A needless crisis

For both Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka, the importance of winning the upcoming three-match ODI series between the sides was made clear during the grand pre-series press conference at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo yesterday. The captains and coaches of the two teams were present alongside the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket at the event.

A series win would mark a strong comeback for both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who endured rather disappointing campaigns in the just concluded ICC Cricket World Cup in the United Kingdom. However, from Sri Lanka's point of view, this series bears a special significance as the island nation hopes to overcome the deadly Easter Sunday (April 21) bombings earlier this year which shook the entire nation.

Bangladesh, being the first team to tour Sri Lanka following the attack, is being appreciated deeply by the Sri Lankan cricket board as well as the people of the country.

Tigers' stand-in skipper Tamim Iqbal did well to rouse the Sri Lankan media after arriving in the country.

"Everybody was really positive (to tour Sri Lanka) and looked forward to come here. Not many years ago we were in a pretty similar situation. Sri Lanka was the one team who came to our country and we had a beautiful series that time. We have been looked after really well security wise along with all the facilities and there is nothing aside from cricket that we are thinking about at the moment," Tamim said during his opening speech to much applause from the audience yesterday.

On the other hand, there were some more critical questions for incumbent Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who was repeatedly asked whether or not he will quit his job after the series after the Sri Lankan Sports minister publicly stated that they need to change the coaching staff following their World Cup failure.

Bangladesh are without regular skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who was ruled out in the last moment due to a hamstring injury, while the outstanding performer of the World Cup, Shakib Al Hasan, will also miss out as he had earlier asked for a leave.

According to Tamim however, he does not want to focus on an individual who is not with the team at the moment and rather backed the 14-members present in the side to prove their worth.

"The players who were picked for the team all are capable and I really don't want to talk about someone who is not in the team at the moment. He has done fantastically well for Bangladesh but he is not here with the team so let's not talk about him as I got another 14 players and they all are capable," he said.

Bangladesh will take part in a practice match against the SLC XI today at the P Sara Oval, where according to Tamim, the team management will look to form the best possible combination for the first ODI on July 26.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had boldly stated prior the Asia Cup final against India that he was not so cheap that he would judge himself by a trophy.

That trophy has eluded the Tigers once again following India's thrilling last-ball win on Friday in the Asia Cup final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Even with all the limitations and one setback after another, Mashrafe was so close to achieving the much-desired glory for the country but ultimately, he could not put his hands on the trophy. However, we must echo sentiments of Bangladesh's ODI skipper that there is no way we can judge the brave-hearted cricketer or his brigade by their failure to break the trophy jinx.

Sporting achievements are often measured by numbers and that is precisely why it will be difficult to analyse Mashrafe's true contribution in the region's biggest cricket competition.

"The boys should feel proud," responded the Bangladesh skipper after his team's three-wicket defeat in the final. "I think they did a good job without two key members. Missing Shakib [Al Hasan] and Tamim [Iqbal] was a big blow but I think boys have done a really good job," he continued.

Mashrafe had every reason to praise his charges. But we must thank the brave-hearted Tigers leader for the way he inspired his boys to overcome all the chaos. And it looked like he put the 'fear limits you and your vision' mantra to the ears of his charges.

If it all started by encouraging Tamim Iqbal to return to the crease at the fall of Bangladesh's ninth wicket in the 47th over against Sri Lanka in the opening match to accompany centurion Mushfiqur Rahim -- who almost single-handedly guided the side to a fighting 261 with his highest ODI score of 144 -- then it ended with the startling motion that saw him inspire opener Liton Das from the dressing room by thumping his chest.

Mashrafe effortlessly carried the burden of expectations throughout the tournament.

The young cricketers' failure to meet expectations has become the centre of discussion in recent times but this Asia Cup at least provided some hope thanks to this charismatic leader who tried his best to bring the best out of Liton, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Mithun and even a proven performer like Mushfiqur Rahim didn't hesitate to praise the Mash-impact in their performance.

It was actually a bowling effort that Bangladesh can be proud of as they seemed out of the game on numerous occasions. However, the bowlers brought them back into the contention thanks to their never-say-die attitude. And it was no exception in the final battle against India.

There were not many who believed that Bangladesh could take the game to the last ball after they managed only 222 runs despite Liton and Miraz's brilliant 120-run opening stand. Mashrafe however once again proved that he was not a man who would give up on the job before showing any fight and he rightly credited his bowlers for putting up that fight.

