Eating my own words for dinner

[abherath]

It was only a couple of days back I raised the question why Bangladesh should play in a qualifying round in World T20s.

The Tigers' "performance" last night or the lack of it, to be more appropriate, made me wonder if I should eat my own words for dinner but fortuitously ended up having rice and curry. After all, why should I sacrifice my dinner for a bunch of <>s ?

I could still argue that,
1) the Tigers did qualify comfortably, in spite of the loss and it was clear that they would qualify even before the qualifying matches had started (so why ask a question - play qualifying matches - when the answer is known ?)
2) given their definite capabilities as a test playing nation, they still deserve to be in the main draw by default
3) in case of a shock defeat, like last night's, Bangladesh could have been out of Round 1 and that could have affected crowd support for the tournament severely.

I only said I could still argue, but I would not.

What earned Bangladesh the ignominy of losing to the bottom of the table team (no offence to Hong Kong ) last night was nothing but attitudes. Bangladesh could have won that match if they focused on their cricket, abilities and doing the basics right, even after the shocker of two early wickets (one of them to a silly shot). There was no need for banging about in "We're are much superior ! Watch us, you minnows !" style. For example, Anamul did not to have play that enameled shot to get out, losing his head after hammering 3 fours in the same over. Shakib didn't have to keep aiming at that world's most isolated part between the southern tip of Sri Lanka and the Northern tip of Antarctica; he should have focused on resurrecting the innings. Mushfiq should have his head examined. I need not say more.

Another example of these silly attitudes was in the Tigers' match against Nepal. When scores were level, with just 1 run to win with many overs and wickets left, they should have been professional and just taken a single that was there for the taking, to complete victory. Instead of doing that, they tried showmanship, with Anamul again (if I am not mistaken) trying big hits and missing and even playing an exaggerated forward defensive stroke in "I don't want a single" fashion. Though he cleared the fence finally, that was utterly silly and boorish.

Talking of revenge against Afghanistan was another example.

I hope the Tigers would not now focus on "avenging" their defeat to Hong Kong !

Thankfully they are through to Round 1 to play with fellow big boys and they should think and behave as such.

Best of luck Tigers.