Our Cricket: Politics, Love and Betrayal

Bengalis are divided as a nation. Different people have different opinions. They quarrel when they are together. Some are Awami League; some are BNP. Some say the country is doing well, some say the situation in the country is terrible. Cricket is one of the occasions when such a divided nation is united. Cricket has torn down all our divisions. Turns the whole nation into one soul. Cricket makes us laugh and cry. The man who has a strong reluctance to play sports also became enthusiastic about Bangladesh cricket. Even for once, he keeps an eye on the television or listened to the radio. One of the reasons why Bangladesh has advanced in cricket is its spectators. The spectators were one of the reasons that were shown for Bangladesh when Bangladesh got the status of Test cricket. Cricket has become popular in this country due to the love of spectators and common people. Cricket in this country has achieved a lot. The people of Bangladesh are overwhelmed with the success of cricket. Procession of happiness has taken to the streets. They cried when Bangladesh played badly again. Criticized the players. The love of the spectators is the biggest strength of our cricket, that love is also one of our weaknesses. There must be victory and defeat in the game. One day the team will do well; another day it will do bad. Just as you get praise when you play well, you also get abuse when you play badly. In an emotional country like Bangladesh, the level of the two exceeds the limit. A win washes away all criticism. This is how we are accustomed. But this time the T20 World Cup is not like that. Here, the loss of Bangladesh seemed to be undesirable. The Bangladesh team felt chaotic, the board felt irresponsible and the coaching staff was in disarray. Bangladesh has lost many times before. Especially in the T20 format, Bangladesh has never been a very good team. Earlier, Bangladesh won only one match in the main round of the T20 World Cup. So there is no doubt that those who shouted for Bangladesh to play in the semi-finals made irrational exaggerations. I have no comment on the result of Bangladesh in the World Cup. But the body language of the Bangladeshi cricketers in the game was completely non-playing. They could not enjoy the game. It seems that there is no coordination in the team. One does not know the other. No laughter, no excitement. This time in the World Cup, the boys of Bangladesh and the cricket board have appeared on the stage as opponents of each other. The board president shouted when Bangladesh lost to Scotland in the first match of the first round. His attitude felt like now he has got his chance. He humiliated the cricketers. Looks like he was waiting to lose to Scotland. After the victory with Oman, captain Mahmudullah counter-attacked. Such public arson is unprecedented in a national team. There are some incompetent, irresponsible people sitting in some important positions in our country. Not just sitting, they are like stone statues. There is no way to remove them. Till death, they hold a position. The president of the Bangladesh cricket board is such a type of person. I have no idea, in what capacity has he ruled the cricket board year after year. But Nazmul Hasan Papon has a strange quality. When Bangladesh played well, he absorbed all the success. It is because of him that Bangladesh has won such a dream. Nazmul Hasan becomes overwhelmed with success. Calls the Prime Minister. Giggles in the praise of the grovelers. If Bangladesh loses again, he will become a duck. He is not willing to take a pinch of failure. Then he attacks the players. Sometimes I think he is like the 'big brother' of the neighborhood, who doesn’t understand anything of cricket but will still interfere. In a neighborhood, the seniors would remand the juniors if they lose a game to another neighborhood. They make them hold their ears and sit up. Those who play worse put a blow on them. Papon is just like them, if Bangladesh loses players are attacked as if the cricketers are criminals. The motto of Papantantra is 'Success is mine, failure is the cricketers'. He has no accountability. He is everything. Again, sometimes I think Papun is not the president of the board, but the head coach. He openly told the media about whether any player will play or not. The BCB president's statement about which player will open and who will bowl often goes beyond decency. An incident that I saw in the World Cup. After the defeat of Bangladesh in the first match, the second match was against Oman. The batting order was completely reversed. Mushfiqur, the best batsman in the country, was dropped to No. 8. Why is this? I went to find out if there was a role for the board president. I am not making any excuse for Bangladesh cricketers. This time they played really badly. But the board has no responsibility in this bad game? Again the players have to respond to the criticism on the field. Not at the press conference. Just as the BCB president was looking for an opportunity to size up the cricketers, this time too the cricketers of Bangladesh were busy looking for an opportunity to get involved in the war of words. What Riyadh said at the press conference after the victory over Oman is unacceptable. Even Mushfiqur's 'mirror theory' has tarnished the image of cricket in this country. As if Bangladesh did not go to play the World Cup, the board went to fight the cricketers.

I'm not a cricket specialist. Just a spectator and I understand that cricket is basically a mind game. It is more emotional than physical. It is a game of mindfulness. We saw the result of the psychological conflict between the board and the cricketers outside the field. The way Liton Das dropped one catch after another made it seem like he was probably not watching the ball, watching the BCB president. Riyadh also wanted to prove something to the president. For this reason, he started bowling against Sri Lanka, excluding Shakib and Mustafiz. Riyadh is no doubt a good player. But some of his behavior is childish. Riyadh took revenge for injustice to him by announcing his retirement midway through his tour of Zimbabwe. It cannot be the work of an athlete. The question is, why did the board hand over the leadership of the team to such an ignorant emotion? It is understood that the chairman of the board does not like him. How can the leadership of the team be handed over to that disliked person? The officials of the cricket board went to the United Arab Emirates this time. But when Saifuddin and Shakib got injured, Bangladesh was a team of only 13. What better example could there be of the board's 'prudence'?

