Over the past few weeks in Bangladesh, a lot of hype has surrounded the Tigers’ participation in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20. Expectations were really high this time as the team management and players had talked up their chances of reaching the Super Eights stage as well as putting in a good show in the T20 mega event well before other participating teams. Bangladesh had devoted themselves to the newest version of the game over the last few months, playing a number of matches as build-up to the tournament against different opponents in different conditions.
Their thorough preparation in the lead-up to the mega event is one of the main reasons that fans started to believe that Bangladesh were going to excel in the fourth version of the tournament, unlike their performance in the last three editions in which they won a grand total of one match, against West Indies in their first match of the 2007 competition.
The expectations were so high that many came to Kandy to watch the Tigers from the stands. It was not only that the BCB officials came in their numbers to Sri Lanka but some cricket-crazy fans also didn’t want to miss the Tigers’ performance. But Bangladesh’s performance in the first match against New Zealand disappointed them all, especially as the result left the Tigers an uphill task against top favourites Pakistan in their second and final group D match yesterday.
Ahmed Ishtiaq Himel, a young architect, was among them who came here with high hopes. “I hardly missed Bangladesh’s matches at home because I love cricket. This is the first time that I came abroad to watch the Bangladesh cricket team’s match because I had a belief that they will do something special in Sri Lanka, but their performance in the first game disappointed me,” said Himel.
“I’m not alone but many others also came here to watch Bangladesh’s match,” added Himel. The direct flight from Dhaka to Colombo also made things easy for them.
The Tigers’ performance so far might have frustrated them but they got their moneys’ worth by exploring the beautiful hill city Kandy, an attractive place for tourists.
-With The Daily Star input
