Wounded by defeat and words

The atmosphere at the Crown Plaza hotel in Dubai on Sunday night after Bangladesh's five-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka was in stark contrast to the one of Pakistan's, who registered a historic ten-wicket win over their archrivals India on the same night.

Both Bangladesh and Pakistan team are staying at the same hotel in which the Pakistani cricketers were cheering to their hearts' content after finishing the game while the Tigers' den smelled of all gloom and doom.

The environment in the Bangladesh camp has been restless ever since the shocking six-run defeat against Scotland in the qualifying round in Oman despite the Tigers eventually bouncing back to qualify for the Super 12 stage after winning their next two games against Oman and Papua New Guinea.

An ominous sense of insecurity and inexpressiveness among the Bangladeshi players have been reflected in the manner through which Mushfiqur Rahim and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad had dealt with the official post-match press conferences in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup so far.

With none of the players willing to speak on the record to the media, however, it was learned that the cricketers are going through an odd situation in which they could not express themselves freely.

Whether it is the team selection or even forming the batting order, a sense of insecurity has seemingly trickled down from the head coach Russell Domingo to Riyad.

Due to Covid-19 protocols, the media are not being able to follow the team activities, as it has in the past. Nevertheless, one could easily read the discomfort, for whatever reasons, from the expression of the Bangladeshi players.

The defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening Super 12 game has turned the situation even more complex as the blame game from every corner is affecting the confidence of the Tigers.

The cricketers opted to rest yesterday ahead of their second Super 12 encounter against England on Wednesday and the closed environment inside the bio-secure bubble is further negatively impacting the players.

There were questions over the involvement of the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan in the team, especially after his remarks to the media following the defeat against Scotland.

However, it was learned that Hassan had spoken to Shakib Al Hasan over the phone after the defeat against Sri Lanka on Sunday where he tried to lift the morale of the wounded Tigers.

Bangladesh will be training at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today ahead of their second group game against England and the demoralised Tigers would look to neutralise the tense atmosphere in order to display their best.