"Tone down expectations for T20 WC" - Shakib Al Hasan's comments reveal defeatist outlook in Bangladesh team

Why not don a positive cloak rather than asking supporters to tone down expectations?

Curling, a game that involves sliding heavy, polished granite stones, across the icy lane towards the goal (termed ‘house’), is an interesting sport. It may not involve the intricacies of cricket, but the ethos required to surge to the top are the same nevertheless. There are 12 teams that feature in the World Curling Championships, with Canada having bagged the most titles (49) thus far.

When Bill Tschirhart, National Development Coach of the Canadian Curling Association, was asked what makes a team a scale peaks on a consistent basis, he simply attributed it to confidence. “This confidence is especially displayed in time of crisis in a game or competition or when something adverse happens as when a crucial shot picks,” he states. It may seem a monotonous sentence, but for a team on a downward spiral, it would help if they could pay heed to Tschirhart’s words. This is true especially for sides that aim to be world-beaters. Bangladesh in cricket can be used as a case in point.

Almost 14 years after gracing the pedestal of Test cricket, Bangladesh are yet to prove to the majority of the fraternity that they’re deserving of the status. There were highs along the path, no doubt, but the troughs at times were so deep that one continues to view their intermittent success as nothing more than apparitions. They do have a core group of players, though, and none is more revered than the effervescent Shakib Al Hasan, whose words tend to have a profound impact on not just his fellow team-mates, but the thousands who flock the stands when men in their flannels grace the field.

Easily Bangladesh’s most enthralling player ever, Shakib has the ability to instil confidence with a nonchalance bestowed upon few. When, in the summer of 2012, he said “our target is to be champions,” Bangladesh came two runs short of winning the Asia Cup. “We want to play our best cricket, though we are not able to do it all the time. It is possible at home,” he further added. Even when few gave them chance of going the distance in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka two years ago, Shakib exuded grit: “There’ll be some tough situations but we know how to handle it,” he said. And Shakib was duly loved for that.

Seen in this context, it is baffling to hear Shakib now say: “As the tournament [ICC World Twenty 20 2014] is at home, we will have the support but there shouldn’t be too much expectation. I have heard people say, ‘Let the cup stay at home.’ But I think we have to tone that down a bit. Please support us, the team will do better. But everyone has to take the result sportingly. Too much expectation does put undue pressure on us.”

Low on confidence in time of crisis?

From “it is possible [to play the best cricket] at home” to “too much expectation [since we are playing at home] does put undue pressure on us”, the switch has been extremely surprising. Wouldn’t Bangladesh prefer playing at home than in unfamiliar confines? And doesn’t the abridged format present a perfect platform to usurp a win from even the most formidable of opponents? Surely, the Bangladeshi crowd — who are one of the most fervent, second perhaps only to the Indians in this regard — know what to expect when their team is thrown at the deep end of a pool, but doesn’t such a pessimistic statement from one of their most respected players punch a hole in their unparalleled zeal?

Shakib’s inhibitions of his team’s chances perhaps stem from the fact that Bangladesh have a poor Twenty20 record, even at home, but how is this defeatist approach going to help turn the corner? Such an attitude has slayed even the best of teams.

“When asked about why an outstanding Pakistan team lost the final of the 1999 World Cup rather tamely, their captain at the time, the great Wasim Akram, said too many people were worried about what would happen if they lost. And so rather than thinking of winning, they were consumed by the fear of a possible reaction to defeat. It’s a telling insight,” writes Harsha Bhogle in his book The Winning Way.

Instead of fretting over the format by blurting statements to the effect of “we should fear everyone because we don’t know much about Nepal and Hong Kong,” would it not have reinforced the players and the fans if he had spoken of how Bangladesh featured resources who could positively impact the match with a ball, or an over?

Had he spoken of Ziaur Rahman’s cogency and Mushfiqur Rahim’s excellent form, instead of how Scotland beat them previously, would the vibe not have been different? Agreed, the format, as is reiterated, is unpredictable, but predictions have never been off by much either.

The issue may seem like a storm in a teacup, but why not don a positive cloak rather than asking supporters to tone down expectations?