A new level and a just result

Although it was an academic match for Bangladesh, skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza admitted in so many words after the 94-run defeat to Pakistan in their last World Cup match that the result coloured how their campaign would be remembered.

"If we could finish the match on a good note, we could have said that luck has not been with us," the 35-year-old Mashrafe, appearing downcast after what was his last World Cup match, said in the post-match press conference. "We have been really good in a few things, but a few things have not been with us."

One of those few things that were not on the Tigers' side was their fielding. Having let go of opportunities in crucial moments during the matches they lost -- against New Zealand, England, Australia, India and Pakistan -- Mashrafe did not mince words when it came to their failings on the field.

"In some matches, fielding really cost us -- ground fielding especially. It helps the bowlers when fielders back you up," Mashrafe said. "Catches were dropped, it happens, but when it keeps happening questions will of course be asked.

"Fielding, it has been a concern all of my career. When there is a partnership, we get down," Mashrafe said. "This is the part that a player can change. I think we really need to improve fielding."

Getting down when the going got tough was a theme of Bangladesh's performance on the field. Although Pakistan would also have had little motivation to do well as they needed to bundle Bangladesh out for seven runs to progress to the semifinals, they stuck to their task and finished their World Cup proudly. Mashrafe thought that it was the teams' contrasting lead-ins to the last game that made the difference.

"It was not like we took the field not thinking of a win, but when the team knows that they are not in the semifinals, in the back of the mind you are a little upset. In these situations it is difficult for both teams. Pakistan were in good touch in the last few matches. Momentum was with them. In our last match it was confirmed that we were out of the World Cup."

Looking back at the World Cup, Mashrafe said that a seventh-placed finish was not bad, and that there were a few positives.

"If we won today, we could have gone to five. We had a chance to go to five till our last match," Mashrafe said. "If we won against India, we could have had a certain type of momentum. I wouldn't say that seven is a very bad place to be.

"I was worried about all three departments before the World Cup and I thought that we lagged behind in all three. After the World Cup I see that there is a big difference in bowling and an even bigger one in fielding," Mashrafe said when asked where Bangladesh lacked against the big teams. "But after the matches against Australia and India, I think we are in a similar position in batting."

One of the recurring themes of Bangladesh's World Cup campaign has been the disappointing performance of the one batsman most fans would have been looking at to set the biggest stage alight for the Tigers. Tamim Iqbal averaged 57.06 between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, but on the biggest stage, he managed 235 runs at an average of 29.37 from eight games. A player who takes great pride in performance and the legacy he will leave behind in Bangladesh cricket, the meagre returns frustrated Tamim throughout the event, even though it was his most successful World Cup in terms of runs scored. Yesterday, as the Tigers prepared to make their way back from the UK, Tamim spoke to The Daily Star's Sakeb Subhan about his disappointment and the need to move past it. The following are excerpts of the interview:

The Daily Star (TDS): Are you disappointed with your performance in the World Cup?

Tamim Iqbal (TI): Yes, very disappointed. In the sense that, after what happened in 2015, I have been preparing myself for 2019. In these four years I've had a lot of success. And then, even in Ireland I did really well. But I think that as soon as the World Cup started, I took a lot of pressure on myself. Just thinking that I don't go back to 2015 again. It is very easy for anyone who reads this to come and ask me why are you thinking like this, you have scored so many runs. But only I know what is going on inside. My nightmare was going back to 2015, what happened in 2015, how I suffered and my family suffered.

TDS: By that you mean the outside pressure after you dropped a catch against England and also some inconsistency with the bat?

TI: The outburst that happened was very new for me then. I couldn't handle it at that time. And then how the family suffered, and all of that. I knew very well that the World Cup is a tournament that makes even those who do not follow cricket start following; that's how big the event is. I think that is what killed me at the beginning. I took a lot of pressure on myself; I wanted to prove a point… not prove a point, I wanted to do really well.

