Rubel Hossain is known for blowing hot and cold in a career spanning over a decade. Prone to err in the death overs, the right-arm pacer with a slinging action perhaps bowled his best ten overs in the one-day international against India in the Asia Cup final on Friday. His figures of 10-2-26-2 was a demonstration of how well he bowled in Dubai. He had Ravindra Jadeja caught in the 48th over, which was his last over, to create that window for a late twist in a pulsating final that Bangladesh lost off the last ball of the game.
12:00 AM, September 30, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 11:01 AM, May 25, 2019
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The aim of any global sporting showpiece should be to provide a level playing field, and it was note-worthy that -- whether by chance or design -- Bangladesh’s Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Afghanistan’s Gulbadin Naib were the two captains sitting on either side of the World Cup trophy during yesterday’s official World Cup captains’ press conference in London. It would be easy to say that these are the two nations least likely to win the World Cup as in the general perception they are not yet contenders, but the first question Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was asked during the presser revealed that Bangladesh’s performances over the last four years -- since their march to the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals -- has caught the eye of people who assess the different teams’ chances.
Moderator Mark Chapman asked about the nine ODI series Bangladesh have won between the two World Cups, all under the stewardship of Mashrafe. The Narail express answered on stage that they now have a good bunch of cricketers, with a nice mixture of experienced players and talented, exciting youngsters.
“Cricket is a game that on your day you can beat anybody. If you start well, you can hang in there. We are very much confident, but it depends on starting well,” he said on stage.
But on the sidelines, when talking to a few Bangladeshi journalists, Mashrafe appeared pleased with the attention that Bangladesh had gotten because of the results over the past four years.
“When we [captains] were talking among ourselves, they asked about us winning nine series since the last World Cup,” Mashrafe said after the event. “That they know about this, that our win percentage over the last two years is very good… these analyses, maybe once I didn’t even think that they thought about these things.
“That means that big teams think about these things about us; that they know means that they have discussed about these things. This is an improvement. I hope that if we keep performing like this, we will have the ability to get to the next level. I hope we are at the next level, now it is about doing well in this tournament. But it obviously feels good that they are respecting Bangladesh cricket.”
Bangladesh have a lot to be happy about heading into the official training camp in Cardiff from tomorrow, then the warm-up matches against Pakistan and India on May 26 and 28 respectively, before tak-ing on South Africa in their World Cup opener on June 2. They just won their first ODI multi-team trophy in Ireland a week ago, and while Mashrafe thought that oft-doubted players like Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Mosaddek Hossain firing made them as well prepared as ever, the Tigers would do well to put the euphoria of Ireland behind them.
“I have to say that it is hard to be better prepared than we are now. And of course it is a huge confidence boost to win our first trophy after so many disappointments, but we cannot be holding on to that for long. Instead of thinking of winning our first three or four games, we have to focus on the first game. I think the Ireland win was a great thing for us, but now the focus needs to shift to June 2.”
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The Bangladesh innings of 239 all out against Pakistan yesterday, leaving overs unused for the fourth time in five matches of the ongoing Asia Cup, revealed much of what is ailing Bangladesh batting. Mushfiqur Rahim was once again brilliant and extremely unlucky to be the first Bangladesh batsman to be out on 99 in international cricket. While he responded to the terrible setback of losing Shakib Al Hasan before the match by absorbing all the pressure, the performance of the rest of the top order raised serious concerns about Bangladesh's bench strength and also the willingness of those outside the experienced batsmen to respond to a match situation.
On a pitch that had a bit of grass, none of the Pakistan pacers bowled an unplayable ball except a Shaheen Shah Afridi delivery to Mohammad Mithun in the sixth over, when the left-arm pacer's delivery pitched outside leg and jagged away outside off, completely opening the batsmen up. Yet Bangladesh were three wickets down for 12 runs by the end of the fifth over. With Shakib out of the tournament one may have thought that the openers would try to preserve wickets to compensate for the hole in the middle order. However, Soumya Sarkar -- playing his first ODI in almost a year -- went for the hook the first opportunity he got when Junaid Khan bounced him in the third over, perishing because he was too late on the shot.
If Soumya's error revealed thoughtlessness, Mominul Haque's dismissal exposed the lack of bench strength. After hitting a boundary off Shaheen Shah, he was beaten by pace in the next ball by a bowler who, while nippy, is not the fastest going around. In the next over Liton was foiled by a tactic as elementary as Junaid coming around the wicket. To a straight ball that was homing in on off and middle, the opener tried to play towards mid on and had his stumps disturbed.
