Bangladesh limped into the ICC World Twenty20’s Super 10 phase despite falling to Hong Kong, as poetic justice prevailed in Chittagong on March 20.
Although beating Afghanistan and Nepal – the two other Associates in Group A, along with Hong Kong – in convincing style had given the hosts some much needed momentum after a torrid start to the calendar year, they failed to keep it keep it going against the team considered by most to be the weakest of the lot.
Hong Kong handed the Tigers a humiliating two-wicket defeat, and needing 6 to win from the final over, Nadeem Ahmed and Haseeb Amjad drew level with ones and twos before the latter smashed a six to create history and give the Tigers’ embarrassment some symmetry with their previous match.
Sakib AL Hasan refused a single that would have won the match against Nepal two days earlier, instead waiting to hit the next ball for six, which many said showed complete disrespect to the opposition.
Now the crowd is left to determine whether the Tigers deserve to be praised for their dominant victories over Afghanistan – a result which exorcised the ghosts of an earlier loss during the Asia Cup – and Nepal or scorned for their disastrous performance against tournament debutants Hong Kong.
What further agitated observers was the Bangladeshi players’ attitude and approach during the loss, which did see the hosts through the next stage of the tournament via run-rate. Eyebrows were raised as nobody shouldered the responsibility of leading a batting recovery as wickets tumbled in rapid succession.
Just as beating Afghanistan by nine wickets did not make the Tigers the world’s best team, losing to Hong Kong should not the mean end of the world, but surely the marked differences in their performance graph are something to ponder.
Sakib al Hasan’s remarks after the nine-wicket demolition of Afghanistan – in which he spoke about predicting the outcome of the encounter based on the toss of a banana peel – only served to demonstrate a prevailing arrogance
that blinded the team to the fact that Associate Members are capable of putting up a strong fight against them, particularly in a twenty-over match. It was particularly brash in the wake of the Asia Cup loss, which should have introduced some humility and circumspection.
Then came Sakib’s stunt to end the comprehensive victory over Nepal, which saw the Tigers brimming with a self-belief bordering dangerously on hubris.
But Hong Kong brought the high-flying hosts down to earth just before the Super 10 phase, which might have served as a reality check to some teams. However, it was learnt that the Tigers have refused to accept that the result could be a cause for concern, instead chalking it up to yet another bad day.
Apart from Sakib and, to a certain extent, Anamul Haque, none of the Tigers came close to showing that their skill level was well ahead of that of the minnows.
Even those two could not translate their starts into the kind of big score against a side without any world-class bowlers in their attack, carrying on a trend set by Tamim Iqbal, who had a start in the first two games but failed to convert.
Nasir Hossain had a golden opportunity to regain his form in the middle as the Tigers started to lose wickets, but instead of taking the responsibility of guiding the tail by taking the lion’s share of the strike, he decided to remain at the other end.
Meanwhile, the experienced Abdur Razzak did not seem able to trouble the opposing batsmen even as Sakib showed that the conditions were ripe for good spin-bowling, calling into question his remaining value to side.
Farhad Reza has yet to prove his mettle in the international scene, while the inclusion of Mahmudullah continued to perplex observer, as the former vice-captain again missed out on a chance to spend some time in the middle.
Questions about team management do not end at selection either, with coach Shane Jurgensen in the firing line after perhaps mismanaging the team’s practice routine. While England started their practice session with a wet ball, knowing that they would likely encounter dew throughout the competition, the hosts decided to carry on with their usual practice session.
-With New Age input
