Umpires knockout Tigers with “reverse swing”

A little more than a year ago I wrote an unflattering piece on the Bangladesh cricket team's performance in the Asia Cup. Today realities have changed and, like most cricket fans around the world, I must commend the team for making it to the World Cup Quarter Finals and earning a place in the world's cricket arena.

Since Bangladesh's transition into the quarters, the nation has been subjected to a media frenzy -- partially fanned by a government too willing to distract its people from the existing political turmoil. The TV channels ranted and raved with self-appointed critics and connoisseurs voicing thousands of opinions. Expectations skyrocketed, adding more chaos and disarray to a nation still in search of a cricket identity. And then…the "expert analyses" came hurtling down like a hot balloon with no gas. The game was an anticlimax partly because of dubious umpiring and partly because the Bangladesh team lost their nerve, literally handing a victory to the opponents even before the game ended. The disappointed fans were left asking: "Did we not deserve at least an exciting finish?"

This column is by no means a rehash of the quarter final match between Bangladesh and India. The post mortem and soul searching are already underway in the media. I am no expert, just an ordinary cricket fan. But a passionate one -- and have been since my adolescence. Hence I believe I have earned the right to make a few observations. As in most mega disasters, the blame rests on a few culprits and arch villains -- some obvious and others camouflaged. I realise it's in bad taste to point fingers, but how can I not name Tamim, the Bangladesh opening batsman who scored less runs in the entire tournament than the number of times the cuckoo cooed this morning in my neighbour's mango tree. Also, the manner in which the legend Shakib simply threw away his wicket in "the most important game in Bangladesh cricket's history" was akin to committing hara-kiri. Yes, the players were all fired up before the match and a positive attitude is a good thing -- but it does not win games, unfortunately!

As for the camouflaged villains, we will never discover who they are. But it is now an established fact (from experts' reviews, analyses and tweets) that a critical Indian wicket was disallowed because of a wrong "no ball" call from the umpire. And Bangladesh's key batsman was given "out" in a flawed decision. Two such blatant mistakes (and a "legitimate" LBW appeal from the Tigers ignored even after review) are bound to arouse suspicions. One could speculate on the reasons: the controversial role and management practices of the International Cricket Council (ICC), big money and advertising controlling the World Cup etc. But is there any point? The truth is it's an unfair world and the Bangladesh team, being the underdogs, would be at a disadvantage even if they played a better game. Sorry, that's the way the ball turns!

Let this unpleasant experience not deter us from expressing our gratitude to the Tigers. We thank them for uniting and reinvigorating the country at a time when the morale was running low. In many ways they have shown us that we can still stand up as one nation. A simple incident convinced me of their enormous contribution to their fans, despite the quarter final loss. The day of the match I was at my bank cashing a check. People were raptly watching the game on the TV screen. Noticing that India had crossed 70 with no loss, I uttered out aloud: "Oh my God, they will make 350 runs." The security guard standing behind me quipped: "No they can't. This is a much larger field than the one in New Zealand." "How do you know?" I asked. "Sunil Gavaskar said so yesterday," he responded confidently. I must say I was impressed and rightly so. We must thank our Tigers for bringing cricket to the masses. It's no longer a gentleman's game -- it belongs to everyone. It has become a social leveler, a sport that allows people of all ages and classes to mix freely, submerge old identities and forge new bonds.

For the public, the cheering, shouting folks in the streets whose drab lives were lightened up briefly, it was a sad finish. There were no Thursday night celebrations for them… But they can hold their heads high that their team played a clean game. The Bangladeshi cricketers did not tamper with the ball or "fix" the match. They cannot be accused of foul play or influencing the ICC with big time corporate advertisers. And that should make us proud as a nation. Wasfia Nazreen, the intrepid Bangladeshi mountaineer and social activist, aptly encapsulated these sentiments in her tweet: "I salute our boys for holding their own integrity &#sportsmanship and for performing amidst such a pressure-laden & SCANDALOUS system!"

The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank.  
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