U-19 World Cup: In Dhaka

U-19 World Cup: In Dhaka, they never abandon their cricketers

 

Bangladesh fans were out in numbers to cheer for their side. (Source: ICC)

On Thursday evening, the image of a spectator crying her kohl eyes out went viral on social media in Bangladesh as Shamar Springer hit back-to-back boundaries to end the home team’s bid to enter the Under-19 World Cup final. It perfectly captured Bangladesh’s emotional investment in cricket.

It’s a youth World Cup, after all. Winning it, as Rahul Dravid probably rightly said, “is honestly not the be all and end all of anything.” But try telling that to one of the 15,000-odd Bangladeshi supporters who turned up at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium to root for their junior team, with faces painted red and green. For them, it was their first-ever appearance in the semi-final of a global event. A historic occasion.

It was a freak morning — murky and, by Dhaka’s standards, unusually cold. From the uniform of the early entrants, it was apparent they had bunked school/colleges. Many must have skipped work too, choosing the Bangladesh team jersey over their formal weekday shirt. There were long queues at the gates, and you would’ve mistaken it to be an important One-Day International against a big team.

The stadium was buzzing with nervous energy as the pace sensation Alzarri Joseph steamed in to bowl to the opener Pinak Ghosh. First ball. Wide. A loud cheer. Fifth ball. No ball. A massive roar. Fifth ball. Silence. Ghosh has been hit on the helmet.

For the next 97.4 overs, hopes and despair weren’t emotions you could only feel but hear as well. And the atmosphere was at its best during the West Indies’ chase. For one, more people had come in by then, but also because the crowd in Bangladesh really gets going when their team is bowling. In that it’s different from the crowd in India which is more into batting. Here, the chanting becomes louder as they really get behind their bowler. The stadium turns into a colosseum. It’s an unforgettable aural memory.

You remember Midsummer afternoon last year when the crowd chanted “mauka, mauka” like a thunderclap as Mustafizur Rahman ran MS Dhoni & Co ragged to lay foundations of a series win.
There was more or less funereal silence when Gidron Pope batted, but as he missed a wild slog off Mehedi Hasan Miraz and his stumps were clattered, the stadium exploded. The chants of “Bangladesh, Bangladesh” would start as Mehedi Hasan Rana or Mohammad Saifuddin would begin their run-up and hit a crescendo as they would release the ball.

It was remarkable that the West Indies didn’t crumble. But Bangladesh themselves did, crushed underneath the wall of sound that their own fans created. Captain Miraz indicated that the crowd amplified the pressure of expectations.

“As much as we say there’s no pressure, there is some at the U-19 level. We never played in front of such a big crowd. We had the pressure from the expectation that we have to win the semi-final. We are still very young. We have to manage all this, and now that we have seen such situations, played in front big crowds, we will manage it well next time,” he later said.

Miraz has been his country’s Under-19 captain for two years, but he misunderstood Bangladesh’s fans. Another remarkable thing about them — and what set them apart from Indian or Pakistani fans — shone through after they overcame the disappointment: their total devotion to their team and players. While cricketers in India and Pakistan have traditionally copped a fair bit after defeats, in Bangladesh the crowd cheers on regardless.

When the home team pulled themselves together after the defeat and trooped out of the dressing room for the presentation ceremony, the spectators were still chanting their names. This sentiment to back the team all the way could be seen in the local press as well.

At the presser, an exhausted but proud Miraz turned up. After pointing out why the team lost on Thursday, he touched upon the positives. “The third-place match is also important,” he said. “It would mean we would be among the top five among the Test-playing nations in this competition. Mushfiq bhai’s team were fifth (in 2006), and after us, the next generation can better our result.”
As he got up to leave, all local journalists stood up and gave him a big hand.