Cricket, once called the gentleman's game, is anything but these days. It is a game played by shrewd professionals who will pounce on you at the slightest mistake you make, coached by savvy generals who will research every possible chink in your armoury to launch an attack, and preached by media men who will clutch at any semblance of news and no-news to satisfy the audience's appetite.
With stakes that high, brewing up an unwanted controversy in the middle of a World Cup campaign is the kind of distraction the Bangladesh team can ill afford at the moment.
The chief players in this controversy are the Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, coach Jamie Siddons, and some former national cricketers. The blame game that started with the defeat against the West Indies and was fuelled by Shakib's ill-humoured column in a national daily not only dampened the morale of the side, but also presented the sad state of affairs the side is in before their crucial encounters.
Shakib, the young captain has reached the height of fame, which he is proving to be ill-equipped to deal with. His obscene gesture at the crowd after the demoralising defeat against the West Indies may be excused as a rush of blood, even his indolent remarks at the press conference could be attributed to as signs of his immaturity and young age, but his scathing criticism of the former national players, and that through a column in a highly circulated daily, speaks ill of the man's mental status. However, that view is firmly shared by the coach as well. Jamie Siddons, the Australian, instead of calming his captain, came out blasting the former greats of Bangladesh cricket in a manner befitting a lesser man.
Having said that, the former cricketers themselves did not make it any easier having knives out for the players after the defeat. True that they had laid the stepping-stones of Bangladesh cricket's coming of age, but lambasting the current team for one off day in the field belies their greatness. This was perhaps the worst time to do so, right in the middle of a World Cup campaign and especially when the team is playing at home.
Even so, the likes of Shakib must realise that they are more accountable than the former players. The current cricketers represent the country, the former players have moved on to other vocations, some of which dictate that they provide the occasional soundbite. Current players, especially the captain, should know better than to react and create distractions which will eventually harm the team.
For all the passion emanating for our cricket and all the hard work going into the development of the game in the last decade, there is no denying the fact that this generation of players, and specifically this very squad of 15 have transformed once-in-a-long-while upsets into regular and expected victories. Let's be hopeful that the progress will not be reversed with just one forgettable result.
In a latest development, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has issued a directive asking any member of the squad or those associated with it to refrain from writing columns for any newspaper during the World Cup. It is a matter of freedom of speech, and Shakib may have his own opinion and the right to express it. But at the same time the young and passionate captain should have used that freedom in a dignified manner, which would have spared much criticism and controversy. Let's hope sense prevails for the remainder of the tournament and the team focuses on the performance on the field and stay away from controversy.
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