Like he did in the first match against Sri Lanka on September 15, Mushfiqur stitched together a face-saving 144-run partnership with Mohammad Mithun. With his team seriously hurt by the new absence of Shakib and the old one of opener Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur refrained from any of the brain fades that saw him get out reverse-sweeping against India and run out in suicidal fashion against Afghanistan. The same could not be said for Mithun, who repeated his error from the Sri Lanka match by playing a rash shot just when the bowling was at their mercy.
The remaining six wickets could add just 83 runs. As has been happening in every match that Bangladesh have not completely lost the plot in, one of the senior pros have stood up and made up for the rest.
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There has been a lot of debate on social media and elsewhere regarding Liton Das's stumping by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Friday's Asia Cup final. The decision was very close, as multiple angles of the sequence showed, before the third umpire finally ruled in favour of India. Here is what Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had to say about this: "It is hard to tell. At one point we felt it was not out. I think the third umpire can say it better. Maybe it will be discussed later."
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World Cup-winning teams may have their names written in the annals of history, but World Cup-winning captains have a special place in those books. Clive Lloyd will forever be remembered for leading the West Indies to back-to-back World Cup in the first two editions of the tournament and Kapil Dev will be equally remembered for leading an unfancied India to unprecedented glory four years later.
Each of those names -- the others being Allan Border, Imran Khan, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Michael Clarke -- are all remembered as among the best talents that their countries have ever produced.
Cricket is perhaps the only team sport where such esteem is attached to the captain, who has to pick, choose and employ bowlers, set fields and play a large part in deciding the strategy and playing elevens of a team.
The 2019 World Cup presents an opportunity for another to cement their place among the greatest names in cricket, and there are many deserving candidates. India's Virat Kohli, Bangladesh's Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, New Zealand's Kane Williamson are perhaps the most befitting of such 'icon status', but there are seven others who will be desperate to lift the cup and write their names in the pages of history, regardless the strength of their team.
At the only World Cup where Test-playing nations have missed out, nobody is around just to make up the numbers.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has already made a solid case as Bangladesh's best-ever captain. Not only have the Tigers seen their meteoric rise in ODI cricket under his leadership, the Narail Express has become so popular that he will represent his country in an altogether different sense in the United Kingdom: as a member of parliament.
His humble nature, quirks and mannerisms and even the way he has overcome injuries throughout his career have made him one of the most beloved personalities in Bangladesh sport, and he has continued that by leading a side not through performances -- although there have been many -- but through his approach. The 35-year-old, playing in his last World Cup, has been the source of all inspiration for his teammates, young and old. And that attitude has reflected on his teammates and the positivity with which they approach each game.
At the other end of the spectrum is Kane Williamson. His approach to the game has always been stoic, almost robotic. He knows what to do and exactly when to do it and his team's approach is a far-cry from the all-guns-blazing mentality that had been instilled and perfected four years ago by Brendon McCullum. Williamson's teams are not lacking in firepower, far from it, but their demeanour on the field is always a portrait of calm. He has been captain for over three years now and has got to grips with the job, something that he seems to be able to do regardless of circumstance.
Then there is Virat Kohli. One of the finest players in the world and almost always ranked as the best in ODI cricket, the Indian still finds himself under fire for his captaincy. There are murmurs that he does not put the team before himself, whispers that his 'egotistical nature' are detrimental to team spirit and all but confirmed rumours that coach Anil Kumble was let go after a row with Kohli. His horrid stint as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in this season's Indian Premier League has only added fuel to the fire.
Although there are many, perhaps valid, question about Kohli's tactical nous -- there are bound to be when you following up Dhoni -- the 30-year-old can, and has, led from the front like nobody else. He is the world's best when it comes to chasing down targets and, as he said at the captain's media day ahead of the World Cup, his marriage has turned him into "a more responsible person" who has "started understanding things much better and started putting things into perspective a lot more". Whether that perspective can help him on the pitch will be the main factor standing between India and the World Cup.
However, Kohli is not the only captain that is under so much pressure. There is another, often maligned in his country for his roots: Eoin Morgan. The Ireland-born England captain has been a key component alongside coach Trevor Bayliss in revolutionising the way cricket is played by the national side; from a meek, defensive approach to an attacking brand with such ruthlessness that they are talking about hitting the 500-run mark in 50-over cricket.
That does not mean Morgan's entire plan revolves around going out and trying to blast teams out of the ground, something many feel McCullum was guilty of -- especially after the 2015 World Cup final. Morgan has an amazing grasp of the tactics of the game, and that will certainly come into play at some point as the team chase their maiden World Cup glory.
