Songs For The Tigers

Since Bangladesh's arrival at the big stage of world of cricket in the late nineties, cricket fans of this country have stuck to the side, sometimes through prolonged periods of disappointment and heartbreak. The passion of our cricket fans has often been fuelled by music written specifically for our team, always giving the fans hope to hold on to. On the opening day of the ICC World T20 -- when Bangladesh takes field on home turf against Afghanistan, here's a look back at the songs dedicated to our cricket team and our cricketing dreams.
One of the first songs made for the cricket team was by Shuvro Deb, as an anthem when Bangladesh first qualified for the ICC World Cup in 2009. The heartfelt, melodious song, titled “Good Luck Bangladesh” gained considerable popularity, being shown on TV quite frequently during the tournament, in which Bangladesh pulled off its first major victory.
The next song that surfaced for the Bangladesh cricket team was “Cholo Bangladesh” by Cryptic Fate, one of the most iconic songs in Bangladesh's rock music history. The uplifting whistling intro into an energetic guitar riff, and the inspiring lyrics -- “Bidwesh Oshanti Bhule Jai Dekhe Tomader Unmadona, E Khela'i Paare Bodlate Amader Porichoy Thikana” -- have made it one of the most inspirational sports-themed songs in Bangla. Although released in 2001, the songs did not catch on to the public long after, as the album was released in -- “Charpotro” -- consisted mostly of 'underground' bands.

Asif Akbar, another popular artiste of the 2000's, made a thumping, positive song “Shabash Bangladesh” sometime in 2004 or 2005 to inspire the cricket team. The sort of catchy, pop number has since often blared through the speakers at the stadium when Bangladesh has played, and is a familiar tune to cricket fans.
During the 2011 Cricket World Cup, an entire album was released featuring some of the most popular artistes, but not many of the songs caught on. LRB, Isha Khan Duray, Artcell, Shironamhin, Arbovirus, Beduin, Bohemian, Radioactive and Crematic-X were among the participating artistes and bands in the album titled “Gorje Otho Bangladesh” and the songs took up a fair share of the radio airtime during the tournament, but none of them remained really memorable. “Amra Korbo Joy”, a song by Razeeb and Rockers also released at the same time, calling out to the members of the erstwhile squad by name and urging them to march ahead.
A song by the band Shunno, titled “Shoto Asha”, meanwhile, was picked by a telecom operator as an anthem for the Cricket team for the World Cup, and although possibly not written for the purpose, the song and the video montage made of it -- speaking of hopes and dreams overcoming all odds -- created a stir.
While quite a number of songs have been written for the major cricketing events -- the 2011 World Cup and this year's ICC World T20 -- it's the songs on our cricketing heroes -- lovingly termed 'Tigers' -- that the fans have held close to their hearts. There are few things Bangladeshis are more emotional about than cricket, and we are, by nature, very musical, so it should come as no surprise that these songs have been an integral part of every cricket-loving Bangladeshi -- be it in times of despair or celebration.