Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective

[BengalTiger]

Being a die-hard fan of Bangladesh cricket, and relishing every single moment of today's game, I was quite disappointed to see that most Indian fans (note: most) failed to correctly identify the real reason behind India's loss to Bangladesh in the WC. Its not the toss, not "Veeru", or not anything else you guys have come up with. Bangladesh just outplayed India in all aspects of the game today and the better side won. Period. Not recognizing that would only be detrimental to India's cricket and more such losses to so-called "minnows" will be inevitable. Lets take this whole thing about the toss first. If India had won the game, would anyone have complained about winning the toss and electing to bat first? I think this is complete BS. Especially for a team that WAS being hailed as a serious cup contender (to contribute to the hype). Not so much after today's game. Veeru - India decided to play Veeru, not Bangladesh. He was part of the playing 11, and he got out due to some dumb cricket and extremely aggressive bowling by Mashrafe Mortaza. Btw, don't consider yourself a serious cricket fan if this was the first time Mortaza's name meant anything to you. For the record, he was the top wicket taker in the ODIs last year (49 wickets), beating the likes of McGrath, Pollock etc. The only Indian on that list was Irfan at #9. Indian fans seriously need to get out of their bubble and take a look at other teams sometimes! Enough about India's reasons for today's loss. Going back to Bangladesh's performance, please give credit where its due. Can you deny that the bowling was extremely disciplined and clever? May be there IS a reason why Ganguly was playing so slowly? It definitely wasn't because he was trying to prove anything to anyone, or missing Kolkata. May be he was just using his brains and handling each ball on its merit - unfortunately for him, 95%+ of the Bangladeshi bowling was above average. The batsmen who denied the bowlers that respect (say Dhoni), were soon back in the dressing room, and quite rightly so. How about the Bangladesh fielding? No catches were dropped (India dropped at least two), quite a few definite fours saved off the boundary. Sharp fielding was the order of the day in the Bangladeshi camp. Another advantage to having a relatively younger side! Finally, batting. The three WC debutants who all got their half-centuries are teenagers. TEENAGERS people. These three guys had a combined total of 35 ODIs under their belt before this game. Now compare that to your batting maestros. Tamim Iqbal will turn 18 in 3 days. This was his 5th ODI. How do you account for the bashing he unleashed on India's best pace bowlers? The whole "flat pitch" theory is complete BULL. This is the only forum where I've heard people complaining about the pitch becoming flatter in the 2nd innings. In no non-Indian site or newspaper do they attribute India's loss to the pitch! And please don't think that non-Indians don't understand cricket as well. The pitch was the same all the way through people - with a little bit of possible dew in the morning. But this IS an ODI pitch and Tamim just used it in ways the Indian batsmen couldnt. Simple! How about the way another 18-yr old, Mushfiqur Rahim, stayed at the crease and took his team home? Was that luck too? May be India shouldn't even have come to the WC, if so many factors were out of the Indian team's hands! This Bangladesh team is a very young team (avg age of 23-24) and is the future of Bangladesh cricket. You'll see more of them sooner or later, and possibly first-hand once BCCI thinks its about time to invite Bangladesh to India for its first full tour, something that has been over due for the last 3 years. Today's game was just a taste of whats to come ahead. Bangladesh are no longer minnows and they had arrived at the scene quite a while back. Winning over 85%+ of their ODIs last year was NO fluke. Neither was the way they beat NZ in the warm-up games. The Indian fans need to give the Bangladesh team the credit and respect they deserve. Its not necessarily a bad thing.

[Rajiv]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective Giving all the credit mate, no doubt about it But one-day is a lottery game Pal, another day another time, experience can crush youth into thin air

[Zap_Brannigan]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective SL had to win the WC to completely remove the minnow tag. What makes you think that winning 1 game against the top 8 earns you that right. Kenya made the SF of the last WC and yet noone calls them a good side. Zim made it to super sixes in 99 too and Ireland, of all the sides are goin to the super 8 with you. So pls, you played well.Good for you. But,like i said a win here and there doesn't lift your team out of minnow tag. Win a few test matches against the top 8 (which is still 0 in your scale) and perform consistently well in ODIs. Then we wont call you a minnow. Until that fay comes, an upset is an upset and nothing more.

[Guest BossBhai]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective -- Removed on request of the user --

[veer]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective Welcome to the forum.. you guys have a good talent.. but until now, you guys were under radar so Indians underestimated you guys.. and btw can you list opponents when mashrafe took those 49 wickets.. Yes exactly, kenya.. zimbabwe, scotland.. bangladesh is australia of minnows.. who are raring to break into big leagues.. and you guys deserve it.. but once you play more and more in big leagues you will get exposed..

