Bowled by Politics: Elections will decide the future of Bangladesh cricket

BANGLADESH IS ON THE boil yet again, and things don’t look to be settling with the elections just round the corner. And that’s where you feel the relevance of cricket as a kind of balm of unity for the state. It is unfortunate that Bangladesh isn’t playing the T20 World Cup, that the players are having to stay away and watch Scotland play the games assigned to them. It is equally unfortunate for their fans to be missing out on all the action. A few people in Bangladesh, whom I know, had bought tickets to the games at Eden Gardens and had planned a holiday around it. Now all of that is up in flames.

In fact, I was there at Eden Gardens last weekend to watch West Indies play Scotland. It was a well-fought encounter, but the truth is I missed Bangladesh. They would have made a lot more noise, been more colourful and loud, and added to the whole atmosphere of the World Cup. You could converse in Bangla and, in all honesty, it would be fun. Every run would be cheered and every dot ball a spectacle. And a win would mean pujas coming early. To see them not play the World Cup will remain a very unfortunate development.

It is all due to politics — unnecessary politicisation of the Mustafizur Rahman issue and a rabid anti-India stance. BCB had reason to be miffed with BCCI on the Mustafizur matter, but they should have fought it out with them and boycotted IPL. They could have stopped their players from playing in the league and also rallied support within the ICC board against India. To make an India-specific fight a fight with ICC was an utterly wrong call. Pakistan provoked them into doing so, and now, as the World Cup is underway,

Bangladesh cricket stares at a dark future. BCB eventually had to give up on the issue and take a call on not escalating things further. This is because they don’t have the numbers within the ICC board. And in a democratic set-up, the majority rules whether you like it or not. The Bangladesh political establishment, in all its false bravado, forgot the very basic lesson of realpolitik.

In all this, the biggest sufferers are the players. They had earned the right to play the World Cup and, may I add, World Cups don’t come every day. You play only a handful of World Cups in your career, and to deny the players the right to do so was a poor call from Asif Nazrul and his ilk. Bangladesh has one of the most passionate fan bases, and to not

have them in India is disappointing. One hopes that after the elections, things will get better and sense will prevail. For now, all Bangladesh can do is sulk and watch from the sidelines.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is playing in the competition. They have safeguarded their own interests and have not boycotted the World Cup. They have sold Bangladesh a dummy and themselves continue to be a part of the Cup. The posturing— how much they miss Bangladesh—is a desperate attempt ahead of the elections to woo radical sections of the electorate and ensure that political instability continues on India’s eastern border.

With the Bangladesh elections just hours away, suffice to say we haven’t yet seen the end of this drama. The future of Bangladesh cricket could well depend on these elections. A more rational government would want to re-establish cricketing relations with India and safeguard the financial interests of

BCB. A radical political set-up will continue to play hardball, for they don’t really care for BCB’s interests. Who said sports and politics do not mix?