Thank You, Tigers!

Cricket is not just a game for us. It’s a part of our life, our emotion. Practically we live cricket.

Bangladesh might not be the best cricketing nation, but we are one of those few countries who play cricket in all formats. We won the 1997 ICC Trophy and forced ourselves into the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Since then, we haven’t stopped.

We had ups and downs, but our journey in the World Cups continued in our own manner. We were not that successful. Until recently. Previously, our biggest achievement was qualifying for the Super 8s in the 2007 World Cup, which was not a knock-out round then. But 2015 World Cup has been completely different for us! We qualified for the Quarter-finals, our first ever knock-out stage!

In the group stage, we beat Afghanistan, Scotland and most importantly knocked England, one of the “Big 3”, out of the World Cup. Though we lost two matches, we fought valiantly in each of them. We displayed excellent professionalism. Before, we used to play just to put on a good show. But this time we showed the world what we are capable of. We proved to the world we are not “minnows” any more. We play to win, we fight to be the winners.

Not only these, we have a few personal achievements as well. Though we took part in 4 previous Cricket Worlds Cups, no Bangladeshi had a century in the greatest cricket tournament. But this time, Mahmudullah Riyad, one of the most dependable batsmen of our team, not only became the first Bangladeshi to get a World Cup century but also became only the 8th batsman in the world to get two consecutive World Cup hundreds. Besides, we showed great team effort and our desperation for win.

Apart from all the controversies and potential conspiracy theories regarding the quarter-final match against India, our tigers battled hard till the end just to make the nation of 16 crore proud. They are indeed successful on their behalf. We most certainly are proud of them. By dint of our Tigers, the whole cricketing world is reckoning us in a whole new manner. This World Cup is a new turning point for Bangladesh’s cricket, said many cricket legends. We surely hope it is. And we do know, our heroes would one day win the title for us.

The world has seen the rise of the Tigers. Thank you, tigers. Thank you for everything. You have made the ever suffering nation proud. You did not lose; you will always be the winners in our heart.

Learn Some Umpiring

What is a no-ball in a cricket match? Wikipedia answers the following, referring Marylebone Cricket Club:

“If the ball does not touch the ground in its flight between the wickets and reaches the batsman on the full (this delivery is called a Beamer) at a height above either his waist, when delivered by a fast bowler, or the shoulder when delivered by a slow bowler. The judgement of height is for the batsman standing upright at the popping crease.”

 

See the photo I have attached and then decide if it was surely a no-ball.

I agree, on field umpires make errors sometimes. But you have third umpire, you have technology! Why not use them?!

I personally believe the whole momentum transferred to the Indian side because of such a foolish decision, eventually causing Bangladesh to lose. Rohit “Maggi” Sharma went on to make a quick 137 getting a life, thanks to the umpires, on 90.

Man is to err. But in this era of technology you can’t afford to make two massive mistakes in a cricket field, absolutely not on a quarter final match.

Look at Mahmudullah’s wicket. It was the most sensitive thing in the match. He was one of those batsmen of Bangladesh who was really in good touch. But he was given out, what seemed to be the catcher was touching the ropes.

Okay, he might have been actually out. But why not make it clear?! Why the third umpire made the decision in such a hurry? Would he do the same if Virat Kohli was on the crease? Mahmudullah might not be the best in the world, but things could have been different if he got justice.

I have heard bunch of potential conspiracy theories, which are likely to happen. I am not saying umpires “cheated”, but they should have been careful, forget not they are from the elite panel of ICC umpires. But I can say one thing. THEY WERE BIASED.

Please learn what it means to be an umpire in cricket. Cricket is not just a game for Bangladeshis, it’s our emotion. It’s what we love, what we live.

ধরে দেবানি

ভারতমাতা তাদের প্রথম টেস্ট খেলে ১৯৩২ শালের ২৫শে জুন, ইংল্যান্ডের বিরুদ্ধে। ৩ দিনের ম্যাচ হলেও ওটাই তাদের প্রথম টেস্ট যা তারা হারে ১৫৮ রানে।

পরবর্তিতে তাদের প্রথম টেস্ট জয় আসে ১৯৫২ সালে সেই ইংল্যান্ডের বিরুদ্ধেই। আর প্রথম সিরিজ বিজয় সেই বছরেই পাকিস্তানের বিরুদ্ধে। অর্থাত সবমিলিয়ে ২০ বছর পর।

ভারতমাতা টেস্ট অঙ্গনে প্রথম ৫০ বছরে ১৯৬টি টেস্টের মধ্যে জয় পায় মাত্র ৩৫টিতে, অর্থাত তাদের জয় ছিল মাত্র ১৭.৮৫% ম্যাচে।

অপরদিকে বাংলাদেশ তাদের প্রথম টেস্ট খেলে ২০০০ সালের নভেম্বরের ১০ তারিখ সেই ভারতের বিরুদ্ধে। সেই ম্যাচ আমরা হারলেও আমাদের প্রথম জয় আসে মাত্র ৫ বছর পর, ২০০৫ সালে জিম্বাবুয়ের বিরুদ্ধে। প্রথম সিরিজ জয়ও সেই সিরিজেই আসে।

বলা বাহুল্য, বাংলাদেশ টেস্ট অঙ্গনে পা দিয়েছে মাত্র ১৬ বছর, তাদের প্রথম ৫০ বছরের রেকর্ডের সাথে আমাদের তুলনা অসম্ভব।

ভারতের তুলনায় ক্রিকেট অঙ্গনে আমরা এখনো হাটিহাটি পা পা করে চলছি। আমি বুঝি না তারা তাদের এই ইতিহাস নিয়ে কিভাবে আমাদের হেয় করতে আসে!

এসবের জবাব দেয়ার সময় বোধহয় এখনি। কোয়ার্টার ফাইনালে ঠেংরি লুলা করা ছাড়া ওদের ঘেউ ঘেউ আর থামবে না। কাগজকলমের হিসাবে যাই থাকুক, ধরে দেবানি।

Starting The Journey

A Bunch of Worthless Tales is a personal blog of just another common guy from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

I am a cricket lover, science freak and political analyst. But most importantly I love to dream!

In this blog I will occasionally write about what I see, what I think and what I feel. I also want to hear back. And learn, learn and learn!

Hope it will be worthwhile in the Worthless!