Jul 13, 2012

A double dose of sadness for Bangladesh

Bangladesh National Cricket Team
Last week my colleague Sumon Corraya wrote about the ferry boat crash near Dhaka; a tragedy that had the nation in tears.

In the same week there was another event that was, of course, infinitely less serious, yet it caused more than a few tears of its own. People nearly touched a dream that means so much, that came so close, but eventually flew away.

The Bangladesh national cricket team lost to Pakistan, in a nerve-wracking Asia Cup final in Dhaka, by a margin of just two runs.

Termed ‘minnows’ before the tournament, they reached the final for the first time in their history.

In the final, excruciating over, they needed nine runs, then four runs from the very last ball. But they only managed to get two.

The fans in the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium were struck dumb. The same thing happened to the millions watching on TV across the country.

The captain Mushfiqur Rahim started crying helplessly on the field. It made everyone emotional and sadness gripped the country.

Later, Bangladesh appealed, claiming that one of the batsmen was impeded as he tried to run. If this had been proven, Pakistan would have been penalized by five runs so we would have won after all. The video evidence certainly supports the claim but the authorities ruled that it was made too late.

Still, the performance sends a message to other cricket playing nations that Bangladesh are not minnows anymore. They are a mature team that can take on anyone on their day.

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