[Cricketics]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective to be frank, i say that today god wanted to let Bangali's dedicate this victory to Manjural Islam who died in accided few days back... and hence India lost today, its once in blue moon victory mate, get over it, u gotta play bermuda and lanka now, think about that...

[Bumper]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective BengalTiger good entry post to announce your arrival. But where exactly do u read posts undermining BD's win on this board. Perhaps u are overreacting based on one or two posts ? I'd like you to quote such posts, so i could see your rants in better perspective. OTOH, i can point several posts, here appreciating BD as a team. Sample this (ONE WHOLE thread on this) http://indiancricketfans.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3418 Tamim Iqbal earned my respect immediately for the way he came out & bullied our overrated team. Infact, after we scored 191, even tho, our chances of pulling this off were not great, BD being a minnow (yes, u guys are still a minnow), i still felt ok about our chances, knowing well that it would take a solid performance on the field. But after the first few overs, Iqbal quickly squashed all such thoughts and sent us packing. His innings crushed our hopes. I agree that our team is overrated & that we Indian fans overhype our team. But arent u doing this precisely to your own team ? One win, out of innumerable no. of ODIs played, that too in the 49th over, and you think u are not a minnow anymore ? Excuse me! Our team & players have achieved a LOT MORE & hence we think a LOT MORE about them. Let BD prove that this is no one match fluke & it will earn our respect in no time. Kenya, which does not even have test status, has reached the world cup semis, but they are still minnows, arent they ? BD must try & match Kenya's feats. Lets see what they do, we'll talk next weekend, by which time, who goes to super 8 will be pretty clear

[yoda]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective BengalTiger, where were you before today's match? Don't tell me you didn't know that your team was a top notch one before today's game.

[Predator_05]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective The sorry tale of India's opening World Cup match; http://www.indiancricketfans.com/WC2007/?q=node/67

[Ram]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective Hi Bengal Tiger !! Warm greetings to you.. Good to have you here.. :) And now, to all your allegations... and in a very objective way... 1) "Its not the toss, not "Veeru", or not anything else you guys have come up with " -- Are you sure that favourable pitch conditions and bad selections dont have a say in the result of the match ? I dont think so. An out of form player , that too an opener is the worsr liability an ODI team can carry. And thats precisely what the Indian team is doing right now. To actually say that sehwag's inclusion had no contribution in deciding today's match result is.. well.. wishful thinking.. :) 2) "n no non-Indian site or newspaper do they attribute India's loss to the pitch! And please don't think that non-Indians don't understand cricket as well. The pitch was the same all the way through people - with a little bit of possible dew in the morning." -- You are being unfair if you do not accept that the batting conditions eased out in the bangladesh innings. All the commentators were openly commenting about how the pitch had flattened out. And if you have seen ODI's for any decent extent of time , you yourself would accept that few early wickets can make or break a cricket match. And to see India 135/4 in 40 overs means only one thing. There was some good bowling and yea, THE PITCH WAS TOUGH TO BAT. 3) "Lets take this whole thing about the toss first. If India had won the game, would anyone have complained about winning the toss and electing to bat first?" -- To be brutely honest , this is senseless arguement. Why would anyone complain if things went according to plan ? We debate about the decison to bat first because it had a bearing on the result. Even if India had bowled out Bangladesh for 175, i am sure there would have been some debate India's decision to bat first and how we were restricted to a small total. 4) "Bangladesh just outplayed India in all aspects of the game today and the better side won. Period" -- Your statement should have actually been -- Bangladesh just outplayed India in all aspects of the game today and the better side OF THE DAY won. Period. An Indian team playing to its potential would for sure defeat a Bangladeshi team playing to its potential on any given day. Only , today Indians were below par and You guys played well. As simple as that. To actually close the post , all the uproar , hue and cry isnt about the Bangladeshis actually. Its about the Indian team and how badly they played. And yea , today is a day of surprises. When all the UNDERDOGS won. :) And sure, lets have bilateral series between us , to see whose is really the better team.

[Vishwatma]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective given that u outplayed us in every department...let's not forget this was a rather one off thing...which ofcourse was helped by our team's retarded plays...having said that tho...i see a bright future for ur teens

[TeamIndia]

