Bangladesh's obsession with age-level success

From being the centrepiece of first-ever historic achievements to gradually losing its sheen through frequent use -- the open-top bus parade has undergone a noticeable devaluation in Bangladesh.

This mode of celebration was first introduced in the country in 2022, to welcome the country’s maiden SAFF Women’s Championship winning side.

It felt poetic to bring back the celebration when the girls retained their title in 2024. But when it returned in this year’s January to felicitate the inaugural SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship winners, it felt a bit repetitive.

Last Saturday, the open-top bus parade returned for the U-20 men’s side for winning the SAFF U-20 Championship. But this time the celebration felt a bit over-the-top, considering this is not the first time Bangladesh have won this tournament.

In 2024, Bangladesh won the SAFF U-20 title for the first time, but no such grand celebrations had followed it back then.

In fact, Bangladesh is one of the most successful teams at the SAFF U-18/19/20 level, having finished in the top two in six of the eight editions so far.

Age-level tournaments are designed to uncover talents who can make it big in the future. But being great at this level hasn’t yielded much success for Bangladesh at the senior level so far.

In 2024, Mirajul Islam from Bangladesh was adjudged the most valuable player of that edition. Since then, however, stats show that he has found life tough at the higher levels.

He has four goals in five matches at the U-20 level, one goal in five outings for the U-23 team and is yet to net his maiden goal for Bangladesh in three appearances.

It’s still early days for the youngster, however, his performances for Abahani in the ongoing season of the Bangladesh Football League (BFL) don’t paint an optimistic picture, with just one a goal and one assist to his name after nine appearances.

Not all players who were successful at age-level find success at the senior level. But in Bangladesh, the number of prodigies failing to live up to their billing is unnaturally high.

Foysal Ahmed Fahim, a left winger of the national team, had also been considered an age-level prodigy, but has just one goal and two assists to his name after 32 appearances for Bangladesh.

In cricket, Anamul Haque is a popular example of an age-level prodigy falling short. The right-hander was the highest run-getter in the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup, outscoring Pakistan’s Babar Azam and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.

But while the latter two scaled to great heights in international cricket, Anamul has largely disappeared from the international scene.

The disparity in fortunes in age-level and international level is the most apparent in the current men’s hockey scene.

Just last year, Bangladesh U-21 side qualified for the Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup for the first time and put up a spirited showing in India.

Meanwhile, the national team failed to qualify for the final in the Men’s AHF Cup, a second-tier Asian competition where they had become champions in the previous four editions, despite having many of the players from the U-21 side.

Similar scenes are unfolding in the ongoing Men’s Asian Games Qualifier, with them losing to Sri Lanka and drawing against Uzbekistan, matches they were expected to win.

In one sense, Bangladeshi sports administration’s over-fixation on age-level glories is quite acknowledgement that similar success at the next stage is still out of reach.

Until steps are taken to build on from age-level success, chances are that the open-top bus will keep appearing for lesser and lesser occasions.