Looking at the activities of our team, coaching staff, and board in this World Cup, it seems that the end game of our cricket has started. Remember Kenya? With Akram Khan's impeccable innings, we qualified for the ODI World Cup by defeating Kenya. The condition of Kenyan cricket is miserable now. Kenyan cricket is almost dead now. This is because of the politics and factionalism in Kenyan cricket. New players do not come. The same is true of Zimbabwean cricket. My fear is, is Bangladesh cricket also on the way to Kenya, Zimbabwe?

At one time there was a lot of passion and emotion about Bangladesh football. Salauddin, Amalesh, Chunnu, Tutul are one star each. Bangladesh beat the Maldives by 7 goals with a smile. That Bangladeshi football is now dead. The spectators do not go to the field. The Maldives also beats Bangladesh every now and then. Young people are not passionate about football now. New players are not coming. There are no sponsors in football. But once the footballers were the biggest star in Bangladesh. As a result of the spectators turning their faces, football has also fallen face down. Now cricketers are the biggest stars in Bangladesh. Just play for a few days, that's all. Proposals for advertising models keep coming. A few days ago I was watching the game in the office. The top cricketers of Bangladesh are getting out and the star cricketers are appearing as models in advertisements. Mushfiqur-Riyadh is the model of 'Akash'. Shakib is in everything from boost to an air conditioner, chutney to seven up. A colleague said, they do modeling all day, when do they practice? Cricketers are popular. They can be used in product promotions. They can also earn income. No objection. But in doing so, if the game itself becomes unimportant, then the consequences will be the same as in football. This time the visitors of Bangladesh have suffered a lot. Many spectators have turned away from the game. In the last two games of Bangladesh (South Africa-Australia) TV viewership has decreased at a significant rate.

The people of this country are very emotional. They can give their life without hesitation for the things they love. And once they turn away their faces, they don’t even look back. The spectators have started turning away from our cricket in this World Cup. Once a person is averse to cricket, it will be very difficult to get him back. And if the spectators do not watch the game, then there will be no sponsors, no money. The heat of money is much more than the heat of the game now in the inner court of our cricket. The board officials talked about their success and gave a list of the hundreds of crores of rupees in the bank. Board officials also demanded that Bangladesh Cricket Board be one of the richest cricket boards in the world. Our cricketers are also financially strong compared to other players. It is not the fault of the cricket board or the cricketers to be rich. But keep in mind, money is growing in our cricket because there are spectators. So as long as the spectators stay, there will be good days for cricket. Without spectators, the state of cricket will not take long to become like football. Our spectators watch the football World Cup, watch various European games at night, watch Copa America in the wee hours of the morning. It's hard to find anyone who doesn't know Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar. Why don't those football-crazy spectators watch the Bangladesh game? Our cricket board and the players have to face this question. If such a day comes when the spectators of this country are watching the India-Pakistan games, watching Ashes, but not watching Bangladesh game - then who will be responsible for that? Bangladeshi viewers are not as insane as India-Pakistan viewers. They know the limitations of the Bangladesh team. Bangladesh has played very badly before. The audience was upset. It's was okay then. But this time it is not so. I don't know if others will agree with me, this time the audience has been deceived. Before the World Cup, Zimbabwe came to Bangladesh, Australia came, New Zealand came. If Bangladesh builds such a pitch that only Bangladesh can win there. This 'victory' was very important for the cricketers. By showing this victory, the Papon kingdom was made absolute in BCB. And the common man was told that this time Bangladesh will do something in T20 World Cup. At that time, those who questioned the victory over Australia and New Zealand were questioned about their cricketing knowledge. The team that has no opening pair, no finisher, no hard-hitter batsman will go to the semi-finals in T20? But in order to turn the election of the board into a joke, such a deception was done with the people and everyone knows what happened next.

The cricket board is for the welfare of cricket. But our cricket board is like a rehabilitation center. They can't give anything to cricket, they are known to the society by the identity of the board. In my opinion, cricket in Bangladesh is the unhappiest family now. Here the boys are entering the match as if with a sad mind. Coaches are like aliens. The team did not seem united. The board will investigate as usual after the shame of the World Cup. Riyadh may be cut. The board president will give various messages. Then Pakistan will come. Again, Pakistan will be humiliated by creating a 'world-class pitch'. That being said, our cricket is on the right track. The Tigers are back in form. This is not a game this is complete cheating. It is as if politics has entered cricket now. The Politician board president is ruthlessly cheating the people with the game. We love cricket. When you cheat with love, you create hatred and disregard. If this terrible game of cheating on cricket is not stopped, it will not take long for our cricket to get ruined.