Hey BengalTiger Hi BengalTiger, Wow!!., such a long advertisement for your team. :), dude one thing i must say you have lots of patience, obviously i accept you must have developed it while waiting till the 49th over to see your team win a match with such a mediocre target.(THIS SHOWS YOU ARE STILL MINNOWS) But to say, many of your opinions or views are contradictory and debatable. I accept Mortaza is a good bowler, but comparing him with Mcgrath and Pollock are like comparing a schoolboy bowler with a legend. dude consistency matters and i hope you realize that, winning just one match or two does not matter, how many times you are able to repeat the performance does matter. India as a team requires no proof to say that they are consistent, and if you are gonna deny that, well i have no words to say!!. Well Bangladesh played well, but as said before, please don't compare a schoolboy's performance with most experienced players performance. The people whom you had quoted have just started their career, just because Razzaq, Raffeeq got the wickets of Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid, it does'n mean they are the best bowlers and Indian team is not able to face bangaleshi bowling, these players have been a nightmare to the top bowlers in the world many a times and you may see the Stats for clarification, and you must not forget HISTORY when india has wiped off the Bangladeshi lineup and has ripped your bowling attack many many times. Just tell me this, before the match, did you think that Bangladesh will WIN, well, we didn't think so, in fact at the start, i never even bothered to watch this match, when i woke up, i asked my room-mate, "what was the score, 300 or 400", seriously, i feel this OVERCONFIDENCE was the reason for today's downfall, and INDIAN TEAM would have learnt a lesson out of it.Well even now if they haven't , i feel pity for them. AND Am sorry for writing this long mail, frankly speaking, this is the longest reply i have ever drafted in my life :) --- Best of Luck TEAMINDIA

[DesiChap]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective BanglaTiger comeback after you guys play SL heck I would love you to come back after the group stage.

[Zooter]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective Agree with you BTiger. But the Indian fan's perspective can be summed up quite simply: You were the better team yesterday--not the better team by miles. India is as ahead of you as you are Namibia. If we played you in 10 more matches, we'd probably beat you 10 times--just admit it. Same holds true for Pak. and Ireland. Same hold true for Australia when you beat them in that 1 ODI. But congrats nonetheless! :wtg:

[The Outsider]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective

Btw, don't consider yourself a serious cricket fan if this was the first time Mortaza's name meant anything to you. For the record, he was the top wicket taker in the ODIs last year (49 wickets), beating the likes of McGrath, Pollock etc.

:lmao: :lmao: You have negated some good points of your post by delusional hyperbole like the above. How many wickets did Mortaza take against the top nations? How many matches did BD win against them? They are a good, upcoming side but to suggest anything more based on yesterday's result is delusional.

[BengalTiger]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective Hey guys, good to read your responses. I'll naturally skip the ones from the Indian fans who are still reeling over the loss yesterday. Those don't add any value to the discussion we are having. But a big thanks to those of you who congratulated us. It's funny how this forum reflects the mentality of my Indian friends in real life. Some took the defeat gracefully, and others started finding excuses. I probably should have been clearer in my post. I intended to say Bangladesh was the better team on the day and thats why we won. India has been playing cricket in the international arena for a much longer time than Bangladesh, and of course anyone would expect them to apply their vast accumulated experience against a team who's average age, I repeat, is 23. But that wasn't my point. My problem is with the lack of credit and respect many of the Indian fans still refused to give the Bangladesh team for their professional attitude, skillful display of cricket and total domination throughout the game. Please do that, and you'll find this loss much easier to accept and analyze. Once again, thanks to those who did. I'll also congratulate you any day on a good win. Back to yesterday's game, of course India made mistakes on the field. But can you really deny the class showed by the Bangladeshi players? Yes we lost many other ODIs before, but you have to take note of the marked improvement in the Bangladeshi team. Gone are the Akram-Aminul days. These are fresh talents raring to have a go and reshape the future of Bangladesh cricket. They play on a completely different level from their predecessors. India last played an ODI series against Bangladesh in Dec 2004. It was a 2-1 win for India. So out of the last 4 ODI's, India won 2 and Bangladesh won 2. If you want to feel confident and superior by taking all 15 BD-Ind ODI games into account, going all the way back to 1988 and more than half of which were played by part-time Bangladeshi players, please do so at your own risk. As one of the replies said above, Bangladesh was under the radar and the Indian team is overrated. I think both these comments are absolutely true and the ideas should change. Keep an eye on the Bangladesh team, and you'll be less surprised in the future. The Indian team, is also frankly, very overrated. You guys may now just manage to squeeze into super-8, but the team really doesn't look like a Champion outfit. I think all the hype and attention distorts the true merits of the team, which leads to big disappointments quite often. As true fans, we all love our respective teams, but we also got to remain objective. My prediction for the group B would be that, SL will take BD very seriously now for obvious reasons. There'll be good games but in the end SL will beat both India and Bangladesh. SL look very solid this time, AND with no attached hype. We can now only wait and see...

[ovi]

Re: Why India lost: from a Bangladeshi fan's perspective BengalTiger, I think you are making bootless predictions. Look at Ashraful. There were words of him being the new "Bradman" of Bangladesh when he scored that test hundred against Sri Lanka. His performances so far makes me think otherwise. Bangladesh are still minnows, if you look at the big scene. Sure they can beat anyone on their day, but there's a thing called consistency. I am a diehard, but moralistic Bangladesh fan and I don't want to call my team a worldclass one untill they can win more matches than they lose, and against big teams.