Where does Bangladesh cricket go from here?

The Indian cricket team celebrate their sensational win over Bangladesh at Mirpur, Second ODI, June 17, 2014

“And one should not forget that if they lose, India will lose, not India A. The pressure will be on them,” said the Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim before the start of the three-match ODI series against India.

He was upbeat and confident of getting the better of the world champions, to get back on the winning track in style. But the bilateral went in favour of the visitors leaving the hosts and its supporters stunned. Rahim was given a good lesson by Suresh Raina’s men for underestimating the opposition.

In this topsy-turvy world of international cricket, actions bear more importance than words. The manner in which the Bangladesh cricket team was defeated by a second-string Indian side is quite unacceptable. After playing the game at the highest level for more than a decade, you are expected to show some professionalism. Such a meek surrender simply puts the Tigers’ ability to play cricket at the highest level under scrutiny.

Especially, the shambolic defeat in the second ODI was horrifying. Even a county cricket team would have chased down 106 runs with enough ease, but Bangladesh, a team that has Test status, failed to do so and embraced defeat in the most disgraceful manner. The team appears to have lost its way.

Our planning remains somewhat mysterious. It is well known that the Indians are not comfortable in playing on seaming and bouncy tracks; exactly why Bangladesh cricket’s policy makers prepared such a track in the second ODI. What they have missed out on, though, is the equally awful ability of our batsmen to tackle swing bowling. Our domestic cricket hardly offer any fast-bowling friendly tracks, and hence the outcome wasn’t all that surprising.

I didn’t get the idea of playing Mominul Haque at No. 3. He is more comfortable in playing at No. 4 position, and why he was not included in the second ODI remains a moot question. In the last eight ODIs, Mominul has scored three fifties and fared pretty well than some of the senior players who have done nothing with the bat.

Moreover, I firmly believe that, Imrul Kayes should have been given a chance at No. 3. Recently, his domestic form has been better, and he is a sort of batsman who offers composure to the brittle batting line-up. But, sadly, the selectors seem to think otherwise.

I neither understand the idea of including two out-of-form players in Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad nor the idea of persisting with Tamim Iqbal, who has been failing repeatedly despite getting so many opportunities. Do I see a case of nepotism somewhere here?

But, before the selectors take sterner steps against Iqbal, Riyad or Hossain, they must think of bringing them back on the right track. It will be a big loss to Bangladesh cricket if Iqbal fades away; we don’t get many of that quality here. Technical flaws, if any, must be found out and rectified.

Have the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) been smart enough to preserve the assets?

Over the years, the BCB’s damage control policy has been poor. They have always injected changes without fixing the problems appropriately. Such an approach has never brought anything good to Bangladesh cricket; instead, it has only resulted in us losing quality players and being in an unstable position in the international cricket arena.

Where does Bangladesh cricket go from here? Have we lost our way? At present, the future of Bangladesh cricket looks bleak. Until and unless the BCB shuns nepotism and whimsically driven decisions, it will be tough for the nation to bounce back in the big stage.