Saifuddin misses the bus

Bangladeshi fans like to say that the contest between Bangladesh and India is an emerging rivalry in world cricket. Most Indian fans will say that this is a bit of wishful thinking, India is way ahead of Bangladesh in almost every cricketing metric, be it ranking, quality of players, quality of domestic leagues, and of course, financial backbone of the board. Bangladeshi fans might hit back with some recent head to head records, where India has lost three out of the last four One Day Internationals. Indians will respond by saying that two of those wins were near miracles that took place in Mirpur, and the other was a dead rubber in the Asia Cup.

The debate can rage on, but what's notable in any exchange like this is the fact that when it comes to facing India, Bangladeshi fans become highly sensitive, wary of not being taken seriously, and easily offended at any hint of a slight. This is a relatively recent trend, and while we can confidently hope that our cricketers don't quite participate in the same mental gymnastics that keep fans like us on a knife's edge during any Bangladesh-India match, there is something to be said about the collective national approach of facing India in a cricket match.

Let's paint the picture. Bangladesh is taking on India in cricket, and the whole country is at a standstill. All TVs are tuned to the right channel, car stereos blare commentary, and storefronts across the country have small crowds forming in front of them, just as long as they have a TV. The game rolls on, scores are checked on phones and computers, even those in commute are starting to stream the game on their phones. There might be a prolonged moment of palpable tension when even the most passionately sports-averse person is forced to ask someone nearby if Bangladesh might be winning this one. The game is usually close, ending with rapturous delight in victory or unshakeable gloom in defeat – the common theme being intense emotions.

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Fragile egos and fallen heroes

While this might feel inevitable given the aspirational journey of Bangladeshi cricket so far and the neighbourhood giants who consistently set new standards in the sport, there are clear instances in history that we can point to that made things this way. 

Let's start with 2007, when Bangladesh beat India in the first match of the world cup and essentially knocked out the team that best encapsulated that golden generation of Indian cricket. A highly unexpected victory, this created much jubilation within Bangladesh, but for India, this was a low moment. Effigies were burned, and fans protested the team's woeful performance on the streets. MS Dhoni, the man who took them to the promised land just four years later, possibly suffered the worst of it all when his house in Ranchi was attacked by overzealous fans.

The result was an upheaval in Indian cricket, and much had changed by the time 2011 rolled around. The world cup was on home shores for both Bangladesh and India, and the first game was in Mirpur between the two hosts. Some Indian players were open about this being a chance for them to take revenge, and they played that way too. Virender Sehwag took apart the bowling, and Bangladesh lost badly. Fans who followed the team closely during those days will remember clearly what Sehwag said in his post match interview: "I have said this is a revenge game and we have won. I have said before [that] Bangladesh are not good in Tests, but they can compete in ODIs, but today they could not."

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Time for a new chapter in the story of Bangladesh cricket

Post match interviews in cricket have always been a humble affair. The comments made by Sehwag hurt Bangladeshi fans who were already hurting from a terrible loss at home, and the heat in this rivalry got turned up a notch.

After that, Bangladesh beat India in a close Asia Cup game in 2012, but possibly the biggest moment in this story took place in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. In front of a huge crowd of Indian expatriates, Bangladesh was still in the game when Rohit Sharma was caught in the deep off a Rubel Hossain full toss. The umpire, however, had a decision to make, as the full toss was high. It was judged a no-ball. Rohit Sharma proceeded to take the game away from the Tigers' claws, and Bangladesh complained about that no-ball decision to the end of the world. 

Let's paint the picture. Bangladesh is taking on India in cricket, and the whole country is in a standstill. All TVs are tuned to the right channel, car stereos blare commentary, and storefronts across the country have small crowds forming in front of them, just as long as they have a TV. The game rolls on, scores are checked on phones and computers, even those in commute are starting to stream the game on their phones. There might be a prolonged moment of palpable tension when even the most passionately sports-averse person is forced to ask someone nearby if Bangladesh might be winning this one. The game is usually close, ending with rapturous delight in victory or unshakeable gloom in defeat – the common theme being intense emotions.

