BD Stuck in "What If" Phase - by Sidharth Mongia

[Murad]

Bangladesh stuck in 'what-if' phase
Sidharth Monga in Karachi
June 28, 2008

In a history of Bangladesh's glorious "what ifs" (read: Fatullah, Multan), the Mirpur ODI, where they let India off the hook after having them at 144 for 5 chasing 251, is one of the less documented ones. Bangladesh were at the best of their cricketing form, India at their worst in recent times. A few less-than-prudent captaincy moves and poor fielding lost them a match that they dominated for 80% of the duration. Bangladesh have only gone downhill since, and India have not looked back. The sense of "what if" still haunts from the Mirpur match.

Thirteen months later, in another meeting with India, Alok Kapali was their inspiration. Kapali is one in the long list of wasted, but not as celebrated as Mohammad Ashraful or Aftab Ahmed, talents that Bangladesh have had in the last decade. In 2002-03, when West Indies toured Bangladesh, with Sir Viv Richards in attendance, Kapali had scored 89 not out with the tail in the Dhaka ODI. Richards was so impressed he went and patted Kapali's back after the game. He also scored an 85 so impressive that he was adjudged the Man of the Match in the Chittagong Test though Bangladesh lost. And then unimpressive performances followed, and he went out of the reckoning.

Out of reckoning he was when Aftab Ahmed broke his finger while fielding at a practice session just before the Kitply Cup. Just like that he was recalled, and just like that he found himself in the middle today when Bangladesh were threatening to waste a good start. Just like that he showed what Richards might have seen six years ago. He batted with the sort of flair - especially in the final overs - that might put Ashraful to shame, but he also batted with a lot of sense. When he slogged, he slogged to the vacant midwicket region. When he played proper shots he inspired awe. The pull on one leg off RP Singh, which took him to 97, was reminiscent of both Gordon Greenidge and Kapil Dev at once. He paced the innings superbly: his second 50 came off 21 balls, and out of the 97 that Bangladesh scored in the last 10 overs, he scored 72.

There was a sense of nervous energy to Bangladesh when they came out to field. Three, four, at times five, bodies would converge on every ball that was played short to stop singles. Diving saves were made, and despite a few overthrows the pressure was maintained. But it will remain a shame that all Bangladesh managed to do was add Karachi to their list of "what ifs". What if Farhad Reza had caught Gautam Gambhir when he had got 56 runs, and India's score was 97 for 2? What if Mahmudullah completed what would have been a spectacular catch running backwards when Suresh Raina was 16, and India 104 for 2?

The "what if" becomes even more poignant given that the one place the Bangladeshi cricketers are desperate to play in is India. But a Bangladesh tour is just not commercially feasible for the BCCI. So, though Bangladesh have toured every other Test-playing nation - they will be going to Australia for ODIs this year and Tests the next, and also have full tours to the West Indies and South Africa lined up, each one their second tour to those countries - they've yet to play at the venues that get them really excited: a Test at the Eden Gardens or an ODI in Guwahati.

As an observer pointed out, Bangladesh will have to force India to change the state of affairs. And that will happen if they can beat India more often. And that could be one of the reasons why Bangladesh, so hopeless against meaningful opposition over the last year - they haven't beaten one for a year now - suddenly came up with an inspirational show on Saturday for about 70 overs. That could be one of the reasons why India are the only Test-playing nation they have beaten twice in ODIs. That could be one of the reasons why the last time they scored close to 250 in a live ODI was against India, more than a year ago in Mirpur.

The ICC's Future Tours Programme by the end of which every Test-playing team should have toured each other twice, ends in 2012, and regardless of how well or badly Bangladesh are playing, India will have to invite them twice in the next three years. The BCB, for its part, hasn't really pushed for a tour either. Perhaps India touring Bangladesh is much more advantageous, commercially, for them than vice versa. "We have been playing Test cricket for the last eight years, but haven't toured India," Ashraful, Bangladesh's captain, said. "I think this is very bad for us. I think if we go there and play, it will improve our cricket. It all depends on the boards, though."

It depends on the players too - and on Saturday they did their bit.

Cricinfo
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A nice piece from Mongia. Very well written.

[nahaz]

It's a shame how many many times we've wasted our chance at glory. I think they're too passionate at times...Boy was that a great performance by the batsmen. Congrats Alok. Well done Tamim.
How could they miss two catches in three overs.What if...
What if Sakib was here? Would they have leaked less runs?
Great to see they did not just stick to around 240. If they aim for consistently getting strong starts without losing wickets, they would quickly learn how to accelerate too.
Hope Nafees is picked for the next game...Nazim can make a comeback in a few years.

But yes, well dsone team Bangladesh. You make us proud.

[KnightBD]

Good article, which I just read in Cricinfo. First one, that i remember, not bashing BD.