Another captain who leads from the front is Faf du Plessis. The South African took over from AB de Villiers and although those are big shoes to fill, his close friendship with Mr 360 saw him inherit a wealth of that experience. Du Plessis' calm demeanour under pressure, consistency, and wealth of experience will be key to the South African cause and perhaps, under his captaincy, they can finally shed the 'chokers' tag.
The team that are quite opposite of 'chokers' will also feature a new captain. Aaron Finch will be leading Australia at the World Cup, a short while after successfully, in tandem with coach Justin Langer, leading the team out of the dredges of 'sandpaper-gate'. He has not had much time to prove his abilities as skipper, but a 3-2 series win against India in India -- that too without Steve Smith and David Warner -- has certainly shown that he has been doing things right. He will hope to continue with the softer, toned-down approach when the pressure mounts, but also hope that results go in favour of the perennial favourites.
Even among the unfancied teams, there are tenured, winning captains in the form of Sarfraz Ahmed and Jason Holder.
Sarfraz played only two of Pakistan's six matches at the last World Cup but his performances solidified his place in the team. He scored 49 off 49 and took 6 catches as wicketkeeper to equal the ODI record for most dismissals with six before hitting an unbeaten 101 against Ireland. In February 2017, he assumed captaincy of the ODI side and he would prove his credentials months later, leading Pakistan to glory in the ICC Champions Trophy.
On the other hand, Holder was the one who stuck by his nation's side when at a time when franchise cricket had pulled out almost all of its international stars. He found himself thrust into captaincy a year after his international debut and the 27-year-old remained steadfast despite being the youngest captain in West Indies' history. He also led his side to the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup, an achievement rarely anyone had expected.
There are also two among the unknowns.
Asghar Afghan was replaced at the last moment by the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Gulbadin Naib was installed as captain, a decision that drew nationwide furore and even led to players expressing their displeasure publicly. Rashid Khan expressed his disappointment on Twitter while Mohammad Nabi also aired his grievances. Even Naib admitted: "Asghar Afghan is still my captain. We played our last few games against Ireland and Scotland, and he helped me a lot. He guided me. He's not just another player for me, he's still my captain right now."
Finally, there are Sri Lanka and their captain Dimuth Karunaratne. It was a shock decision when he was appointed since he had not played an ODI since 2015. However, selectors were impressed by him leading The Islanders to a Test series win against South Africa. His qualities in the ODI game may not translate as well, but his ability to handle himself under pressure will surely prove a valuable commodity.
These are the 10 that will be expected to lead from the front, with 10 others behind each of them. However, only one will have the chance to not only cement their names as a bonafide legend of their country, but also write their name in the pages of history.
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Before the start of the tournament Bangladesh players had been saying that their target was to win the Asia Cup with captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza getting the players together and telling them during session that the team was not going to the UAE just to make up the numbers.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who has been Tigers' saviour in more than one occasion in this tournament knows a thing or two about playing pressure matches against one of their biggest Asian rivals India, who have a certain mental edge over Bangladesh having beaten the Tigers in a closely-fought contest recently in the Nidahas Trophy final where Dinesh Karthik hit a six off the very last ball to clinch the three-nation tournament's final. Mushfiqur, having played many tight contests against India can gauge the level of pressure that accompanies crucial encounters like finals and knows that putting pressure on opposition players who are also 'human beings' can and will work to Bangladesh's advantage.
"Confidence is there although we haven't played our best yet, I feel, in the three departments.
"We have been struggling in the batting group in the top order. If we click there against India [it could make a difference] – and you know India are playing outstanding cricket in this tournament, but they are also human beings and they are bound to make mistakes," he said.
After yesterday's victory in the do-or-die in virtual semifinal game, Tigers are once again just a step away from realizing their dreams, having twice made the final in the last three editions of the tournament. The Asia Cup dream is once again possible and Tigers' batsman Mushfiqur reiterated that they have been working on their goal of reaching the final first.
"Of course it is possible [winning the Asia Cup] . People live in dream and hope. And this was our target before the Asia Cup, that we at least make the final. Then in the championship match if we play our best cricket, then what will happen will happen. Since we have worked this hard and come this far, we of course have a chance."
Tigers were outplayed by India in the last edition of the tournament which was a T20 tournament. However, Mushfiqur said that since Bangladesh have been able to win against India before, the task in front of them is not impossible.
"If we can play our best cricket, then beating India is not impossible – we've done it before. Maybe we have not done it as consistently as we would have liked," he concluded.
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