Tigers World Cup Stripes: ‘Didn’t celebrate Eid in 2003’
In the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, we take a look back on World Cups past through the eyes of Bangladesh's former World Cup stars. Tushar Imran, who featured for Bangladesh in five Tests and 41 ODIs, last featured for the country back in 2007. The right-hander, who is the only Bangladeshi player to have reached 11,000 first-class runs, has not however been able to emulate his domestic performances in the international stage. The domestic colossus talked with The Daily Star's Nabid Yeasin about his experience of playing in the 2003 World Cup -- his only World Cup -- for Bangladesh.
The Daily Star (TDS): How was your experience of being in the 2003 World Cup squad -- your first World Cup?
Tushar Imran (TI): Out of all the World Cups Bangladesh played, I think the 2003 World Cup was the most horrible one for Bangladesh. We did not play that bad in any World Cup but we could not win a single match in 2003. We actually got chances that time and we also made them count somewhat but somehow it did not happen. However, there is a huge difference between that Bangladesh team and this one. We used to go to the World Cup with hopes of winning maybe one or two matches. There were many big teams and better teams than us. At that time we used to take the field with hopes of defeating teams like Kenya or Zimbabwe. But now Bangladesh take the field to win, no matter who the opposition are.
TDS: Although Bangladesh had a torrid World Cup campaign in 2003, you made a memorable contribution in that World Cup. You scored 48 runs against Kenya but unfortunately Bangladesh went on to lose the game. How did you feel about that?
TI: I was disappointed as I think I could have won the game for Bangladesh. The chance was there but I could not make it count. I still regret that as winning matches was not a regular occurrence for Bangladesh at the time -- Bangladesh used to win matches with several days in between. I would feel very good if I had won that game for Bangladesh and maybe my career would have taken a different turn after that. So I always regret not doing it.
TDS: Any other memorable World Cup experiences?
TI: I was very young at that time. I was around 20-22 years old and the people I toured with were almost all senior players. Except me, Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] and [Mohammad] Ashraful all the other players were seniors. So there is may be one specific memory that I can recall. The day after we lost a game against Canada, it was Eid. We were supposed to go for Eid prayer but as we had lost a game against Canada we did not go for prayers. We had a team meeting around 10 in the morning. We expected that we would at least win one or two matches but we could not win a single match and losing to team like Canada really hurt us. So that is an experience I can recall, that even on Eid we did not celebrate. We just spent the whole day in our hotel rooms.
What are your expectations regarding this Bangladesh team and how far do you think they can go?
The format now is very difficult as every team will play against each another. So I hope that Bangladesh reach the second round [semifinal] as it will be very difficult this time. Maybe there were a lot more expectations in the previous World Cups but this time it would make me very happy if Bangladesh can reach the second round.
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