Cricket stuck in vicious cycle

Bangladesh cricket is unparalleled in terms of one thing -- creating its own mess and then bemoaning the untidiness.

The country's cricket is stuck in a vicious cycle of creating history and then hitting the nadir almost immediately afterward -- an example of it could include how the Tigers went from registering their maiden Test series victory over hosts Pakistan to being hammered away from home by India and then by South Africa at home inside two months.

It is undeniable that the professionals playing out on the field need to take the blame for their abysmal cricket. But the ugly culture of making cricket take a backseat to their own drama and then complaining about it is something that often gets overlooked but must be held responsible for playing a major role in not only stunting the growth of the sport but also thumping it back to square one.

The successful Test series in Pakistan was achieved when cricketers did not have anything but cricket on their minds. With new Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed taking over just on the opening day of the first Test in Rawalpindi, there was no scope for anyone to emulate former board president Nazmul Hassan Papon's modus operandi of travelling all the way to where the Tigers are only to be bothered with toss decisions. Nor were there any melodramatic situations created by players, needing over-involvement from anyone outside the team management.

But since then, the usual ugliness in the process has returned. Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto followed in on the footsteps of former captain Tamim Iqbal while Faruque apparently assumed the role of Papon in the true sense.

The chaos created by Tamim's retirement from ODIs in the middle of the Afghanistan series back in July last year has now returned in the form of Shanto's wish to step down from captaincy getting out in the media in the middle of the South Africa Tests. Even Shanto admitted that the captaincy issue 'might have' had an impact on their innings and 273-run hammering in the second Test in Chattogram.

Before the Shanto conundrum, it was the dilemma over Shakib Al Hasan's potential return for his Test swansong that took the focus away from cricket.

Meanwhile, the unresolved matter of Shanto now awaits a final decision, subject to meeting and discussion with the board president -- just like it used to be even in the pre-Faruque era when there was a one-man dominance in the board.

The same Faruque who had resigned from his former post of chief selector back in 2016 due to outside interference, has now become the board president who takes it up on himself to cross cities overnight to solve players' issues personally by disregarding the proper process.

Faruque had also admitted to having made investigations on his own accord ahead of former coach Chandika Hathurusingha's sacking -- a type of role that was actively played by his predecessor despite huge criticism.

Shanto wished for such outside noise to not come to light before any series or tournaments when he last talked to reporters. But it is apparent that he failed to understand the irony of the statement he made as it is the stakeholders of the country's cricket who often play the major role in creating such a fuss only to cry over it later.