Dear Rubel Hossain,

I know how it feels. Obviously, I have never had the honour of representing my nation in a cricket game. But I know how guilt feels… it is that moment where everything blurs out and your chest becomes so heavy that you just want to rip it open.

You think it would bring you some peace, but deep down you just want to fade out to nihil.

That guilt… it pours down with might, like the rain on a stormy night. You want to bury yourself in the sand and stay away from everything.

You think it would bring you some peace, but it doesn’t. Nothing does.

It might have been Soumya Sarkar that was hit for a last-ball six. It might have been him who buried his face on the ground. It might have been him who sunk in his own tears. But it was you who was dying from inside.

With 34 runs needed from two overs, the ball was given to the best Bangladeshi bowler in the Nidahas trophy: you, Rubel Hossain. Before that moment, you had bowled three overs and gave away only 13 runs to take two wickets.

Before that moment, almost everyone wanted Rubel Hossain—you—to bowl. It was the logical choice, it was something that should be done again shall the opportunity ever arise again.

Unfortunately, you gave away 22 runs and tilted the game in India’s favour. But make no mistake here: you are NOT to blame for what happened.

“I have been feeling really bad ever since the match ended. To tell the truth, I never imagined that Bangladesh team will get knocked out like this after being so close to victory because of me. I apologize to everyone. Please forgive me everyone.”

This is what you wrote on your Facebook. You apologized to us because you thought that you owed us one. You thought that your 22 runs made all the difference. You thought that the team lost because of you.

That is, however, not the case.

When Lokesh Rahul and Rohit Sharma were batting effortlessly and taking the match away from us, you took the wicket of the former and brought us back in the game. Not only that, you took the wicket of Suresh Raina earlier.

At a time when the Indian batters were smacking a boundary in every over, you came out and bowled three amazing overs to put a break on their forays. If it weren’t for those three overs, Bangladesh would have lost the game a lot earlier.

Yes, Rubel, your valiant efforts took the match till the end. You might have given away 22 runs in your final over, but you don’t have to apologise for that. If anything, it is us who should apologise to you for being so short-sighted and blame you for the defeat.

The fact that you asked for forgiveness despite being our best bowler in the Nidahas trophy speaks volume about your character. You have come a long way from the raw and unpolished talent that you were some years ago.