The ICC president at the time was AHM Mustafa Kamal, and he didn't hold himself back in criticising the umpiring. This led to a situation where the ICC and its president were in a standoff, all over a no-ball decision that possibly wouldn't have even changed the course of the game. The Guardian came up with the headline "ICC slams its own president for criticising umpire at Cricket World Cup", and AHM Mustafa Kamal was denied the opportunity of presenting the winning team at the end of the tournament with the trophy. The rivalry was now bitter.

Right after the world cup, during a series win at home against the mighty Indians, everything was going the way of Bangladesh. Mustafizur Rahman had all the batsmen looking bewildered, but an incident occurred when the imposing figure of MS Dhoni strongly bumped into Mustafizur and hurt him, and this was enough to rile fans up once again. 

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The big business of India-Pakistan cricket

The period right after this featured some of the most heartbreaking cricket in the life of a Bangladeshi fan, almost all of them against India. There was the horror show at the 2016 ICC World T20, where Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah choked needing 2 off 3 balls. Then the Nidahas Trophy final in Sri Lanka went down to the last ball where 5 was needed and Dinesh Karthik hit a sixer off Soumya Sarkar. This was followed by another Asia Cup final heartbreak, where Litton Das scored a beautiful century, but the batting collapsed soon after, and Bangladesh lost the match on the last ball yet again.

And all of this build up brings up to the present, where it starts to make sense why the contest against India is so meaningful for Bangladeshi fans. All these close losses seem to suggest that Bangladeshi cricketers too feel some of that pressure, but modern day athletes have extensive support systems that help them to get out of these mental loops. Regular wins against India in recent months might spell a change in fortunes, but facing India in India in front of thousands of boisterous Indian fans is a different ball game altogether. One thing is for certain, being stuck in their own heads and letting the demons of the past chase them around will not help our cricketers. Leave that suffering for us fans.

Azmin Azran is the editor of Campus and Rising Stars at The Daily Star.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

When Sauravi Akanda Prity missed the first attempt in the penalty shootout of the SAFF U-16 Women's Championship final against India on Saturday, the apprehension of a sinking ship close to the shore must have gripped the entire team.

India coach Biby Thomas Muttath had taken off regular goalkeeper Munni and brought on Surajmuni Kumari just before the end of regulation time. Surajmuni pulled off a brilliant save to deny Prity, later adjudged the most valuable player of the competition.

Then stepped up Yearzan Begum and changed the fate of the final with a starring performance under the bar, saving three Indian spot-kicks to help Bangladesh emerge as unbeaten champions with a 3-2 win.

Yearzan blocked the final attempt from Linda Divyani, sending her teammates and a handful of Bangladeshi supporters at the gallery into wild euphoria at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal.

Yearzan Begum. PHOTO: BFF

"It is a different feeling to become the best goalkeeper in my debut international tournament. I want to thank my coach to take me to this level. I am really happy. I want to dedicate this award to my coach and my father," said Yearzan, overwhelmed with emotion.

The final battle entered the dramatic shootout after Bangladesh defender Mariam Binte Hanna cancelled out India's Anushka Kumari's fourth-minute lead in the 71st minute with a side-volley on a corner kick. And while Prity's effort was stopped and Alpi Akter's attempt came off the woodwork, Yearzan made sure Bangladesh regained the title of the age-group completion (played alternatively between under-15 and under-16 levels) since their maiden triumph in 2017.

Since the maiden success in the SAFF Women's Championship in 2022, Bangladesh women have now added three more accolades to their growing trophy cabinet by winning the SAFF Under-20 Women's Championship, SAFF Under-19 Women's Championship and SAFF U-16 Women's Championship titles.

Although Prity won the most valuable player award, she missed out on the top-scorer's trophy to India's Anushka Kumari by the odd goal. However, she wasn't disappointed at all for not winning the individual accolade.

"I don't have any regrets for not winning the top-scorer award because becoming the champions is the most important thing. We had confidence and belief that Yearzan could make the saves and deliver the trophy," said Prity, who scored five goals in the three round-robin matches of the competition.

Captain Arpita Biswas revealed that she had the confidence in her teammates, saying that ever since she touched the trophy at the pre-final photoshoot, she had her eyes on the ultimate prize.

"I was very excited to see the trophy at the pre-final event. I touched the trophy and since then I was determined to take this trophy home. I also transferred my dream to my teammates and told them not to allow India to take it."

England head coach Trevor Bayliss knows his side must shut out the noise of an expectant nation as they prepare for a first World Cup final in 27 years.

The host nation produced an inspired display to complete an eight-wicket victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday and will meet New Zealand at Lord’s tomorrow.

With the showpiece event also being broadcast on a free-to-air platform following an agreement between rights holders Sky and Channel 4, expectations will be elevated even further.

Australian Bayliss, though, has called for calm as England look to go one better than they did in their last World Cup final appearance in 1992, when they lost against Imran Khan’s Pakistan in Melbourne.

“We had a chat in the changing room (at Edgbaston) afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet,” Bayliss told BBC radio.

“There is going to be a lot of noise around ‘you guys are now the favourites’, and all this type of thing -- we can’t listen to any of that.

“We have just got to concentrate on the way we have gone about our cricket over the past four years and what has got us to this point and go through our process.”

After Australia were all out for 223 in 49 overs, England opener Jason Roy struck a superb 85 from 65 balls as he put on yet another big stand with Jonny Bairstow to break the back of the run chase.

Roy was fined for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision after he was wrongly given out caught behind. Bayliss, though, feels the 28-year-old can soon put the incident behind him.

“I think it shows the passion Jason has got for the game, and it is such a big game as well, when he was on the verge of scoring a hundred,” the England head coach said.

“He will learn from that and go on to bigger and better things, I am sure.”

The Surrey batsman is expected to be in contention for a place in the Ashes squad but Bayliss was giving little away, keeping his focus on the one-day format.

Bayliss said the return of live international cricket to traditional free-to-air television for the first time since the 2005 Ashes was “an opportunity to influence another generation of young cricketers”.

The 56-year-old is set to step down at the end of his current deal in September, no matter what the summer brings.

“I have always been a believer that four or five years is long enough, whether you are doing well or not,” he said. “It is time for a new voice for the boys, to hopefully take them to another level.”

India edged Bangladesh 1-0 in their Asian Games fixture at the Xiaoshan Sports Center Stadium in China yesterday, courtesy of an 85-minute penalty conversion by prolific striker Sunil Chhetri.

Bangladesh Olympic team will play their last match against group-toppers China, while India and Myanmar square off, but two defeats in succession has all but thrown the men in red and green out of the competition.

Javier Cabrera's team, though, still have a slim chance of qualifying for the round of 16 as four third-place teams from six groups can advance as well.

India, on the other hand, were lucky to leave the field with a desperate win -- their fourth against Bangladesh in Asiad -- after having suffered a heavy defeat against China.

It was Bangladesh, boosted by the presence of eight national players, who comparably created better chances. But like it happened against Myanmar, Bangladesh forwards squandered several good chances while Rahmat Mia's committed the grave error with a foul inside the box.

"It's true that we missed five to six chances against Myanmar... but against India it was less. Honestly If we could do it [convert chances], we could have won the game," Bangladesh coach said.

Tigresses face Hong Kong

Medal-aspirants Bangladesh's women's cricket team will begin their campaign today when they take on Hong Kong in a quarterfinals fixture at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field. The match will get underway at 12pm (Bangladesh time).

Bangladesh, who grabbed consecutive silver medals in 2010 and 2014, are eager to start on the right foot against Hong Kong.

The Tigresses "have been in good shape," as far as captain Nigar Sultana Joty is concerned. "We have prepared for one month in Sylhet for the Asian Games, played a few practice matches and also prepared ourselves here for two days. I think the team are focused on performing well," she said.

Meanwhile, both Pakistan and India moved into the semifinals after their quarterfinals matches were abandoned due to the rain.

Women booters up against mighty Japan

Bangladesh women's football team will make their Asian Games debut today, and that too against former world champions Japan at the Wenzhou Olympic Sports Center at 5:30 pm (Bangladesh time).

"We are playing the Asian Games for the first time and against a strong Japan. I want to have the blessing from the countrymen, so that we perform well against Japan," said captain Sabina Khatun.

Coach Saiful Bari Titu pointed out the gulf of difference between two sides and said the match will provide a learning platform for the reigning SAFF champions.

"I have instructed the girls to not think about the outcome of the match," he said.