The darkness around the light
As Mahmudullah Riyad jumped through the air with his right-fist clenched and mouths agape, he punched the air while basking himself in all the glory. At that point, Riyad must have felt like the king of the universe.
After all, he just won the game for his team from the fangs of defeat. At 12 runs needing from 4 balls, nobody counted Bangladesh to do it. Most of the fans were hopeful, but they were expecting a close defeat.
Thwack. Four. Argh. Two.
Six runs from two balls.
Bang. Six.
Brett Lee’s mouth as open as the hole in the hearts of Sri Lanka fans. What the hell just happened?
While the Bangladeshis were ecstatic due to the win, the Sri Lankans were shell-shocked. They must have thought that they were destined to win the match. From 41/5 to needing to defend 12 from 4 balls, this was a script which was supposed to have Sri Lanka as the winner.
But it didn’t. Everything just changed in the blink of an eye. An angry Mahmudullah is not something you see ever… but yesterday everyone saw him angered and animated at the umpires for their alleged inconsistency.
The disgraced match
It all began when Mustafizur Rahman was delivered two bouncers in a row. Apparently, the leg umpire signaled for a no-ball, but it was later overturned. Added to that, Nurul Hasan Shohan was shoved by a Sri Lankan player when he took drinks on the field after the wicket of Mustafiz fell.
Everything resulted in Shakib Al Hasan losing his calm and asking his batters to leave the pitch. Thankfully, however, it didn’t happen as Riyad went on to win the game for his team. Further chaos ensued after that as Kusal Perera was seen yelling at the Bangladeshi players.
Tamim Iqbal, then, did what a gentleman would have done and put his arm around the agitated Sri Lankan and tried to calm him down. Mahmudullah was seen restraining Quazi Nurul Hasan Shohan while also strictly straightening him up.
One would have thought that this was where the notorious incidents for the day would have been concluded, but alas it wasn’t to be.
A few minutes later, reports surfaced that some of the Bangladeshi players smashed the glass door of the dressing room at the Premadasa stadium while celebrating. The main culprits of the incident haven’t been caught yet, but it only a matter of time when they are.
After that, they will be punished and their name will be thrown into a zone of disrepute.
The beautiful light that came out of the bat of Mahmudullah Riyad was consumed by the darkness that was exuded around it.
Slow left-arm vs left-handed batsmen conundrum
While Bangladesh may have won and while the talk of the hour is about the hullabaloo that marred the match, a deeper look with the crevices would reveal further problems that need to be addressed.
For starters, the reluctance of the Bangladesh cricket team to use slow-left arm bowlers against left-handed batsmen is inscrutable.
Shakib Al Hasan bowled only two overs and gave away just 9 runs while also taking a wicket. The fact that he didn’t bowl out his spell caused some questions to be raised. Meanwhile, Nazmul Islam Apu didn’t get to bowl a single ball in the whole game.
In the end, Bangladesh used only 6 out of the possible 12 overs from their prime spinners.
Bangladesh’s strict adherence to the policy of not using slow left-armers against left-handed batsmen must make one wonder as to which rule-book the team follows. It is not as though slow left-armers are bound to fail against the left-handed batsmen.
The memory of Shakib Al Hasan taking the wicket of Thisara Perera in Sri Lanka’s first clash against Bangladesh in the tri-series in January is still afresh among the fans. When your best bowler refrains from bowling against the most devastating batsman in the opposition team, it is bound to give the rivals an advantage.
Selection policy
This brings us to the second incongruity. If you are reluctant to use a slow-left arm bowler against left-handed batters, then why pick up two of them against a team that have four left-handed batsmen in the top 7?
The selection of Nazmul Islam becomes irrelevant with such a mentality. Given that Shakib is the captain and will be chosen whenever he is available, the decision to pick Nazmul Islam made little sense if one considers the de facto rule of the Bangladesh cricket team to not use slow left-arm bowlers against left-handed batsmen.
Another pacer or batsman could have been chosen in his stead, giving the team more variations or a deeper batting line-up.
The ambivalence in the logic of the think-tanks in the Tigers’ dressing room should be one of the key talking points. Nazmul Islam is a fantastic talent and should be used whenever he is on the field.
Picking him up and then not giving him the ball because of some petty belief not only hinders the player, but also weakens the team and sheds light on the lack of proper thought process within the team.
While Bangladesh may have completed a grand victory last night against the home side, there are still a lot of issues that need to ironed out. The fact that we are talking about the negatives despite such a historic win speaks volumes about the darkness that took the light to the abyss.
And someone needs to bring it out of there.
