A needless crisis

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is expected to travel to England on Thursday to consult a specialised doctor about his left hand's fractured index finger knuckle. The southpaw sustained the injury during the Asia cup opener against Sri Lanka at the bowling of Suranga Lakmal and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament.

According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board's chief physician Debashish Chowdhury, the cricketer has already taken x-rays and the reports have already been sent to specialists in Australia and England.

"Tamim had his x-ray done and we have already sent that to England and Australia. We already received a response from England but we are still waiting for a response from Australia. At the moment we are sending him to England immediately to consult with doctor David, not for a surgery though as it will be better for the doctor to have a look at his injury in person," Debashish told The Daily Star yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tamim informed that he still experiences some pain in the injured area and he hopes that surgery will not be required.

"Many may have thought that I injured my wrist but that's not true as I have fractured the knuckle on my left hand's index finger. What we are worried about is whether the bone is placing in the right area or not and it's slightly away from where it should have been. The doctors are thinking that if I do a surgery now then my joint may get stiff so they are trying to settle this without surgery and if there is any problem in future they will work accordingly. The fracture is very close to the joint so let's see if the doctors say anything new but I will continue in a conservative way.

"I have an appointment with the doctor in England on Friday and I am expected to travel day after tomorrow [Thursday] where the doctor will change the plaster and have a look at the injured area," Tamim told The Daily Star yesterday.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had boldly stated prior the Asia Cup final against India that he was not so cheap that he would judge himself by a trophy.

That trophy has eluded the Tigers once again following India's thrilling last-ball win on Friday in the Asia Cup final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Even with all the limitations and one setback after another, Mashrafe was so close to achieving the much-desired glory for the country but ultimately, he could not put his hands on the trophy. However, we must echo sentiments of Bangladesh's ODI skipper that there is no way we can judge the brave-hearted cricketer or his brigade by their failure to break the trophy jinx.

Sporting achievements are often measured by numbers and that is precisely why it will be difficult to analyse Mashrafe's true contribution in the region's biggest cricket competition.

"The boys should feel proud," responded the Bangladesh skipper after his team's three-wicket defeat in the final. "I think they did a good job without two key members. Missing Shakib [Al Hasan] and Tamim [Iqbal] was a big blow but I think boys have done a really good job," he continued.

Mashrafe had every reason to praise his charges. But we must thank the brave-hearted Tigers leader for the way he inspired his boys to overcome all the chaos. And it looked like he put the 'fear limits you and your vision' mantra to the ears of his charges.

If it all started by encouraging Tamim Iqbal to return to the crease at the fall of Bangladesh's ninth wicket in the 47th over against Sri Lanka in the opening match to accompany centurion Mushfiqur Rahim -- who almost single-handedly guided the side to a fighting 261 with his highest ODI score of 144 -- then it ended with the startling motion that saw him inspire opener Liton Das from the dressing room by thumping his chest.

Mashrafe effortlessly carried the burden of expectations throughout the tournament.

The young cricketers' failure to meet expectations has become the centre of discussion in recent times but this Asia Cup at least provided some hope thanks to this charismatic leader who tried his best to bring the best out of Liton, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Mithun and even a proven performer like Mushfiqur Rahim didn't hesitate to praise the Mash-impact in their performance.

It was actually a bowling effort that Bangladesh can be proud of as they seemed out of the game on numerous occasions. However, the bowlers brought them back into the contention thanks to their never-say-die attitude. And it was no exception in the final battle against India.

There were not many who believed that Bangladesh could take the game to the last ball after they managed only 222 runs despite Liton and Miraz's brilliant 120-run opening stand. Mashrafe however once again proved that he was not a man who would give up on the job before showing any fight and he rightly credited his bowlers for putting up that fight.

"I hope we won a lot of hearts," Mashrafe said.

But a true champion could not stop here and that was why he said: "The positives depend on the individuals. I think losing to India twice was something that I didn't desire. When Shakib and Tamim are back, the team will do well in the future if we can hold on to this spirit."

Yes, it was the spirit that Mashrafe injected most among his charges to win the hearts and in future that spirit will help fulfil their ambitions. Still, when Mashrafe said that "we have lot of work to do" it means a lot for future success.

The Bangladesh innings of 239 all out against Pakistan yesterday, leaving overs unused for the fourth time in five matches of the ongoing Asia Cup, revealed much of what is ailing Bangladesh batting. Mushfiqur Rahim was once again brilliant and extremely unlucky to be the first Bangladesh batsman to be out on 99 in international cricket. While he responded to the terrible setback of losing Shakib Al Hasan before the match by absorbing all the pressure, the performance of the rest of the top order raised serious concerns about Bangladesh's bench strength and also the willingness of those outside the experienced batsmen to respond to a match situation.

On a pitch that had a bit of grass, none of the Pakistan pacers bowled an unplayable ball except a Shaheen Shah Afridi delivery to Mohammad Mithun in the sixth over, when the left-arm pacer's delivery pitched outside leg and jagged away outside off, completely opening the batsmen up. Yet Bangladesh were three wickets down for 12 runs by the end of the fifth over. With Shakib out of the tournament one may have thought that the openers would try to preserve wickets to compensate for the hole in the middle order. However, Soumya Sarkar -- playing his first ODI in almost a year -- went for the hook the first opportunity he got when Junaid Khan bounced him in the third over, perishing because he was too late on the shot.

If Soumya's error revealed thoughtlessness, Mominul Haque's dismissal exposed the lack of bench strength. After hitting a boundary off Shaheen Shah, he was beaten by pace in the next ball by a bowler who, while nippy, is not the fastest going around. In the next over Liton was foiled by a tactic as elementary as Junaid coming around the wicket. To a straight ball that was homing in on off and middle, the opener tried to play towards mid on and had his stumps disturbed. 

Like he did in the first match against Sri Lanka on September 15, Mushfiqur stitched together a face-saving 144-run partnership with Mohammad Mithun. With his team seriously hurt by the new absence of Shakib and the old one of opener Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur refrained from any of the brain fades that saw him get out reverse-sweeping against India and run out in suicidal fashion against Afghanistan. The same could not be said for Mithun, who repeated his error from the Sri Lanka match by playing a rash shot just when the bowling was at their mercy.

The remaining six wickets could add just 83 runs. As has been happening in every match that Bangladesh have not completely lost the plot in, one of the senior pros have stood up and made up for the rest.  

Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal reached the milestone of 12,000 runs in three formats combined.

He needed 47 runs against West Indies in the second ODI. He struck a 63-ball 50 against the Windies – his first fifty since returning from injury -- as Bangladesh posted 255 runs on the board.

He had injured his hand during the first match of the Asia Cup but the left-hander had risked further injury, showing tremendous courage as is fitting of Bangladesh's leading run-scorer when he came out to bat again at Number 11 and partner Mushfiqur Rahim at the other end.

Since making his debut in 2007, Tamim has played 313 matches [all three formats combined] and is  the first Bangladesh batsman to achieve the milestone of 12,000 runs. The left-hander had hit a ton in the practice match against the Windies at BKSP and there was an expectation when he reached fifty yesterday. However his innings ended after he was holed out at deep mid-wicket. Bangladesh went onto lose by four wickets but Tigers will be hoping that the left-hander carries on his excellent form now to the third ODI at Sylhet and help Bangladesh clinch the series.