subsequently in the just concluded three one-day series against mighty Australia. It is not necessarily a logical corollary that heads should roll as a sequel to the dismal performance of the Bangladesh team in the world cup or losing all the three matches against the "Kangaroos" on home ground. What is important is the true appraisal of the performance without making unrealistic hopes, in the one hand, and seeking to look down upon the ability on the other. The thrust has to be to pin-point the lacunae and try to overcome them in the short and long term so as to improve the overall standard of the game. It is important because cricket no longer remains within the domain of a mere sporting event as interest and emotion centering the game has assumed a different dimension in countries like Bangladesh. The attachment and sentiment involving the game was adequately reflected in the recent encounters in Bangladesh when people virtually went crazy when the home team was playing in both world cup and later against the "Kangaroos". Against this background, it is imperative that Bangladesh cricket comes into discussions and debates with the ultimate objective of improving the level of the cricket at least to an extent that the fans can derive some satisfaction about the standard of this game. In a column like this, one cannot venture to touch upon the nitty-gritty issues, but take up some basic and fundamental issues related to the game that evokes widespread interest in Bangladesh. This is no exaggeration to say that cricket is a passion in South Asia, the home of nearly 1.5 billion people. All major nations in the region, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in the thick of the game and took part in the world cup, which was co-hosted by three regional countries this time. Incidentally, this has also been the finest hour for the South Asian cricket as never before both champions and runners-up came from this region. Furthermore, three South Asian countries made it to the last four which is unprecedented. India emerged champions while the Sri Lankan became runners-up and Pakistan reached the semi-final level. All these are glorious moments for regional cricket. However, Bangladesh could not make it to a respectable level as it failed to reach the quarter-finals even though the chances were bright. None really expected the country - still in some ways in a nascent stage of the game - to reach the pinnacle or somewhere near to that although it is not anything impossible. But the very fact that the team had to capitulate at times too miserably, speak of the dire need for paying urgent attention to the affairs involving cricket. It is not that Bangladesh did not have success in the tournament as the team definitely accomplished commendable feats on some occasions. But the setbacks were too pronounced and this has also made the nation look like a minnow which is not the case any more. At times, the dismal performances were simply inglorious, causing deep shock and anguish and reasons for such poor showing needs introspection. The players themselves must prove their determination and seriousness about their ability and approach. The three ODI matches against the Australians were in a way better performance, particularly the last one despite the loss as the home team posted a commendable total chasing the massive score of the visitors. But then once again, they also faltered in a unbelievable pattern making the performance a mockery! Well, if cricket is a passion in South Asia, all the other three cricket playing regional nations have won the world cup at least once and it is now the turn for the fourth side, which is Bangladesh. The objective is not impossible to achieve, provided there is proper planning, sincerity of purpose and an unremitting endeavour. Bangladesh cricket cannot lag behind since the game is not just a mere sporting discipline, but it has much wider implications. The writer can be reached at e-mail: zaglulbss@yahoo.com