And in these four years, the success I got, I never tried to prove to anyone. I just went there, batted and things happened. But here, I put so much pressure on myself to succeed that it hampered me. I was actually looking to get  a score in the first two games. That's very important for me. The 62 I scored [against Australia], if I could have scored that in the first two games, it could have been a different thing mentally. I think that is why I find it disappointing. The trolling, the criticism is part of my life. I need to accept it. I think that I have dealt with it much better than I did in 2015. What bothered me was myself. I lost to myself.

TDS: What bothered you more, that you couldn't score runs or the pressure you put on yourself?

TI: I took a lot of pressure to score runs. I had to score… I had to score. If you try too hard to do something, it doesn't happen. I really am not someone who has a bad tournament and will then come and give excuses, but actually I was very unlucky in this tournament. There were three to four dismissals where I couldn't do anything. The Cottrell runout, the three chop-ons. It had nothing to do with my technique. There were one or two dismissals which I regret… England and New Zealand. The first game [against South Africa] was a very good delivery, the last game [against Pakistan] was a good delivery. Surprisingly, though I didn't score runs, I actually batted really well. It wasn't as if I was being beaten or struggling. Whenever I batted, everybody thought – myself included – that this is the day probably. I went there and played a couple of nice shots and then it just happened. The good thing is I don't take the past innings with me when I am batting. I started panicking more because I was getting out after one mistake. I actually lost patience with myself. I wondered what the hell is happening. I talked to Neil and he said you cannot do anything. After the first two games I went to [batting coach] Neil [McKenzie] and said 'let's shoot my batting and see if there is anything technical'. Then he told me 'I wish I could tell you something', there was nothing. He said 'it's basically the same, you've done this'.

There are two positives from this. One was the processes that got me success, the way I batted and the processes I did before the game, I did exactly the same. In such situations, there will be people giving you all kind of advice: 'Go and attack', 'if this is not working you should bat like this or that'. That is the worst possible thing I could have done. Because after not scoring in two matches, if I went down the wicket to the first ball, or swung my bat around and then got out, then that would have the worst possible thing. The best thing I did was I never changed. I batted exactly the same way when I scored a lot runs and when I didn't score a lot runs – from game 1 to game 8 – I batted the same way.

TDS: When you say the same way, do you mean the changed Tamim who aims to bat till the 40th over?

TI: The aim is to bat deep. Sometimes, with the way I start… I will take time when I start the innings. When I am batting on 40 or 50, I make up the time I took. I have a lot of confidence in myself, the team, the coaching staff have a lot of confidence in me. It's not like I have done it for 10 games; I have done it for 50 games. Unfortunately I never got to that stage in this World Cup. People will say that there are a lot of ifs and buts, but it does not bother me because I know what I was trying to do. The other positive is that in my bad times, if I am averaging 30, I am pretty happy.

TDS: A lot of criticism has come because of your changed role, from swashbuckler to someone who bats all the way through.

TI: My role also has changed and, though it is a World Cup, I batted exactly the same way for the last five years. The way I batted actually helped the team to win. It doesn't bother me what people think. Changing myself because some people think a certain way is the worst possible thing I could do. What I do is not easy. My point is, if something has worked for me for a number of years, why should I change it? The people who understand cricket will understand what I went through and the people who don't understand cricket, will always criticise. And I am completely fine with it; I think I have come out of that space in 2015. There were high expectations, for me too, because I took myself to that level. It hurts a lot, but I need to come out of it.

TDS: You say that you have lost to yourself but also that the frustrations did not hamper you in the middle. Where did it affect you?

TI: It didn't affect me when I was batting. It affected me before the game – two days before the game. When playing a match, what you're doing in the middle is important but there are other important things. How mentally relaxed you are a day before, how positively you are thinking, all this adds to your batting. If you are not in a good mental space when you are going out to bat, it sometimes definitely hurts you and definitely affects your game. I took a lot of pressure to perform. It was not about social media or people writing about me, it was me who was the problem.

