Why this miserable performance?
Photo: AFP
Cricket is known to many as an unpredictable game and it is so. But one has to differentiate between unpredictability and inconsistency. The miserable performance of Bangladesh team playing against the Australian 'B' team has made it clear that this team has no potential at all. In the first match, the Bangladesh team was all out for 74 runs in 27.4 overs and in the second match on 3 Sept 08, the team scored 117 in 36.1 overs. Well, winning and losing is part of any game and one should not always expect to win. But there should be a level of performance by those that claim to be professional players representing a country. Last Saturday I cancelled some of my usual weekend tasks to see the match first hand and I was full of hope that the team would at least show something against the Australians. Restricting the Australian team to 254 for 8 was not unreasonable and it is a score that could be reached with some solid batting. But as the team started batting, the wickets were falling right-left-and-centre. I lost all hopes when the score was 44 for 4 wkts. What really struck me was the batting style of the first five players. None of the players including Ashraful could show any visible sign of confidence. The close up of the players showed signs of pressure and lack of confidence to face the situation at hand. I am in no doubt that playing at the international level is no easy task and under certain conditions the level of pressure can be extremely high. And that is why regardless of the level of skills in batting, bowling or fielding, the number one criterion that the selection committee should emphasise is selecting players having the courage and fighting spirit. The task of the cricket board should be to first select players with strong nerves who are able to focus on their main role, despite all sorts of pressure, and, secondly, to introduce exercises that can strengthen the ability to perform under pressure. I am certain that all the players in the Bangladesh team would play much better in a practice environment, but that skill just evaporates during matches in international venues.
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