Bangladesh Cricket: Scoring on Passion, but Little Else …

Abstract

Cricket in Bangladesh and Bangladeshi cricket are two totally different entities. The first is a thriving, throbbing, vibrant passion with a people that only came into existence in 1947 as part of East Pakistan following India's bloody partition, and then became an independent nation in 1971 following another bloody war. The second is a fledgling, wobbling, almost pathetic fallacy that has invited criticism from the entire cricketing world. A few pretensions to flatter here and there, but largely deception; that's Bangladeshi cricket. But if cricket is just a sport, and is to be evaluated as just that, Bangladesh is where it's at. The nation lived, breathed and slept football until some years back, but today, a politically and socially divided set of people come together as one in the name of the game, even if the team it supports does close to nothing in the international arena. Cricketers who would struggle to make a reserve side in an English county are feted as national heroes, their every move is followed and people wait for judgement day – the day Bangladesh as a cricket-playing nation will rub shoulders with the best in the business. And the past – well, it's quite a story! A story that could well serve as the plot for a thriller, with high drama, Eisenstein-like protests, glorious moments, accidents that shook the world and, above all, a sociocultural milieu that needs to be understood and comprehended.