[nahaz]

Correction, first one not bashing Bd when they've lost. Or when we're playing India.
Maybe they wanna adopt Alok now..too bad he's not going to Bharat

[Ajfar]

everyone once in a while...we luk gud on the field...n then out of no where...sumone does a very gud job at screwing it all up..i'd like to see us luk that gud on the field more often...

[Murad]

Originally Posted by bangladesh_sy
everyone once in a while...we luk gud on the field...n then out of no where...sumone does a very gud job at screwing it all up..i'd like to see us luk that gud on the field more often...

That's the problem with our team.

Ekta valo to arekta kharap. And when everything goes well, someone starts playing the villain part..

The day these things stops, we will be winning many matches inshalllah.

I'm hopefull that that day is not far from now..

[Abd_Bakri]

beautiful article !
i am still trying to recover from the sadness that engulfed me yesterday after farhad reza's dropped catch... it is haunting me so daim much... even last night while sleeping... i couldnt take my mind of that catch... i was jumping up and down... beating india means really so daim much... i mean beating any other nation in the world even australia wouldnt give me the satisfaction that would if we beat india... yet again after that nightmare of 2007 where i was present in the stadium cursing habibul bashar like the thousands... we have again done a "what if".... if in 07 in mirpur dhoni was given the plumb lbw which we even as spectators present in the field knew was plumb... if only we got the run out of kartik when he just came in that day we would have won the match... same happened yesterday... only if the catches werent let down by farhad and riyad.... gosh!!!

[Orpheus]

Sidharth brings up a good point about our different feelings when we play India due to their indifference towards us. It's as if we want to prove a point.. But we have to prove a point to the world - not just India. Please BE ANGRY AND SAY I AM NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE....

Having said that, currently there is no total that is "defendable" against India. So no need to blame ourselves for this loss. We did well, could have done better. This game wasn't even close (even IF they held those two catches.. lol).

[smashyboy]

Originally Posted by Orpheus
Sidharth brings up a good point about our different feelings when we play India due to their indifference towards us. It's as if we want to prove a point.. But we have to prove a point to the world - not just India. Please BE ANGRY AND SAY I AM NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE....

Having said that, currently there is no total that is "defendable" against India. So no need to blame ourselves for this loss. We did well, could have done better. This game wasn't even close (even IF they held those two catches.. lol).

Bang on.. Dhoni and Yusuf did not even come to crease. India dropped more catches than Bangladesh. "Ifs" and "Buts" work both ways. India also fielded the most inexperienced bowling line up. They also left out Sehwag. Things did go bangladesh way. But they don't have fire power to contain these guys.

[CHABAN]

Originally Posted by Abd_Bakri
beautiful article !
i am still trying to recover from the sadness that engulfed me yesterday after farhad reza's dropped catch... it is haunting me so daim much... even last night while sleeping... i couldnt take my mind of that catch... i was jumping up and down... beating india means really so daim much... i mean beating any other nation in the world even australia wouldnt give me the satisfaction that would if we beat india... yet again after that nightmare of 2007 where i was present in the stadium cursing habibul bashar like the thousands... we have again done a "what if".... if in 07 in mirpur dhoni was given the plumb lbw which we even as spectators present in the field knew was plumb... if only we got the run out of kartik when he just came in that day we would have won the match... same happened yesterday... only if the catches werent let down by farhad and riyad.... gosh!!!

I think India also dropped some catches yesterday. My feeling is that the batting was not good enough. The pitch was very friendly and only Alok and Tamim got runs.

[smashyboy]

When India toured Pakistan in 2004/05 in the third Test Irfan (at that time he was 19) and Balaji (22 then) played their 2nd or 3rd test. Indian fielders dropped 10 catches. Inzi was dropped twice. Balaji was the worst affected. But India went on to win the Test by an innings. I think mental toughness should be there to shrug off dropped chances and continue applying pressure on the opposition. Both the dropped chances were result of arrogant and over-confident shots from Gambhir and Raina. So i think BD players should not ponder too much about those dropped chances. Gilchrist dropped like 10 catches in England tour. It's part and parcel of the game.

[WarWolf]

Originally Posted by Orpheus
Sidharth brings up a good point about our different feelings when we play India due to their indifference towards us. It's as if we want to prove a point.. But we have to prove a point to the world - not just India. Please BE ANGRY AND SAY I AM NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE....

Having said that, currently there is no total that is "defendable" against India. So no need to blame ourselves for this loss. We did well, could have done better. This game wasn't even close (even IF they held those two catches.. lol).

Yet you cannot drop chances like this and give free overthrow runs. That's not good cricket.

[BD-Shardul]

Originally Posted by WarWolf
Yet you cannot drop chances like this and give free overthrow runs. That's not good cricket.

Chill bro. Actually Tigers overtried. This what CI says

Nervous energy
When Bangladesh came out to field, they were truly attacking the ball like Tigers, as they called by their passionate supporters. They charged onto every ball, sometimes all 11 of them, but the nervous energy burst off the seams too. Unnecessary overthrows were given, balls were overran, and most crucially two catches were dropped: Gambhir was repreived on 56, and Suresh Raina when he was 16.

