Who comes after Big Five?
On Tuesday the cricketing fraternity of the country celebrated the 100th international game being played together by the Big Five -- Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim.
However, they were unable to make the second game against the West Indies a memorable occasion, losing by four wickets after Shai Hope's career-best unbeaten 146 saw the visitors level the series at one apiece.
Interestingly, it was yet again players within that quintet who stepped up. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Tamim struck fifties while none of the others managed to step up either with ball or bat, laying bare the over-dependency on the seniors that has been a common feature for the past few years in Bangladesh cricket.
It has to be mentioned that among those five, ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is nearing the end of an 17-year career, with next year's World Cup in England set to be his last.
The other four have also reached a certain stage in their careers where they are perhaps thinking about when to stop after having completed more than a decade in international cricket -- although they are likely to stick around until the conclusion of the 2023 World Cup.
One should also mention the contributions from the existing core group that have managed to overcome numerous hurdles both as individuals and as a team to take Bangladesh cricket to a certain level.
So the biggest question that remains is who will fill the abyss in the core group for the Tigers in the future after these cricketers depart.
There have been quite a few who have been and are still being given opportunities to prepare themselves for the future in the like of Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Anamul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain and the list goes on and on.
But apart from Mehedi and Mustafizur, none of the others have been able to remain consistent or improved and adapted their game gradually for the international level despite there being no shortage of talent. And it has to be said that all the above cricketers have received enough opportunities.
At the same time one cannot label them newcomers as they have already been on the scene for the past three-four years.
Some of them may have all the skills and technique, but still require mental strength while some others require proper guidance. Above all, they need to set a benchmark for themselves.
Bangladesh cricket may have been harvesting the fruits from seeds planted well in the past, but it is important to prepare the next core group in order to take the Tigers further before they face the same consequences of a huge vacuum similar to Sri Lanka after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
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