Nice Article- Ask for new leadership
Enough is enough for underachieving Bangladesh
Bangladesh's players, fans and media have been satisfied with mediocrity for too long. Where is their Tiger Pataudi, or their Arjuna Ranatunga, to drag them out of that mindset?
Abhishek Purohit in Pallekele
September 25, 2012
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Spend a day in the streets and restaurants of the teeming cities of Dhaka and Kolkata and you will find out how passionate Bengalis are. Passion is Bengal. Bengal is passion. Throughout history, the land has been at the forefront of revolution, be it nationalistic, linguistic, intellectual. It is time for another revolution to happen in Bangladesh. Of the cricketing kind.
It is time for Bangladeshis to say enough is enough. It is time for them to demand higher standards of a team that has mostly let them down, again and again and again. It is time for them to stop being satisfied with heroic individual performances from Shakib Al Hasan. It is time for them to stop celebrating a rare win over a top side like they have won the World Cup.
Bangladeshis are fanatical in their love for the game. Just as man has to breathe air to survive, whether it is stale or fresh air, so do Bangladeshis support their cricket team, whether it does well or not. Most of the times, it gets thrashed. But Bangladeshis' support for their "Tigers" does not waver an inch. They have been stoical as long as Bangladesh have been on the international scene. On the very rare occasion, their suppressed pain bursts through, as it did when Bangladesh were dismissed for 58 against West Indies in the 2011 World Cup on home turf in Mirpur. But on the whole, they have celebrated every small achievement. Small is what they have been afforded by their hopelessly underachieving team.
The cricketing reasons can be repeated endlessly. Lack of quality fast bowlers, over-reliance on one brand of spin, talented but unreliable batsmen, poor fielding. In the end, it must come down to that one word. Belief. To an outsider, do Bangladesh believe they can be world beaters? No. Do Bangladesh fans believe they can be world beaters? No. Do Bangladesh media believe they can be world beaters? No.
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