Like it has so often in the past, this one too ended with another round of hand-wringing from the Bangladeshis about what could have been. The ‘fake throw’ accusation against Virat Kohli too follows a similar pattern of bad blood: lose a match they could/ should have won, then rail against the system, opposition players, umpires, even the weather.
As Bangladeshi cricket fans go about setting social media on fire in the aftermath of yet another heart-breaking defeat to India, it’s worth remembering that this atmosphere of unwanted rancour ironically started with a Bangladesh win back in the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean.
Since then, it has consumed even age-group cricket: Pacer Rubel Hossain and Virat Kohli, for example, first started having a go at each other during their U-19 days.
Remember the protests which erupted in Bangladesh following their 109-run thrashing at India’s hands in Melbourne during the 2015 World Cup, when a marginal no-ball call went in Rohit Sharma’s favour?
Bangladeshi fans even burnt effigies of umpires on one occasion. Remember Dhoni and Mustafizur being fined for colliding with each other? Or Mushfiqur Rahim tweeting about his “happiness” after India lost to West Indies in the 2016 World T20? Or Bangladeshi newspapers celebrating with a photo of Dhoni’s severed head?
Most India-Bangladesh matches are one-sided, barring a few World Cup clashes, so what fuels the rancour? Even while Indian and Pakistan fans have gone out of their way to showcase bonhomie in Australia during this World Cup, Bangladesh fans here have seemed cagey and guarded.
Yes, India got out of jail in Adelaide, but only because the Bangladesh batters allowed it. There is no doubt Bangladesh aspires to be a rising cricketing power, at least in the subcontinent.
There are times, though, when petulance, and an inability to handle pressure, has held back their progress. As the usual round of bitterness and acrimony from ex-players and fans followed, it was their captain Shakib Al Hasan who surprisingly introduced a much-needed element of calm.
Asked if his team had played shots in panic after Litton Das’ run out, or whether it was an emotional reaction stemming from lack of experience, Shakib said, “It is a combination of both. I think in the dressing room, we were relaxed (initially). When you have to score 84-85 runs in nine overs, with 10 wickets in hand, you will take that. And obviously Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) was almost done. You take that challenge and you would look to chase it down.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it. It will be a combination of both, lack of experience sometimes and also panicking because we don’t play too many close games. So sometimes when we are in that situation, we don’t know how to do it.”
After a long while, a Bangladesh captain said it like it is. But then followed the Kohli ‘fake throw’ accusation and all talk of equanimity, of taking victory and defeat equally in their stride, again took a backseat in the Bangladeshi cricketer’s mind.
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