[Sohel]

What if Sidharth had the extra I and was related to Nayan and Dinesh ? What if the 3 MongIas were Buddhist nobility ?

Great read. Thanks for the dig Murad ...

[Rabz]

Nice article.

The problem still remains in finishing. Even if we get a good total and put on a good show, the finishing touch hasn't been all that great.

I reckon the players were also sensing victory last night but the habit of loosing on the trot over the last year and half got the better of them and choked.

"IF" those two catches were taken, it could have been a different story.

[simon]

We recently can see some imprvmnt on batting but the fact that we have concentrated
so much on our batting that we got our bwlng & fielding weaker.
And in Pak there isnt much for the bwlrs but for the btsmen which is why all teams are
getting 300+ & so many centurians.
Anyway its good to see ourselves batting well & hope to see more in future.

[Murad]

[QUOTE=Rabz;707744I reckon the players were also sensing victory last night but the habit of loosing on the trot over the last year and half got the better of them and choked.

"IF" those two catches were taken, it could have been a different story.[/QUOTE]

Jotodin na tara ei mentality theke ber hote parbe, amra ei IF and Only IF er majhei roye jabo..

Harte Harte asholei odher ovvash hoye geche... ar tai jokhon ekta chance pai tokhon khube nervous hoye jai..and then easy cach o drop kore dei... i guess they get too excited at times..

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by Rabz
Nice article.

The problem still remains in finishing. Even if we get a good total and put on a good show, the finishing touch hasn't been all that great.

I reckon the players were also sensing victory last night but the habit of loosing on the trot over the last year and half got the better of them and choked.

"IF" those two catches were taken, it could have been a different story.

Not a single player believed before the match that they might win, in fact they were trying to figure out the margin of defeat an the level of humiliation. JS has made it Haram for all to think of Victory against big 8. Against india, he would even accept a 200+ score instead of 240.

One heroic innings suddenly changed every thing; players found that the victory is coming in unexpected way. Aren't they supposed to panic? If that happens against India, under the situation?

None of the players are prepared to win against big 8. Winning needs more mental preparedness than losing. unfortunately we are only prepared to handle all kind of losing situ at the moment. I hope we don't train them to be the world class SLs in this process.

[israr]

'Controlled aggression' is what our players should learn, and the lack of it probably cost us a lot of matches in the past.

[crikfreak]

i read this in cricinfo.. very nice article.. these "what if"s have got to stop..

[BanCricFan]

"Thirteen months later, in another meeting with India, Alok Kapali was their inspiration. Kapali is one in the long list of wasted, but not as celebrated as Mohammad Ashraful or Aftab Ahmed, talents that Bangladesh have had in the last decade. In 2002-03, when West Indies toured Bangladesh, with Sir Viv Richards in attendance, Kapali had scored 89 not out with the tail in the Dhaka ODI. Richards was so impressed he went and patted Kapali's back after the game. He also scored an 85 so impressive that he was adjudged the Man of the Match in the Chittagong Test though Bangladesh lost. And then unimpressive performances followed, and he went out of the reckoning.

Just like that he showed what Richards might have seen six years ago. He batted with the sort of flair - especially in the final overs - that might put Ashraful to shame, but he also batted with a lot of sense. When he slogged, he slogged to the vacant midwicket region. When he played proper shots he inspired awe. The pull on one leg off RP Singh, which took him to 97, was reminiscent of both Gordon Greenidge and Kapil Dev at once. He paced the innings superbly: his second 50 came off 21 balls, and out of the 97 that Bangladesh scored in the last 10 overs, he scored 72. "
----
Some of the kirket pundits here at BC should read this over and over- with a slightly open mind!

[smashyboy]

Originally Posted by crikfreak
i read this in cricinfo.. very nice article.. these "what if"s have got to stop..

Seems like it is not stopping.

[Rifat]

a timely reminder: we are still stuck. even Shakib attested to that

[Gowza]

just imagine if they won that last ODI against australia and won that 2nd ODI against NZ and won the last one agaisnt sri lanka, the world would have a much different attitude about BD cricket, but since they lost all those matches the world still just think BD is a bad team. i mean alot of people think the reason BD has been more competitive recently is because of the decline of the other teams rather than improvement from BD.

[Shaan]

Originally Posted by Gowza
just imagine if they won that last ODI against australia and won that 2nd ODI against NZ and won the last one agaisnt sri lanka, the world would have a much different attitude about BD cricket, but since they lost all those matches the world still just think BD is a bad team. i mean alot of people think the reason BD has been more competitive recently is because of the decline of the other teams rather than improvement from BD.

That's what scare me most of the time currently, but we will win on regular base from now onwards what I'm believing deep in my heart.