'Cricket a balm in times of turmoil'
CHENNAI: Bangladesh is a country in turmoil. The nation, born out of a sheer, indomitable spirit of resistance in 1971, is at the crossroads with the fall of
Shaikh Hasina
, daughter of Bangladesh founder Mujibur Rehman, and the country taking baby steps all over again under a new regime to find a footing on the world stage.
But amidst all these, it's the Bangladesh cricket team that is like a beacon of hope for the people who are looking to cling on to something for a sense of solace.
The team's series victory against Pakistan was a momentous occasion for the cricket-crazy nation, but such is the atmosphere of the country that the celebrations couldn't be what it was supposed to be. They had waited so long for this moment, but when it happened, there were way more pressing needs to attend to.
"It's not the time for euphoria, but people were really happy...We could feel that as we returned from Pakistan," Bangladesh media manager Rabeed Imam said as the team got down to practice at the
MA Chidambaram Stadium
nets on Monday.
Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, a longtime critic of Hasina who has been working as the chief advisor of the interim government, stressed on that when he met the team in his office in Dhaka three days ago before the players left for India. "Yunus told the team that in these trying times, cricket can truly act as a balm. He congratulated the team for their success in Pakistan and wished them well for the series against India," Imam said.
He reminded the players that sport can truly unify a nation and captain
Najmul Hossain Shanto
thanked the famous economist who also worked as an advisor with the Paris Olympic Committee for the Games that got over last month. "Every player is happy to come here. It will really inspire us," Shanto said.
Imam informed that the players, too, had gone through a lot when things were going topsy-turvy in Bangladesh. "They showed remarkable mental resilience not to lose focus from the job at hand and the victory against Pakistan was a reward for that. Now things are slowly coming back to normalcy, we had a six-day camp in Dhaka before coming here," Imam said.
Everyone in the team knows that while beating Pakistan was a massive achievement, staying competitive against India in the two-Test series will be an immense challenge. They have a good blend of youth and experience with bowling being the strong suit for the team.
"Our two allrounders Shakib Al Hasan and
Mehidy Hasan Miraz
give us a lot of depth. While the rest of the team is here, Shakib, who was playing County cricket for Surrey after the Pakistan series, will be in Chennai soon," Imam said.
One can hope that the experience of Shakib and inform Litton Das coupled with the youthful exuberance of the likes of Nahid Rana will help Bangladesh make a statement of intent in India which will make the cricket world sit up and take note.
English (US) ·