Bangladesh v Sri Lanka T20I: Please don't blame luck

A disappointed Bangladesh team walk off after a second last-ball defeat in three days

For all the Bangladeshis, the Tigers had been their valentine this year. But not the kind of Valentine’s Day the Bangladeshis expected to celebrate. They all expected to rejoice as they were hopeful that the Bengal Tigers would bounce back in style in the second T20 international against Sri Lanka at Chittagong but sadly, they were left to rue as the Tigers could only gift them a gift hamper full of sorrows.

Like the first T20 international, the second one too went down the wire, but it was Sri Lanka who survived the battle of nerves and thus, leaving the Tigers stunned. Mashrafe Mortaza, the stand-in captain for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim blamed lady luck for the first T20 defeat and I guess so, he will blame the luck again for the heart-racing second T20I as well. Even, I guess, the local newspapers too will start blaming luck.

In the first T20 international in Chittagong, the Tigers came back strongly to strangle hold a breezy Sri Lankan start by exhibiting fantastic athleticism in the outfield by taking some acrobatic catches. The Lankan wickets kept on falling at a regular interval and it seemed that they wouldn’t be able to post a fighting total.

Bangladesh were in a position to restrict the Lankans below 150 but despite those mind-blowing fielding exhibitions there had been little effort to stop those singles and couples which the Lankans picked up with ease. Or, I think, I should say that the fielders were not set appropriately according to the bowling.

In the final over, the captain, Mashrafe Mortaza came to bowl himself and haemorrhaged 12 runs. One thing, I must say that, the Bangladeshi pace bowlers have never been effective in the slog overs. Time and again, they are habituated to get battered pathetically and in case of Mashrafe it was nothing different. Mashrafe should have used Shakib in the final over.

Sri Lanka posted a total of 168 for 7 and on a flat track it was not be a tough task for the Tigers whose batting order boasts with exciting willow-wielders. The Bangladeshis start was encouraging. Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rahman gave the Tigers a powerful start and after their departure Shakib and Anamul Haque carried on with an excellent 43-run stand. With wickets in hand and still ten overs to go and 92 runs more needed, it was expected that Bangladesh will bag the first T20 easily. But such an easy task was made difficult by the Tigers themselves.

In the middle overs, the Bangladeshi batsmen failed to fetch runs and dot balls led the asking run rate to escalate. Dot balls are a curse in this format of the game and they only build pressure to make mistakes. I still keep on thinking why the Bangladeshi batsmen don’t maneuver the strike and concentrate on picking up singles and couples. They are very important in any format of the game. They are vital to keep the scoreboard moving and easing the pressure.

In the crucial stages of the game, Bangladesh lost important wickets and the game, which was not supposed to be an absolute cliff-hanger, went down the wire. Bangladesh needed 17 runs in the final over. Anamul could only manage 14 runs as he was dismissed off a full-toss from Thisara Perera. That full-toss is still a matter of debate of whether it was a no-ball or not.

In the post match conference, captain Mortaza blamed luck, but before blaming he should have thought about his final over, the dot balls and the improper field placements. It was not all about the luck only.

In the second T20 international in the same venue, the Tigers’ batting was substandard. They were in such a hurry that it seemed they were more committed to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In the end a paltry total of 120 runs had been posted and on this track it was supposed to be a cakewalk for the mighty Lankan batting line-up. The Lankans reply with the bat as similar to Bangladesh. It seemed that they had found lovely valentine in Bangladesh and at one stage they were reeling at 50 for 6!

But the Sri Lankans fought back strongly through Kumar Sangakkara – Bangladesh’s biggest nemesis – throughout the tour and Thisara Perera. They scripted a vital partnership of 46 runs, which was built more on singles and couples which were fetched with ease and still, tonight, one could notice inappropriate field placements. Rubel Hossain dismissed Sangakkara and raised the hopes for the Tigers, but Perera kept on fighting hard and took the game to the last over where Sri Lanka needed nine runs off six balls.

In such a pressure-cooker situation, any captain would throw the ball to his best bowler and without a doubt Bangladesh’s best bowler is Shakib Al Hasan who has all the qualities to handle pressure in the best manner. But Mashrafe Mortaza threw the ball to Farhad Reza, whose gentle-medium pace is always a treat for the big hitters. And with sublime hitters like Perera and Senanayake around how logical it was to throw the ball to Farhad Reza remains a moot question.

Farhad bowled full but they were easy to pick up due to lack of pace, runs came in with ease and in the last ball when two runs were needed off one ball, Farhad Reza dished out a short of a length ball going down leg, which was dispatched by Senanayake behind square to make the Valentine’s Day an eventful one for the Sri Lankans while for Bangladesh it turned out to be gloomy.

Would you like to blame luck here? Shouldn’t Shakib be bowling the last over? Shakib already had two overs left to bowl. Even the nagging, Arafat Sunny’s full quota of overs wasn’t used. Again, the Lankans were given to pick up the singles easily. The urge to stop those easy-pickings weren’t there. Too many, bowling Farhad Reza the final over had been a Mashrafe Mortaza’s gamble. But, I think, it was an overcooked biryani which I couldn’t digest at all.

Blaming luck is a lame excuse. In most of the cases, your acts define your luck. In both the T20 internationals, Bangladesh made some silly mistakes for which they paid a heavy price. Always remember, “Shallow men believe in luck or circumstance. Strong men believe in cause or effect.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)