TDS: Did the dropped catch of Rohit Sharma add to the pressure?

TI: The catch drop didn't bother me either. I dropped the catch and felt bad for a couple of overs and I was up and running in two overs' time. I was going into the hot position to field. I was cheering when wickets were falling. I was probably the first one to go to Mustafizur when he took five wickets. Dropped catches are part of cricket. It was an important catch, I understand. A lot of criticism came after the dropped catch. Going forward, I will be taking a lot of good catches and I will also be dropping catches.

TDS: With three wins out of eight matches, how would you rate Bangladesh's performance?

TI: I thought it was a disappointing performance. We definitely had our moments and our chances. I could answer that question by saying that it was a very positive tournament, we pushed the best teams to the limit, but I think that we as a team have come out of that position. Just playing well is not our target. Playing well and winning games is our target. If you think in that way, we are number seven. If South Africa win we become number eight. So you cannot say it was a great campaign.

A magnificent rearguard effort from India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja could not offset the early damage done by seamers Trent Boult and Matt Henry as New Zealand secured a second successive World Cup final berth with an 18-run win in a pulsating semifinal at Old Trafford yesterday. New Zealand completed the win on the reserve day set aside for the semifinals and finals after rain had forced a suspension on Tuesday, which ended with the Kiwis on 211 for five in 46.1 overs.

The Black Caps will meet the winner of today’s second semifinal between Australia and England in the final at Lord’s on July 14. If Australia win, it will be a replay of the 2015 World Cup final and if England win, there will be a new world champion come Sunday night.

Chasing 240 to win, India had brought the chase down to 37 from the last three overs with Jadeja and Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the crease. Having hit four sixes while dragging India back into contention, Jadeja perished trying for a necessary fifth to be caught in the ring off a Boult slower ball. Dhoni started the next over from Lockie Ferguson, which began with India needing 31, with a six over point but off the third ball a precision throw from deep square leg from Martin Guptill found Dhoni just short of his crease in his attempt to complete his 51st run. Guptill’s pinpoint accuracy was one of the examples of fortune favouring the brave after skipper Kane Williamson had gone for wickets early on and gambled by bowling his best bowlers out before the last two overs.

Ferguson bowled Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a slower ball and then Jimmy Neesham had Yuzvendra Chahal caught behind as India were all out for 221 with three balls to spare.

New Zealand’s win over the more fancied India was based on doing what no other team had managed against the 2011 World Cup champions in this edition so far -- dismissing Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli within the first 10 overs. After New Zealand had added 28 runs for the loss of three wickets in the morning yesterday, three wickets from Henry and one -- that of Kohli -- from Boult cut the Indians down to 24 for four after the first 10 overs. The significance of those early blows can best be illustrated by the fact that in their eight league games, India had lost just four wickets in the first 10 overs.

But the two-time champions’ chasing pedigree came through later on, when Jadeja dominated a 116-run seventh-wicket stand with MS Dhoni, who was handing the strike over to the left-hander in red-hot form. Jadeja came to

the crease with India reeling on 92 for six in the 31st over with Dhoni playing slowly and the match all but lost. He hit a 59-ball 77 in the partnership that lasted 17.2 overs and nearly pulled off a miracle.

