Feature

Bangladesh Cricket: Will Things Change?

Syed Athar Bin Amir & Kazi Hayat Reza

About only a week ago, our much adored cricket team once again conceded a series whitewash against the much better equipped Sri Lankan side. Although it kills me to say it, the news of their loss did not come as a surprise to me. I had never expected them to triumph over a technically and psychologically superior cricketing team like Sri Lanka. What I had expected, or more accurately, hoped was that my favourite team would put up a bit of a fight against their rivals; that they'd put in a valiant effort; that they'd give their best in every department. That did not happen. They did not play at their best form and, once again, were crushed by the mighty Lankans, just like they'd been crushed by them and many others so many times. All hope, once again, seems lost. Right now, I only have one question in my mind: will Bangladesh ever become a force to be reckoned with in cricket, or will our team only ever serve the purpose of aiding foreign players reach incredible records more swiftly than they should?

The answer to this question is no longer an easy one, because we are somewhat in a state of transition; both possibilities might come true in the near future. One thing is for sure; as long as our talented batting order keeps collapsing like a row of dominoes, we have as much chance of actually becoming an elite cricketing side as I have of winning a million dollar lottery. A team cannot win if its batsmen post embarrassingly low totals over and over again, even if its bowlers and fielders excel. That fact has been vividly displayed in the series against Sri Lanka. It may have been less frustrating if our team just didn't know how to bat well, if it did not host excellent batters such as Ashraful or Shahriar Nafees in its lineup. The reason behind my consternation is the fact that our best batsmen do not usually fail owing to the brilliance of opposing bowlers, but because they themselves continually chuck their wickets away. They have extreme difficulty to string partnerships together and patiently keeping the scoreboard ticking. And if someone is sent back to the pavilion, you can be sure he will be accompanied by some of his compatriots very soon, as we almost always lose wickets in clusters. These are major flaws you don't really have a solution to: it all comes down to the batsmen keeping a calm head on the pitch. Technically, I dare say our team is advancing; psychologically, I am not sure if we have made any significant improvement. I admit, when we beat India and South Africa in the World Cup, I sincerely believed that things have changed. But how much do those triumphs add up to, if we lose to teams ranked below us, like Ireland, and even struggle to win against lowly Bermuda?

At the end of the day, it seems that we still have a long way to go in cricket. Marginally beating elite teams on one glorious day amounts to very little when we consistently suffer heavy defeats in the hands of the same adversary. We need to start moving on from those seemingly extraordinary achievements, because we can achieve so much more! We are a true cricketing nation, and for what it's worth, I honestly believe we deserve to win matches regularly. Who knows, maybe the day will come when Bangladesh would whitewash Sri Lanka instead, and the tables will turn!

(Students of A-level)