CricDigs Blogs

Before the world cup started, not even one person (except maybe the team itself) gave Bangladesh a chance in this world cup. Ireland did upset Pakistan and made it to the super 8s, but everyone will still agree that the biggest upset was caused by Bangladesh… not just that they beat a big team like India, but the way in which they beat them. Their game showed a level of professionalism that is usually seen in regular test playing countries (well Bangladesh is also a test playing country but you get my point!).

Bangladesh has finally arrived on the world scene and the sooner the other teams realize that, the better it will be for them. They gave a preview to their World Cup preparations by beating New Zealand in a warm-up game. Supporters of India and Sri Lanka must have felt a little worried after that result. But following the Ostrich Algorithm (stick your head in the sand and pretend that there is no problem) most of the supporters must have thought that it is just a practice game and there was no real threat. Maybe the Indian cricket team thought the same. A big mistake.

Usually when a minnow beats a regular test playing country, it is because the accomplished team has collapsed to a very low total, either while setting that total or chasing. That is what happened between Pakistan and Ireland. Ireland had a great day in the field and restricted Pakistan to 132 and then chased it down with just 3 wickets remaining. People watching that match would know that had Pakistan scored 15 more runs, they would probably have won it, but 132 was just way too small a target to defend,

The beauty of Bangladesh’s victory over India was the fact that they bowled and batted well. Bowling first, they restricted India’s powerhouse batting lineup to 191 runs. That in itself was an huge achievement because India had won both its warm up games. But 191 is not an undefendable score, as Pakistan’s 137 was. They could have easily lost the match had they not batted well. But that is exactly what they made sure would not happen. Right from the start the Bangladeshi bastmen were aggressive and the Indian bowlers had their tasks cut out. Right from the start, never once did it seem that Bangladesh would lose the game, such was the level of their game.

They did lose to Sri Lanka in a very one-sided game, but that was bound to happen one time or the other and their one-sided loss to Australia was unfortunate because of rain playing havoc. Even in their win against Bermuda, the team displayed nerves or steel and dug themselves out with a well fought victory.

Will Bangladesh make it to the semi-finals? No. But do they deserve their place in the Super 8s? Absolutely! The current Bangladeshi team is a bunch of enthusiastic boys (lead by an able man) who have tasted enough success to know how it is, but have had enough of their share of losses to motivate themselves to play better. The average age of the team is in the early 20s. I will not be surprised if the so called upsets keep happening with more frequency in the next four years.

Bangladesh wil be a force to reckon by the time the next world cup arrives, the same as what Sri Lanka was in 1996. Whether they will have the same fate as Sri Lanka had is something which is too early to predict. But my prediction is that in the current Super 8, Bangladesh will win at least one game against either New Zealand, West Indies or England. Let us wait and see!