‘20 runs short’, or ‘momentum gained’: Which cliche will Tigers use today?

Journos who cover Bangladesh men's cricket team matches have a pretty good idea as to what the Tigers may say following any particular game. 

But it is not that the media people in the country are fortune tellers or possess some supernatural powers. It is just that, more often than not, Bangladesh players' post-match presentation ceremonies or pressers follow a common script. 

In case of a failure in a quest -- which, unfortunately, is the case on most occasions -- the commonly uttered phrases include: "We were 20 runs short", "No team is big or small", or "We could not implement our plan." However, almost never do they feel the need to explain what the 'plan' was and how it should have been executed, how those '20 runs' could have been scored or how they plan to do it in the next game, and how losing to a team tottering 10 places behind ninth-ranked Bangladesh -- the latter being the case of losing a T20I series to the USA -- banish the age-old concept of determining favourites on pen and paper. 

Read more

Smug Shakib, clueless Bangladesh

Meanwhile, in the rare case of a triumph, Bangladesh players resort to being adamant about taking the 'winning momentum' to the next series or tournament. At times, they don't even take into account how that said 'winning momentum' was gained, against which team, in what conditions, and most importantly, if it would really help in the long haul. The spectacular failure in the 2021 T20 World Cup in which the Tigers lost to Scotland and were unable to win a single game in the main round of the mega event despite carrying with them the greatest momentum by beating powerhouses like Australia and New Zealand on favourable home conditions comes to mind in this regard. 

If the above narration seems a bit exaggerated, let's recall what Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto had said following their shock five-wicket defeat in the first T20I against the USA in the ongoing three-match series. "We started well in the beginning but in the middle, we lost a couple of wickets, so I think if we could score more 20 runs then it would be a decent total," were the words of Shanto after the Tigers failed to defend 54 runs off the final four overs last Tuesday in Houston. 

In the second T20I, the USA showed that their first T20I win was not a fluke as they restricted Bangladesh six runs short of a regulation total of 144 just a day later at the same venue. The shortcomings in the Tigers' skills were vivid in how they were not able to get the last 21 runs off 19 balls with five wickets in hand, only for Shanto to claim at the post-match presentation that, "I think it's not the problem with the skill".

The defeat in the second T20I saw Bangladesh win the race in completing 100 T20I losses as the USA clinched a historic first-ever series win over a Test-playing nation in the format. 

As Bangladesh face the USA in the final T20I today, it is only normal to wonder what typical phrase the Tigers might use following the game. Will they blabber about 'gaining winning momentum' right before the T20 World Cup next month if they manage to avert the utter humiliation of being whitewashed by the USA? Or, will they talk about the learning curve they are still in and how they 'hope to play some good cricket' come June 8 when they open their T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka in Dallas? 

Oh, wait, maybe the last one is no longer an option considering how Shanto, following the defeat in the second T20I, had already talked about how they plan to use the 'opportunity to execute their plans and play some good cricket' in today's final encounter with the USA. 

While the hope is that Bangladesh will be able to restore some parity in the series, on the off chance that Shanto and Co are not able to live up to their words of putting on display some decent cricket, at least, they could come up with something original and concrete for the post-match presser.