Rising and falling on momentum

Bangladesh cricket has always been dependent on momentum, the rise and fall of which find a magnified reflection in the team's body language.

There has been a certain pattern for the Bangladesh team over the years, where a majority of the cricketers tend to rely on luck, which in turn relates to momentum or results in the recent past, and if things do not go in their favour, the urge to turn things around dips significantly.

Whether it was after Tamim Iqbal dropped Rohit Sharma's catch early in the innings during the ICC World Cup match against India or the entirety of the last World Cup game against Pakistan, there was very little fight from the Bangladeshi cricketers. It all related to a premeditated, negative mindset.

Much like Bangladesh, Pakistan also had a disappointing World Cup but the main difference between the two sides was that Pakistan had the belief in themselves to be able to overcome failures by looking to the future rather than holding on to the disappointments of the past.

The result was evident as Pakistan were pumped up to finish the tournament on a high, which they did by beating the Tigers comprehensively while Bangladesh seemed to surrender without a semblance of a fight.

It is the opposite when the Tigers manage to start well in a tournament or in a series, it gives the extra punch to the entire team as the belief and confidence rises significantly. But as seen in the World Cup, it does not take long for that belief to be shattered by one or two bad results

The majority of the players also rely on certain individual heroics to bring back the belief, which has been the case in the entire World Cup campaign where Shakib Al Hasan stood above with some extraordinary performance on a consistent basis. It speaks to seeking an easy way out, which could be an indication of a lack of faith in a concerted turnaround.

It was seen in the way Bangladesh started off their ICC World Cup campaign against South Africa, where a flying start from openers Soumya Sarkar and Tamim was enough for the other players in the dressing room to believe in themselves.

That initial belief came from their maiden tri-nation series win in Ireland just before the World Cup, where the cricketers looked confident.

Before coming to Sri Lanka for the ongoing three-match ODI series, there was a sense of uncertainty from the players, which had its roots in the poor end to their World Cup campaign.

Even an experienced cricketer like Tamim took extra pressure on himself both as batsman and also as leader after he was given the role of the stand-in captain for the Sri Lanka series, after regular captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was ruled out due to a hamstring injury at the last moment.

The absence of Shakib, who was granted a break by the BCB for the Sri Lanka tour after a terrific World Cup campaign, also affected the other team members as the pressure to perform consistently and fill the huge gap left by the experienced cricketer mounted.

Soumya was trapped leg-before off a Nuwan Pradeep full toss in the second ODI after being dismissed by a vintage Lasith Malinga yorker in the first ODI and it all related to a lack of confidence rather than a technical error.

Talking about lack of confidence, even experienced cricketers like Tamim and Mahmudullah Riyad are not far behind and it is their body language that says it all.

"When we arrive in Sri Lanka, we were prepared to do well but we lost the series. We are all worried about it, [asking] why things are going like this. We all are talking to each other about how to overcome that and we will try to make a turnaround in the last game," Soumya told reporters yesterday.

There was a mere smile on Soumya's face, mostly reflecting the dejection and although he did say they are eager to make a comeback, but there was no hint on how it could be done.