Dhaka: The euphoria which gripped the country for the last one month is over now. Bangladesh are now a mere spectator of the cricket’s showcase event in their own den as they will hold two quarterfinal matches on March 23 and 25. Surroundings of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) are beautifully lit up on the eve of the World Cup which is a sight to behold. Over the one month, for people it was a place to visit and to hang on with the family or friends. The nicely decorated stadium now turns to a desert land after Bangladesh’s departure from the mega event.
Expectation was sky high as everyone believed the Bangladesh are good enough to seal the quarterfinal berth given the home condition and their performance leading up to the World Cup. But that was not to be and the way they ended the mission was miserable. No one could blame the side is entirely failed to live up to the expectation. They targeted three wins including a big fish prey to move up to the knock-out phase and eventually they did so. If the Group B was not turned out to be a death or mysterious group, three wins could have been enough. But their meek surrender against West Indies and lastly South Africa made the whole journey awful. Certainly no one could expect, Bangladesh would be the lone Test nation to be all out below 100 in the cricket’s biggest extravaganza. Definitely no one could anticipate they would hit the new low with being all out for 58. On those occasions, no one could even explain what happened to the batters actually when the pitch was not unplayable at all.
The batsmen however never clicked in the World Cup. Only one occasion they could surpass 250 runs mark when they played the inaugural match against India. Even they were wrapped up for 205 runs against Ireland. Bangladesh could have been lost that match as well but a reverse-swing burst from Shafiul Islam and a massive roar from the stadium held off the Irish. A sheer confidence and bravery from Shafiul Islam and Mahmudullah Ryad in the late moment helped Bangladesh to win against England in Chittagong. But if dew did not affect the match, Graeme Swann could be more effective. When they should accelerate the run rate against Netherlands, surprisingly they showed an exhibition of sluggish cricket that irritated even a die-hard supporter. Only four batsmen – Imrul Kayes (188), Tamim Iqbal (157), Shakib Al Hasan (142) and Zunaed Siddique (114) could reach over hundred which was the evidence of the utter failure in batting. In the process the aspiration to have centurion in the World Cup remained unfulfilled.
Bangladesh experienced a disastrous World Cup journey in 2003 World Cup when they lost even to Canada. This time around, it was not such sort of miserable journey but obviously it was not happy ending. It is the time to rethink now. Rumors though are floating around in various forms. But certainly some important decisions will be made on March 26 Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Board of Directors meeting, confirmed a high ups of the board. The board however is waiting for the manager’s report on team. A thorough investigation will be made also for the disastrous batting. Probably the supporting staffs of Bangladesh including head coach Jamie Siddons could be sacked. But Siddons however got the green signal to start practice campaign for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, scheduled to start from April 9. Bangladesh will start their practice campaign for the series from March 29.
