Consistency is a word unknown to Bangladesh
In the backdrop of the 2015 ODI World Cup, there is a raging debate going on about the ability and indeed participation of the associate nations in a quadrennial tournament such as this. While Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and the UAE are currently taking no prisoners in their respective matches, spotlight is on Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to impress upon everyone why they must be given full-status in ODIs.
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Out of the two, Zimbabwe have done well, punching above their weight, against South Africa and then Pakistan. With their one win against the UAE, oddly enough they are still in contention for the knock-outs, however bleak their chances might be. A lack of resources and opportunities has seen Zimbabwean cricket slide backwards over the years, and no one is grudging them this moment in limelight. In comparison, it is in Bangladesh’s failure – more than success – that objections will be raised, should they fail to impress once again.
At the present moment, Bangladesh are placed third in Pool A with three points from three games, two points garnered from a win against Afghanistan in their opening match in Canberra and the one point from the wash-out in Brisbane against Australia. Thanks to points shared then, Bangladesh find themselves with a massive shot to progress to the knock-out stage. Do they understand the value of this golden, solitary point, against Australia?
As it stands, Bangladesh play Scotland in Nelson (on March 5) next, and then England in Adelaide (on March 9). In their last group game, they face New Zealand in Hamilton (on March 13).
On current form, that last match is a no-win situation for them and as such whatever needs to be done to qualify has to be done in these next two matches. It puts them right under the scanner – as a full Test nation, they should take the game against Scotland by the scruff of its neck and then go blow-for-blow against England to get that elusive quarter-final spot.
But this is Bangladesh we are talking about, and with them, it is never as simple. Consistency is a word unknown to them, unbecoming of their demeanour on the field. Even after all these years in top-flight cricket, they are as unpredictable as they were back in 1999, when they beat Pakistan and staked their claim to Test cricket. Has anything changed in the last 16 years?
No is the answer, looking back at their match against Afghanistan. It was a rusty start for the Bangla Tigers, and they were in trouble early on, facing a team that was playing their first-ever ODI in a World Cup. Against a spirited Afghan bowling and fielding effort, they were reduced to 119/4, before Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan saved them with a 114-run stand for the fifth wicket.
It takes a massive failure of judgment for a team to have their two best batsmen come in at number five and six. Early wickets with the rescue-effort against Afghanistan ought to have opened their eyes, but no, against Lanka too in Melbourne, they batted lower down the order. Only this time, chasing a higher target of 333 runs, the duo was unable to conjure another escape.
“We sent in Mominul Haque earlier because we had lost two quick wickets. But he failed to get going. Shakib should bat at number five,” said skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, not particularly indicating the reasoning behind this move after the Lanka loss. Yet, that defeat couldn’t be attributed to batting failure. It was abject fielding that allowed the Lankans to escape and post a big total on the board.
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, they dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne on the fifth attempt. It was a wonder that the opener did not go on to score a double hundred. Chances were also dropped against Tilakratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, both of whom scored hundreds and denied Bangladesh a sniff thereafter. Afterwards, Mortaza again defended his side for the shoddy performance.
“We thought we could win this match. The expectation was there, but the boys didn’t take additional pressure. Our focus was on to play good cricket, but we couldn’t. Poor fielding cost us the game but that happens in cricket sometimes,” he had said.
While there is truth in his words, Bangladesh’s obvious comparison in this World Cup isn’t with the higher placed teams, but those who are fighting for their survival. Ireland and Scotland have certainly shown themselves to be better fielders, even Afghanistan for that matter. The UAE lost without a fight against India, but their attempts in the field were moments to cherish. It reflects poorly on Bangladesh, a Test nation that is still struggling to find a footing at this level, despite the backing of major cricket nations.
This team plays regularly against the likes of India, Lanka, Pakistan and others. This is something teams like Ireland have been denied over the past years, particularly on their last tour of England, when the BCCI refused to have their team visit there. Even on Saturday, after defeating the UAE, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni outlined his side’s inability to play associate nations owing to a heavy schedule.
While he does have a point, the case thus turns against a team like Bangladesh who are under-achieving at best. Since being accorded Test status, they have lost 165 ODIs out of the 252 played. Apart from shocking India in the 2007 World Cup and England in the 2011 World Cup, they don’t have a major victory to boast of. Moreover, they lost a great chance to get their first Asia Cup victory on home soil when they lost to Pakistan despite making the final in 2011-12.
Perhaps their biggest miss came in the 2011 World Cup, the last edition of the tournament, when again on home-soil they fluffed a chance against the West Indies and failed to qualify for the knock-outs. Mother Nature has given them another chance this time around, and ironically, they need to beat Scotland first to get a firm grasp of it against England. Can they do it?
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