Roar of Bengal tiger stuns all comers

By Kamran Rehmat/Islamabad

Moving image: Pakistanis were taken in by the tears of Bangladeshi players, in this case, Shakibul Hasan and captain Mushfiqur Rehman

Even though Pakistan were crowned the new Asian champions last week, Bangladesh won hearts across Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India for their stirring performance. It was almost as if everyone had conspired to root for the Bengal Tigers in the finals.Pakistanis were even embracing the idea of Bangladesh making the full round of the fairytale at the expense of their own team. Why, one even saw several Pakistanis themselves welling up at the emotional sweep of Bangladeshi players. It brought nostalgia into play with some Pakistanis even going to the extent of suggesting that perhaps the Cup should have been gifted to Bangladesh as a gesture of goodwill. In that defining visage at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, sport had transcended the cut-throat mien in a magnificent display of magnanimity. Unfortunately, it was marred by Bangladesh Cricket Board’s ill-advised move to push a claim that the Pakistani bowler Aizaz Cheema had impeded the path of a Bangladeshi tail-ender, which deprived him of a run.Both the International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council rejected the appeal on technical grounds since the umpires and the match referee had not reported it.Hopefully, the move will not nullify the home team’s fantastic run. There was a lesson in it for every participating team but none more relevant perhaps, than Pakistan, even if it was only team that didn’t lose to the hosts. One of the most memorable moments of spectator sport was the frenzied outpouring of a boy, may be all of 10, when Bangladesh stunned England at home during a World Cup encounter last year. In a pure display of pride, he continued to beat his chest after the inconceivable deed was done. As the TV cameras roved over him, time stood still. It personified liberation from years and years of subjugation, of being treated as the whipping boys of cricket, of being stared down by the likes of then-Australian captain Ricky Ponting - who nearly, if poetically, came to grief in a Test match riposte by the object of his derision.Last year, Indian opener Virender Sehwag had said Bangladesh did not deserve its status as a full member of the ICC. Fortunately for him, he was able to hide thanks to his absence from the Asia Cup even though a couple of Bangladesh players did want his number. For those in the joy of seeing David felling Goliath, Bangladesh’s coming of age lifted the spirits like few things can.The giant killing is great for the game. There’s even a kick to be had out of how it has sent a chill down the spines of the biggies. Pakistan barely managed to sneak in during a prelim encounter before India and Sri Lanka were deflated. The fairytale run ended only by a whisker.And so the Bengal Tiger is no longer only a term of reference for the royal breed seen in jungles and zoos. In short, no more paper tigers. There will be of course, the odd hiccup which lends itself to the nature of sport, but what stands out is the self-belief — a can-do mojo, which was missing earlier. Pray, where has this come from? The resurgent note springs from the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League: it certainly gave way with a rather apt slogan - Fully Loaded. The BPL is an idea derived from the superfast money-spinner that is the Indian Premier League.The multimillion dollar league drew international stars, mostly - no small irony this - from Pakistan, which has lurched into a war - some say, of terror - it could ill-afford and now stands in need of Dhaka’s support to revive whatever’s left of its hosting potential. It’s a territory that, Sri Lanka for instance, learnt to its chagrin is a slight deviation from the standard slogan about there being no biz like showbiz. The Lankans felt like there’s no biz like showblitz - even if it was no laughing matter. Pakistan seeking Bangladesh’s nod is in itself a neat reflection of how far the two countries have come over the years.For a long time, not only have Bangladesh’s immensely successful ideas - from a population-control programme to the pathbreaking Grameen Bank venture and the more recent return to a secular mooring constitutionally - been the envy of Pakistan but even non-conformist templates like the so-called Bangladesh model veered around a national government of technocrats!Eventually, if the “Bangladesh model” did not work, it was for the right reasons. The warring widows - as Khaleda Zia and Hasina Wajed are called - who were forced out had to be returned to the electorate and have lost none of their sheen. For nearly two decades, power has revolved around them with two terms each.Despite both of them retaining the ability to agitate powerfully when in opposition, it is a measure of the system’s inherent stability that Bangladesh continues to grow from strength to strength.Consider also the fact that Bangladesh has achieved all this and more in spite of being one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, which has the inherent potential of adversely impacting progress, particularly in the realm of an agriculture-based country.To return to the peg around which this piece is built, Bangladesh was always a cricket-mad country. As the Asia Cup prowess has shown, it is now finding its feet as a force to reckon with.The unbridled joy on Hasina Wajed’s face - the prime minister could hardly restrain herself during the critical encounter against Sri Lanka - was, in many ways, a natural progression. The nation’s confidence is now also finding replication in its cricket.Clearly, the body language of the players - one of whom, Shakibul Hasan promises to be the next big international star - as well as the average fan has undergone major transformation.Who would have thought even some time back that Bangladesh would find Ivy League sponsors for the much fancied BPL, but it will now lure big heavers from around the globe on its annual calendar.Bangladesh may not have won the Asia Cup but it has already tamed its detractors to herald their coming of age - and in some style. Besides winning hearts, of course.

*** The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad