BPL: The GOAT tourney at evoking nostalgia

Remember the time when you had to flee the streets impromptu to dodge "a stunner" right after you or one of your mates had hit a well-timed lofted shot, which triggered the arrival of a certain Stone Cold Steve Austin as the sweet sound of timbre preceded a crash?  

From batter Will Jacks shattering the neighbourhood building's glass during net practice at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium to Mohammad Shahzad puffing away at the heart of Mirpur, the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has managed to rekindle nostalgia like no other platform in recent memory. 

Did Shahzad, the Afghan wicketkeeper-batter playing for Minister Group, foresee on the morning of that fateful day, as he breathed the fresh air of Dhaka while enjoying a cup of coffee, that he'd be in the news for vaping, i.e. smoking an e-cigarette, later in the day?

And that too when it had rained abruptly, leading his side's game to be abandoned as the aroma of bhuna khichuri converged from Puran Dhaka and Uttara to fill the evening air in an around the stadium? Is the Afghan even aware of the long line of cricketers in the past -- the likes of Graham Gooch, Shane Warne, Chris Gayle, Ian Botham, Michael Clark, Hardik Pandya and so on -- who made the news for publicly smoking, the act which may cause lung cancer at the cost of making the smoker appear "cool"?

As Shahzad again took a lungful of Dhaka's high quality air on the "morning" after while enjoying a fine cuppa black coffee, could he even recall that he was reprimanded by match officials the night before?

Who knows? But Shahzad better be aware that we condemn the heinous act of vaping.

The writer is a recovering nostalgic since May last year and doesn't encourage others, especially professionals, to dive into random memory lanes without a sitter.