Players winning, not the game

Their bank accounts swell day by day. The corporate houses are chasing them for new deals as they are the most popular celebrities at this moment in the country.
Their smiling faces -- in contrast to the recent grim scenes on the cricket field -- can be seen endorsing one brand after another. Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nasir Hossain are all very much in the endorsement market. Just look around you, the big billboards hanging over the buildings and footpaths provide ample evidence of who they are. This entire scenario -- the fame and the fortune that comes with it -- portrays a happy picture and encourages youngsters to take up the game as a profession.  
But what about Bangladesh cricket's account? Has it remained static? Is it in surplus or is it in deficit?
A neutral body is needed to determine whether whispers about the deficit in the board's account for misuse of money is true, but here everything is crystal clear. In terms of earning money the current cricketers can claim themselves as successful professionals and full of satisfaction, but they are far away from achieving the standard of a true professional in terms of performance.
Yes, we are all over the moon when the team achieve success but in reality as a cricketing nation we have achieved little and are yet to secure a strong footing on the global cricketing map.
All these questions are again coming to the fore following Bangladesh's performance in the last few months. When an outsider -- and there are a lot of well-meaning observers in the country now for the World Twenty20 -- laments that the team's approach towards the game remains the same as it was seven years ago when he or she last saw them, there is little evidence to protest the assessment. While we have had some ODI success at home, have seen the odd glimmer of promise in the Test arena and there has been a trend of progress for almost two years, it is hard to deny that we are not at the place where we should be after being elevated to the highest level in 2000.
It is not uncommon that a team goes through a bad phase, but the problem does not lie there. Apart from the batting and bowling, how can a team continue to struggle with their fielding for so long?
We have some individuals like Shakib and Tamim who make global headlines. As performers there are no doubts their ability. But have they or are they realising their full potential? There are a number of players in the world who have much better averages than the two most celebrated Bangladeshi players, but most do not enjoy anywhere near the adulation that these two have enjoyed. Aggression is an attractive quality on the field but if it mutates into arrogance then it is really a cause for concern. What Shakib recently did off the field to face a three-match suspension was the worst form of arrogance, as was his denial of a winning single against Nepal to finish the match with a six, which also hinted at a very unprofessional mindset. Nasir Hossain's face his loss of form was another type of arrogance which may damage this team's progress.
And skipper Mushfiqur Rahim's evasive words in the face of a string of defeats gives the impression that this team is struggling due to more than just a lack of form.
And most unfortunate is that there is not the kind of management that can solve the problem. We will likely end up looking for another victory as a solution and then continue singing the same old song when it goes awry once again.