Best of luck Mash, amid all the chaos

Bangladesh cricket has suddenly been caught in a mild web of controversies.

After praise poured in from all quarters regarding the near perfect 15-member World Cup squad selection, the last-minute additions of Taskin Ahmed and Forhad Reza to the tri-nation squad in Ireland once again seemed to hint at a jittery approach from the selection panel, if not the entire team think-tank.

Then, one of the best cricketers in the country -- Shakib Al Hasan — came up with his best shot to augment the situation by being the sole member to not attend the official team photo session, despite being at the venue less than an hour beforehand.

The third one, however, evidently overshadowed everything -- an outburst on social media effectively changed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)'s decision on the greenish jersey that was unveiled on Monday.

The general perception is that the BCB could have avoided all those unnecessary controversies if they would have handled the issues properly.  But one must think whether all those controversies were the byproducts of defective systems and could only have been avoided had a proper system been in place.

The selection vagueness could have been avoided had the selection panel operated properly with a semblance of autonomy. Enough has already been said about how a good selection system was directed to near collapse. Shakib's absence was definitely a major disciplinary issue and the board must think whether they have backtracked from the tough stance they showed against the same player in 2014 and they have set a dangerous precedent by reducing Sabbir Rahman's ban to include him in the ODI squad for the New Zealand tour.

Finally, they should find an answer to why they needed to change the jersey if they had indeed provided any themes for approval? Had they reached their final decision after examining a few options? Had they invited many to present their themes before reaching a decision?

The chaos that has been created before the Bangladesh cricket team's departure today for a two-month mission in Ireland and England may not be directly associated with anything that could hamper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's ability to handle business during the lengthy trip, but the inspirational skipper can take a lesson on how important it is to keep a system in place and maintain discipline to bring the best out of his charges.

Mashrafe, also a ruling party parliament member, made it clear during a marathon press conference on Monday that it would be his last World Cup appearance, but kept us guessing about his future cricketing career.

But regardless of whether he retires from international cricket to concentrate on his political career soon after the World Cup, the last few pages of his cricketing career and a chunk of his legacy will be determined by cricket's showpiece event -- the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

What the country's cricketing icon has achieved so far has already become a fairytale in sporting history and undoubtedly anything memorable at the World Cup will seal the sweet ending that a man like him deserves most.

Doubtlessly, Mashrafe will face his biggest challenge as captain during this lengthy trip, not only on the field but also off the field. Nobody is as good a motivator as Mashrafe is for the team, but what he said during Monday's press conference deserves some attention. 

When he pointed out the need to concentrate only on cricket for the next two months, it surely indicates that a big challenge awaits him. No doubt, a lot of things will happen during this long period where Mashrafe must ensure discipline ahead of everything to return home with some sweet memories. When we talk about the many good qualities of our Big Five, a crucial one is their motivation to be mentally and physically immersed in the game during tours and series and that cannot always be said of most of their juniors.

"Nothing," was the light-hearted answer from Mashrafe when asked about what his last World Cup means to him. But those who know him closely know how special this World Cup is for the brave-heart cricketer from Narail.

So he and his troops are going with a mission.

Right now we can only say -- best of luck Mash and the future will tell the rest.