Second-Division Bangladesh Cricket Competition Produces 818 runs, 48 sixes and 70 fours

Cricket isn’t just about a team winning or a team losing. Although obviously, that is the math and this is not going to change, we must ourselves, at the end of the day, realize whether there’s more to our beloved sport than meets the eye.

It’s the astonishing feats, the passion, the emotion, the interconnectedness of the feelings and feats, the tears and the runs, the hundreds and the endless queues outside the stadia that make cricket the sport that often points to a larger-than-life feeling. And finally, it’s about moments shared, friendships forged and bonds developed that makes it a team sport like few others.

Yet, at the same time, cricket also functions on the strong ethos, needing an individual to surrender one’s interest in the betterment of the team spirit.

Therefore, the camaraderie and the bond- right?

Because that is what the sport is truly about, beyond the hype and the hoopla.

But Cricket is also about a management perspective, as the sport does this exactly since the captain requires man-management skills and its execution at the highest level. But it doesn’t end there. The responsibility of scoring or wicket-taking too rests in the captain’s hands especially when the side is fraught with problems and issues of underperforming talents.

Isn’t it?

That told, here’s a bit of amazing news that makes one wonder both about the sheer talent with young cricketers and whether the spirit of the game can take a beating despite precocious talent.

Recently, what a group of Bangladesh’s school cricketers managed is worthy of inspiring awe, in fact, sheer awe. Yet, at the same time, the very feat has raised a few eyebrows.

So let’s kill the suspense and state it out finally.

Contesting in a second-division 50-over match, where North Bengal Cricket Academy had locked horns with Talent Hunt Cricket Academy, in an important contest in an important contest from the standpoint of ‘youth hunt’, a total of 818 runs were scored.

Both sides scored runs aplenty. In fact, to call the contest a literal runfest won’t hurt. A total of 48 were fired with aplomb, the North Bengal Academy winning by a margin of 46 runs.

This was not Alice in Wonderland. This wasn’t the world’s greatest sporting event, yet the sheer power of the feat attracted awe and drew skepticism at the same time.

But why?

Let’s first quote the famous Indian Express, on the event:

It was a run-fest in a second division 50-over match in Dhaka, where batsmen slammed a staggering 70 boundaries and 48 sixes, leading to a total of 818 runs by both the sides combined. The game which was held at t City Club ground in Dhaka saw North Bengal Cricket Academy win by 46 runs, after posting a staggering 432/4 on the board. In response, their opponents, Talent Hunt Cricket Academy managed 367/7 before running short of the overs.

You truly understand why the event may have been viewed suspiciously the moment you sense the views of the organizer.

“This is very unusual. I have been familiar with Dhaka’s domestic cricket for many years. But I never saw anything like this,” club cricket organizer, Syed Ali Asaf was quoted as saying by a news agency.

But all that told, the following is something that was actually shared by the famous media newspaper house:

In October last year, former Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who is currently serving a two-year suspension by ICC for not reporting a corrupt approach, had stated that results in many domestic matches in the country were predetermined.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Saber Hossain Chowdhury, claiming that there was “deep-rooted” corruption in the sport’s governing body, later backed his claims.

That being told, we still need to come to a normal question or query.

In literally every instance of domestic league games or even local competitions, there’s always some talent whose looks kill you. Yet, there are those, who we don’t know but are “playing it!”

But that Shakib, who’s himself being currently missed by his team, has dropped the major bombshell on the big revelation, seems to clearly suggest that something might not be right.

This ought to be said, is one heck of a view. Would the young and promising stars from that part of the cricketing continent in Asia that cannot go without the sport for even a day, accept the guilt of ‘fixing’ as indicated and felt- if proven or unearthed?

Surely no family or coach who’s involved with such precious talents would be able to digest the fact if at all it is true.

But Shakib’s comments were later backed by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Saber Hossain Chowdhury, claiming that there was “deep-rooted” corruption in the sport’s governing body. Now to the larger cricket viewing public, isn’t this something of a shocking development?

One wonders that while inspiring feats are what make the sport interesting and watchable than before, what does it tell about the culture pervading among the youth?

Moreover, whose moral responsibility is it then if what’s being said here about cricket in Bangladesh (especially involving the youth) is proven right? Forget the culprits for they’ve already sinned by fixing but about those who may perhaps have been aware of such incidents but have done literally nothing to right the wrongs?

One can only hope that the two big scoring academies that produced amazing cricketing entertainment aren’t in the ‘wrong!’

But one wonders whether the North Bengal Cricket Academy and Talent Hunt Cricket Academy can reflect on the high-scoring feat?

One reckons it might be a good idea to hear from the coaches on the sides and the powers in-charge that be.