The Daily Star carries daily news and opinion from Bangladesh and around the world.

ACC Trophy: From a demoralised lot to a cohesive force

From Al-Amin
14 October 1998



KATHMANDU, Oct 13: Aminul Islam had a mission in Kathmandu and the new Bangladesh captain accomplished it in style. From the first match to the last he led his side with great authority. He and Bangladesh had everything at stake when he piloted a demoralised side to a perilous territory, but at the end Aminul and his boys leave the spectacular valley with all smiles.

The mood of the victors was quite upbeat after the final with celebrations going on around the team tent.

``There is nothing to be excited about. We have won this Cup and that's it. But this was a very important tournament for us to get back our rhythm. After the ICC Trophy we were losing too many matches. We were demoralised, in fact. I agree with you that this type of tournament will not help our cause. But in this tournament we have gradually turned ourselves into a cohesive force,'' said Aminul soon after the match.

``I want to continue with this side even in the One-day match against England in Dhaka'', said Aminul, adding that he does not want to break the winning combination. ``The selectors are there to decide the team. But if you want my opinion I will be happy to get the same team against England'', said the Bangladesh captain.

It was true that we were not doing well at the beginning. But you see at the end we have improved a lot in every department of the game. The openers are pushing the singles, the bowlers are not giving so many wides and, above all, the fielding is excellent'' said Aminul.

Regarding the match, Aminul said: ``This was once again a good toss to lose. In fact I would have wanted to bat first had I won the toss. But when they won the toss and opted to bat first, they were caught by surprise when water began to seep from the damp wicket. This is one of the reasons why they could not even put up a decent total,'' said Aminul.

But assistant coach Sarwar Imran came up with a different narration, terming the success a predictable one.

``To tell you frankly, in this tournament, we have proved that we are living in between two worlds of cricket. We are way ahead at this level of cricket but at the same time we are far behind the international level,'' said Imran.

``I think our bowling department needs a good off-spinner. Although Aminul has done a great job here, I do not know whether he will be that much effective in the big league'', opined the coach.

It might have been a disappointing final for the couple of thousand cricket fans who gathered at the marvellous Tribhuvan University ground today. But the atmosphere on the open terraces was quite electrifying with the deafening sounds of bugles, honking of horns and all.

The Tribhuvan ground turned to festivity when a couple of hundred Bangladeshi supporters entered the ground with a band party. The cheerleader of the small but vociferous Bangladeshi supporters was Atiqur Rahman Tutu, an ardent follower of the game, who lives in Dhaka. A familiar figure wherever Bangladesh plays, Atiq later told this reporter that he spent Rs. 5000 (approximately Taka 4000) to hire the band party from Kathmandu. When Atiq led the parade in the gallery, the Nepalese joined the Bangladesh bandwagon in a different way.

One Nepalese cricket fan with only his trousers on took the crowd by surprise when he ran into the ground to hug Faruque Ahmed who was then batting with Shahriar Hossain. Not only that, a naughty dog invaded the pitch during the Bangladesh innings, enforcing the umpires to stop the match for a few minutes. But apart from those unwanted incidents, it was a moving panorama with the presence of a cross section of people. Tom and Page, the tourists duo from England, took a little time before joining Atiq's party.

Gordon shuns press

Gordon Greenidge has again shown no emotion to the press. Although the West Indian coach of the Bangladesh team was happily moving about with his boys at the hotel lobby, he refused to make any comments. Gordon was busy taking photographs of the players at a victory party at the hotel lobby, when this reporter approached him for his comments on the final. But a visibly disturbed Gordon only said ``no comment''.


Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Editorial comments can be sent to The Daily Star at webmaster@dailystarnews.com
help@cricinfo.com