"I hope we won a lot of hearts," Mashrafe said.

But a true champion could not stop here and that was why he said: "The positives depend on the individuals. I think losing to India twice was something that I didn't desire. When Shakib and Tamim are back, the team will do well in the future if we can hold on to this spirit."

Yes, it was the spirit that Mashrafe injected most among his charges to win the hearts and in future that spirit will help fulfil their ambitions. Still, when Mashrafe said that "we have lot of work to do" it means a lot for future success.

After scoring a match-winning 42-ball 73, Comilla Victorians' opener Tamim Iqbal came to the post-match press conference and said, after two consecutive ducks, he was 'very nervous' before taking the crease.

He has been in imperious form in ODIs, hitting six fifties and two centuries in 13 ODI matches in 2018, so a slight dip in a domestic T20 tournament should not have mattered much. But, after dazzling a near-capacity Sylhet International Stadium crowd, Tamim came to his second consecutive press conference on Friday and admitted that he was more than a little nervous before embarking on the chase of 182 and that it was the Comilla Victorians support structure that helped him through.

"I don't think I was this nervous before any match for the last seven-eight years," said Tamim about a period over which he has been involved in finals of Asia Cups, the quarterfinal of a World Cup and the semifinal of the Champions Trophy. "I was telling sir [Comilla coach Mohammad Salahuddin] that 'I was very afraid'. Sir gave me the self-belief that he gives. [Shahid] Afridi came and told me his stories. Because they saw me and knew I was not normal. I don't think that even international matches I have encountered this situation. To tell the truth, I was very, very nervous today."

In his international innings, he had never been dismissed without making the scoreboard operators move on two successive occasions.  As a player who takes pride in consistency, and that the short run drought had affected him was testament to his seriousness and will to improve.

"I got the belief after that six [a hooked one over fine leg in the second over off Junaid Khan]," said Tamim. "Then I started feeling better after taking one or two singles. And the type of batsman I am, runs matter. It doesn't matter how many balls I play. If I score 20 off five balls, then the runs matter to me more than the five balls I played."

After Bangladesh lost the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle by a big margin in March 2017, they famously came back in the next Test to seal a rare away win in their 100th Test match. The players then revealed that they had instituted a policy of holding a players-only team meeting on the eve of each match so that they can talk through problems and find solutions on their own.

A year and a half later, that attitude surfaced again when Mashrafe Bin Mortaza took the decision to send Tamim Iqbal out to bat even though the batsman was sitting with his fractured left wrist in a sling in Saturday's Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka. It changed the complexion of the match as it allowed Mushfiqur Rahim to add 32 priceless runs, and Bangladesh ended up winning by 137 runs.

That clarity of thought, lamentably, has not been found in the machinations of the team management. They needlessly dragged their feet about whether Tamim would remain a part of the Asia Cup when the whole world saw him sitting on the dressing room balcony with his left hand heavily bandaged. It was only yesterday that the team management announced, after Tamim had visited a German specialist, that Tamim would be out of the Asia Cup. Tamim will be flying home today and the reports from yesterday's scans will be sent to finger specialists in Australia.

"Tamim will be out for three-four weeks," team manager Khaled Mahmud told The Daily Star yesterday.  "He will not need an operation, but the specialist in Australia will recommend the next course of action."

News had done the rounds that the secrecy about Tamim's status was to keep Afghanistan, Bangladesh's opponents on September 20, on their toes about the status of the team's most important batsman.

"Not at all, it was only to keep Sri Lanka guessing about whether Tamim would go out to bat," said Mahmud. If that was the case, it was brilliant because it did severely wrong-foot the Sri Lankans. But talking to Tamim and other players, and Mahmud himself, a picture emerged that although the idea was mooted by Mashrafe with 20 overs to go -- around the same time that Mahmud had announced that Tamim would not bat again in the match -- the final decision was a last-second one that Tamim made on a whim.

Also, while the management were asked repeatedly why they were delaying the announcement of Tamim's exit on Sunday, they could not come up with the reason Mahmud gave yesterday. If it was indeed to wrong-foot Afghanistan, then Tamim walking around with a sling in the same hotel certainly put paid to that. Whatever was the reason, there seems to be a lack of coordination in the management setup, and in that they can learn from the team.