Akbar & Co find respite in memories from WC
In these times, while being held prisoner at your own home behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, one may try to find relief by recalling the best memories from back when normalcy prevailed. Sports fanatics are reliving the best moments by watching highlight reels and re-watching the matches that left them with goosebumps.
Sporting activities around the globe have come to a halt and the players, much like their fans, are confined indoors with hopes of things getting back to normal once again. And during this time, even the players are trying to recall the sweet memories from back when they were at the field or with their teammates during a tour or playing in an overseas competition.
The best moment for Bangladesh cricket, till date, arguably came when the Bangladesh under-19 side brought home the nation's first ever World Cup trophy after beating reigning champions India by three wickets in Potchefstroom in February this year.
It is obvious that Akbar Ali and Co created a lot of memories, both on and off the field, during their more than a month's stay in South Africa. And those memories now give them relief during this crisis.
"We were based in Potchefstroom and the room where all of our meetings were held was the one used by the Spain football team during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. All their autographed jerseys, pictures were there and one of our coaching staff said that he too wanted our jerseys and pictures to be there at the end of the tournament," recalled under-19 skipper Akbar.
He also remembered how he, along with his troop, used to make themselves feel relaxed before matchdays.
"We used to have team meetings the day before a fixture. After the meeting we all used to play games for fun. We used to do acting and bits and there was a dart board so we used to play dart," sighed Akbar.
Meanwhile, pacer Shoriful Islam recalled some funny incidents from the tour.
"All of us had a favourite dialogue. It was from the Bangla series Bachelor Point Season 2. There was a character named 'pasha bhai' in the series and his trademark dialogue was to make an intimidating noise. We used to do that among ourselves all the time. When we were on the bus on our way to practice or even during practice sessions or matches, we used to say that dialogue among ourselves. By the time we won the tournament, it had caught on among everyone so well that even our head coach [Naveed Nawaz] and our bus driver also started doing that," chuckled Shoriful as if he was still living those memories while sharing those over phone.
Shoriful, who claimed to be the funniest one in the group, also mentioned how he was vested with the responsibility of making everyone laugh. It was his responsibility that no one had a gloomy day.
Shoriful might have played the role of an entertainer off the field but the 18-year-old was as serious and aggressive as anyone could be when on the field. The left-armer also admitted that the aggressive celebration which he pulled out after dismissing India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on 88, was something very much well rehearsed.
"Actually when we lost to them [India] in the Asia Cup final, they celebrated vigorously. So I planned that when I get a wicket [World Cup final], I would celebrate in a way to trigger them a bit. I actually rehearsed it beforehand. I had come up with a number of celebrations and later stuck with the one which I thought looked the best and fitting. It was something which said that we lost to you a number of times but it is time for us to win and for you to stay in our pocket," explained Shoriful.
While sharing all those memories from time in South Africa, both Shoriful and Akbar mentioned how desperately they would like to get back to the field and perhaps make more lasting memories as they pursue more accolades in their professional career.
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