Cricket over-publicised
The way Bangladesh cricket is advancing is alarming. As we have seen, Bangladesh cricket is not attracting spectators these days (The tri-nation tournament is an example). The main reason is poor performance. As a cricket fan of the Tigers, I believe and agree with the rest of my fellow cricket fans that our performance is nose-diving. But there are many reasons behind it too. I would blame Poor Team Selection & Excessive Publicity among many reasons for the nose dive. Since the day Bangladesh received the ODI and Test Status, we have had too many players playing for the Team Bangladesh. If this continues, I think very soon the national cricket players will outnumber the Entire Population of New Zealand. There is no need to try immature players who have performed well in the under 19's and 17's. (No matter how good they are or talented they are). They should be groomed at the domestic level and given the chance at the age of 22/23 or may be even later as mentally they will be mature enough to cope with the pressure of international matches. I believe Sachin Tendulkars are born once in a century. Ashraful is a victim of the selection committee and the media. If he was picked up at the age of 22, In two years' time his average would have been in the 40's, instead of the present 20's. He could have been The Ricky Ponting or The Brain Lara of Bangladesh. Instead he has been given the burden of the captaincy of an immature side which will lose 90% of the matches they play. The media is also to be blamed for the poor turn-out of the spectators and the unnecessary pressure on the players. The way they (media) report a victory or the way a fixture is described is in no way acceptable to those who understand the game. We are not India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, that we can beat any top team. India & Pakistan have been playing cricket for more than three decades and we cannot have the same comparison/publicity/news before an international match. Our Bangladeshi spectators are mostly below the age of 25 and the majority of them come to the ground with hopes from the pre-match news only to find that the team has lost again. Cricket is the most difficult game played in the subcontinent, though it is popular. We should realise the situation before we say anything. Let's give our boys another 10 years and then we can really talk about cricket on a daily basis.
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