Miles from Being Grownups

Prabuddha Neogi

Possibility of Virat Kohli pulling out of the upcoming Indian cricket team’s tour to Bangladesh, must have come as a bit of dampener to Bangladeshi cricket fans. Kohli has hinted that non-stop cricket is taking a toll on his fitness and he wants a reprieve from the rather insignificant tour where India is slated to play one Test and three one day internationals (ODIs). Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the team in Kohli’s absence. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also likely to rest some other key players and give the fence sitters a chance. It could also be Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag’s farewell series.

Rubel Hossain exults after dismissing Virat Kohli
in the World Cup quarterfinal

The Bangladeshi fan must have been gearing up for another Virat-Rubel duel. Rubel Hossain, Bangladesh’s bowling spearhead, had dismissed Kohli for a paltry three runs in that quarterfinal and went euphoric in his enjoyment. In fact, every Indian wicket was followed with loud celebrations. India’s 109 run win was an otherwise clinical finish, except the controversial Sharma not-out decision by umpire Aleem Dar. Sharma went on to score a match winning 137.

Sharma is no less a villain in Bangladesh than Kohli and they would bay for his blood in the upcoming series. The Bangladesh cricket fan is also peeved at the fact that BCCI is sending a second-string side, largely to show how inconsequential the series is. If speculations are to be believed, BCCI could rest Sharma as well, along with Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin. In that event, Suersh Raina may lead the team once again. India will also be without the services of coach Duncan Fletcher because his term is expiring in the interim. Ravi Shastri will return as the team director.   

This show of inconsequence won’t go down well with Bangladesh. It’s still a juvenile country where emotions precede pragmatism. So much so that Hasina, in a miserable portrayal of a bad loser, said that they were ‘made to lose’ in the World Cup. As if, Bangladesh would have won the match hands down, but for the umpiring blooper. India was quickly dubbed as the evil overlord of global cricket by the Bangladeshi media. Seminars, rallies, human chains and similar programmes were organised in the aftermath to press for ‘justice’.

Bangladesh has managed to win Tests only against Zimbabwe and the West Indies, both minnows now in international cricket. It has played seven Tests against India, losing six and drawing only one. The Bangladeshi fan is also irked at BCCI’s disinterest to host the Bangladesh team in a bilateral series. BCCI, truly, has said that an Indo-Bangla series in India will be an entirely loss making affair.

There was nothing great in Bangladesh making the quarterfinal cut in the World Cup. England was the only major team it defeated en route, the other two being Scotland and Afghanistan. There’s always an over-hype surrounding the team because of its sporadic successes against all the top tier teams. What Bangladesh needs to understand is that it must defeat the top teams regularly. And for that, it needs to plan long term. Short term gains won’t be of any good. They also need to emerge from the slam-bang T20 mode and stop hunting for conspiracy theories in every match they lose.