Earlier, in ideal swing-bowling conditions, captain Williamson’s gamble to go all out for wickets was rewarded by two bowlers who executed that plan to the letter with highly accurate and incisive spells. Henry drew first blood in the second over by having Sharma -- who scored five centuries in eight league games -- caught by the keeper with an edged away-swinger. Boult worked Kohli over with a sequence of two outswingers and two inswingers, with the right-hander playing across the line and being trapped in front by the second inswinger. Lokesh Rahul repeated Sharma’s error -- poking without conviction at an away-swinger -- to leave India on a woeful five for three in the fourth over. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant fought hard to survive with Boult constantly keeping the batsmen guessing and playing late. Neesham then completed the Powerplay dominance by snaffling a superb catch at point millimetres off the ground diving to his left when Karthik checked a drive to another outswinger from Henry and got a thick outside edge in the 10th    over.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner did his part by bowling a tight line and Pant, realising the need for some quick runs, attempted a maximum but was instead caught off a slog sweep at deep midwicket in the 23rd over. The pressure also told on Hardik Pandya, whose wild slog in the 31st over off the same bowler was caught by Williamson in the ring, leaving India in a seemingly hopeless position. Jadeja’s innings followed, as did a late Dhoni fightback in what could be the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman’s last ODI, but the early ground ceded to the brave Kiwis proved too much to recover.

Kane Williamson stood with hands outstretched as an accurate throw from Martin Guptill ricocheted off a diving Ben Stokes’s bat and went for four in the 100th over of a sublime World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday. If the ball had just found the keeper’s glove, or even if it deflected at a less acute angle and went to the short third man fielder, England would have needed seven runs from the last two balls, but the overthrow made it three from two. A tie, then a tied Super Over later, England had won the World Cup through the quite irrelevant measure of having hit more boundaries over the course of the game.

After scoring 27 per cent of his team’s runs over 11 games and also embodying the very philosophy that brought his team to the final, no one had more right to be disappointed, angered, disillusioned and frustrated by that overthrow. But Williamson put his hands down and got back to the business of leading his team with a steady hand. He repeated that when marshalling his fielders in the Super Over and, even when all was lost and all of Lord’s was celebrating, Williamson’s composure held when he talked to the TV cameras minutes after Guptill was run out trying to complete the World Cup-winning run.

For those who followed Williamson through the World Cup, this acceptance of ‘uncontrollables’ -- a word he repeated on numerous occasions before and after the epic final --  should not be surprising. While for most captains talking about focusing on their own team’s strengths rather than the opposition’s is little more than a soundbyte, Williamson lived that mantra and his team followed that example. It is this acceptance of not being able to control everything in the wide scope provided by a 50-over match that brought New Zealand to within inches of winning their maiden World Cup.

On paper, their team was formidable, but Guptill’s indifferent form at the top of the order put pressure on the middle order. It was none other than Williamson who bore the brunt of that pressure and with the continuing frailty at the top of the order, reassessed conditions and realities expertly to give New Zealand a fighting chance time and again.

While a loss of form or injuries would have had most captains cursing their luck, Williamson just recognised the reality of the situation. Instead, he hit an unbeaten 106 to secure a four-wicket win against South Africa and in the very next match, scored 148 against West Indies to set up a five-run win.

Even so, by the time the semifinals rolled around, not many would have given New Zealand a chance of winning against India because the Black Caps had scraped through on net run rate after losing their last three league games. But there again, Williamson scored 67 in New Zealand’s 239 for eight -- a total that seemed sub-par but, in another example of Williamson’s pitch-perfect assessment, proved to be very competitive as New Zealand won by 18 runs.

As captain, he focused on his team’s strength -- their superb seam bowling attack that could take wickets in English conditions and cover up for the oft-misfiring batting lineup -- and reassessed accordingly. His team followed by example. Even as Williamson departed for 30 in the final, the rest of the batsmen did not panic and just focused on getting a total that they believed their bowlers could defend through age-old wicket-taking methods, regardless of how strong England’s batting was.

It was an uncontrollable.

Although heartbroken, Williamson graciously accepted the player-of-the-tournament trophy at the end of the match. It is not just Bangladeshis who have asked why Shakib Al Hasan -- with the greatest all-round performance in World Cup history -- did not win the prize.  But for fans of cricket, there is rich justice in recognising a player who tapped into the essence of the game, understood and accepted its cruelties, scored the runs he could and in the process, led his team to within inches of the World Cup. Williamson may not have the coveted trophy, but his example over the last month and a half has been a triumph for cricket.