A godsend for the Tigers

By a huge stroke of luck, or you may call it divine intervention or compassionate justice, the rain-affected Australia versus Bangladesh match had been declared a draw. One point each to both teams has been awarded. This has unlocked the way for Bangladesh to move to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, England has defeated New Zealand securing its place in the semi-final. Bangladesh takes on New Zealand today. It is a must-win game for her if she is to be in the reckoning for the semis. Then England meets Australia on Saturday for a vital decider for the second team to move to the semis.

If, however, Australia wins, the calculation of run rates may come into play. Incidentally, Bangladesh has till now better run rates than New Zealand. At any rate, if she cannot win against the Black Caps she is out of the race.

A little flashback: When the Tri-Nation Series championship was lifted by New Zealand we lamented it could have gone our way! We lost what appeared to be a winnable match in our first encounter with the Black Caps. But against daunting odds we chased down 271 to beat New Zealand in the final game. By then, however, our chances of clinching the Tri-Nation Series trophy had slipped away as New Zealand, on the points table, had emerged as the winner.

Then the going for Bangladesh turned rough and gloomy much like the hovering inclement weather. It suffered a humiliating defeat against India with a score of 82 to 324 in its final preparatory match before the Champions Trophy. Commentators got a handle to make some swaggering remarks: "Bangladesh batsmen are harried by Indian bowlers" and "lack of touch between the bat and the ball has been a consistent feature of the Bangladesh innings." Of course, they were venting out their reactions to what they were observing but coming from sub-continental commentators those made a grating sound.

Not all Western commentators, however, are immune to erring on the side of nationalistic exultation. There is nothing wrong with such exuberance. But to hammer on Bangladesh's lack of adaptability to all conditions when they are clearly bridging the gaps there and indulge in self-delusion that after the fifth wicket "Bangladesh did not have any recognised batsmen" were far from encouraging.

I am referring to the abrasive comments with the hope that our cricketers would instill a new sense of determination so as not to court them by performances below par.

Lest we forget, our match with England following a hugely embarrassing defeat to India, even though in a preparatory face-off, delivered a positive message to our team management. Tamim scored a century plus 28 runs and composed a record partnership of 165 with Mushfiqur Rahim. On the back of Tamim's dismissal, Mushfiqur fell. We ended up scoring 314 runs whereas when the two were on the crease, a total of 350 looked like a distinct possibility. This was not the first time that we failed to build on an advantage to take it to the finishing line. In fact this has been our weak point. 

The logic of fielding eight batsmen to only three core bowlers proved fallacious. I remember Indian commentator Ravi Shastri observing that Taskin would be key to deterring the English chase of 300 plus runs that Bangladesh had put on the board. Surprisingly, he did not know that Taskin was not even included in the team!

Our 182 total against Australia is a shame when you think of Tamim scoring 95 runs in stark contrast to only 78 tallied by all other batsmen put together.

A theory has been floated to underline a "physical shortcoming" of batsmen of limited height facing tall bowlers. When, over 6.5-foot tall pacers with an added advantage of a long-hand rush in to bowl from that height the ball hits the ground either bouncing away or skidding to make it "difficult" for a batter to play. This is gibberish when you consider the icons like Don Bradman or Sachin Tendulkar, let alone scores of others who were short- or medium-height batsmen.

The following will do our cricket team a world of good in boosting its confidence before the big event today: Let's draw on some inspirational comments cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara have made on the present and future of Bangladesh cricket.

According to Sachin, "If you look at the strengths of different teams, you will see some are strong in batting and others in the bowling department. Bangladesh is different from that standpoint; they are equally strong in batting, bowling and fielding. Such a balanced team has to be a favourite. I do think Bangladesh can give a fight in the Champions Trophy. When it was not a mature team it had defeated India but now it is one of the world's best sides."

The great Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara who is the International Cricket Council's goodwill ambassador for the Champions Trophy wrote in the ICC website: "Bangladesh is the real dark horse of the Champions Trophy. They have come with great hopes and promise to the tournament. During the last two years under the leadership of Chandika Hathurusingha, they have improved amazingly. He is fortunate to have such an array of talented cricketers hungry for success."

Such laurels should only oblige us to push frontiers.

The writer is a commentator on current affairs and former Associate Editor, The Daily Star.

E-mail: shahhusainimam@gmail.com