Chances are that since the Tigers are back home, I won’t have much interest left in the cricket World Cup, and that lacklustre attitude possibly applies to a lot of avid cricket fans in the country. Out of love for the game some, will switch the TV on, though to state unequivocally, after the hullabaloo over the discrepancies in the Bangladesh India match, many might simply decide to forget it.
To be frank, sport is never above controversy. There have been countless times when poor refereeing saw the best team come out with their heads down.
After all, humans are prone to making mistakes. Remember the Thierry Henry goal where he used his hand to guide the ball into the net against the Republic of Ireland in 2009?
In the end, France scraped through to the World Cup but fared badly, crashing out in the first round.
Those who believed that France cheated and never had the right to go to the World Cup at least felt a sense of appeasement.
Divine justice? You tell me.
But then, there was no such intervention for Maradona’s Argentina goal against England in 1986, where, in mid-air, he slapped the ball to push it into the net.
Later in that game, England conceded a brilliant goal by a superbly skilled Maradona and went out, whereas Argentina progressed to win the trophy.
So, how does one define the little (well, not so trivial for the English fans) cheating by the Argentinian striker?
How about this: God decided to remain impartial and give Argentina something to celebrate since it was only four years before (1982) that they had lost the Falklands War against the British?
Surely, the coming home celebration of the British fleet, aired triumphantly across the globe, irked many Argentinians and somebody up there said: “OK, no worries guys, your chance will come.”
Whatever the case, social media is replete with comments about how the umpires favoured the other side in the recent quarter-final match. Close-up shots are posted which seem to provide ample ground for resentment. However, ICC has stood by the umpires, saying that the decision is final.
Of course, we accept it, and that’s why our boys are coming back. However, certain things will always prick them ... for some time at least.
Could it have been swung around if the “no ball” had not been called, or if the boundary ball caught by a fielder touching the border had not been given a dismissal?
We don’t know, but for argument’s sake let’s take the rational stance -- maybe these would not have altered the outcome at all, but then these two events clearly disturb the mind.
Maybe more technology should be called in and, for certain cases, decisions should be made by computers.
Surely, this is not going to happen anytime soon -- look at football. Goal-line technology has arrived after too much procrastination.
By the way, in 1966, the decisive England goal in the final against West Germany did not cross the line as we can now see, thanks to the use of almost perfect goal-line science.
England won then due to human error or fault, and then paid by losing through another human folly in 1986. In that case, forget the Falklands argument …
Whatever happened in the quarters is now the past and something we need to put behind, but also keep in mind the historical lessons where divine powers have intervened in their mysterious ways to balance one failure due to folly by another miraculous triumph sometime later.
We need to welcome our Tigers and think of the marvelous tournament in which they gave us several things to cherish forever: The first century by a Bangladeshi player, the steely resolve of a captain, chasing a massive total crossing 300 amassed by Scotland and winning, solid team work, the win against England (this makes two successive World Cup wins against the three lions), and, of course, the unforgettable smile of Rubel after he took two wickets in three balls in the crucial win that took us to the quarters.
He made the whole country “Happy!”
There’s plenty to cherish and a lot to feel proud about. When we lost, we failed to click, and when we won, we did it with perfection, without any furrowed brows.
It’s good to keep in mind: Top prizes should not come early because that way, the valuation of it lessens.
We will, one day, go further and eventually win the cup. Hiccups and disappointments happen, that’s part of getting mature in sport, but it’s also good to remember that once in a while, top sporting preparation also gets the divine nod: For the Tigers, that day is not too far away.
Also, lest we forget, one success today due to human mistake only comes back like a boomerang ... to remember the 1990 Germany-Argentina match where the latter conceded a rather unfair penalty which gave the Germans the cup ... see, no one ever gets to have the upper hand.
