Cricket attains a new dimension in Bangladesh

Rain and football is like a perfect pair. We all have heard football lovers say “Playing in rain is pure bliss”. But the game of cricket and the downpour of mother nature does not quite go hand-in-hand. But it has, in Bangladesh. Yes, we have played street-side cricket neglecting any barriers put by the environment, but have you heard of a third-division league match being played in rain? It was not a mere by-passing drizzle, but an utmost downpour in its true meaning. Well, Bangladesh has achieved the new high (or maybe low).

The story

Recently in Bangladesh, a third-division cricket league match was played in pouring rain between Badda Akota Samaj Kallyan Sangho and Nabin Sangho, at the University cricket ground in Jahangirnagar. Evidence reveal that the match was forcedly continued by Badda Akota Samaj Kallyan Sangho, for their benefit. This incident unmasks the condition of domestic cricket, not only in Bangladesh but also in many neighboring countries.

Very recently, a bowler of a second division club of Bangladesh gave as many as 92 runs in just four balls, as a protest against visibly biased umpiring. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has managed to solve that issue after installing bans on players and officials. But it will be interesting to see what decision they take in this matter, as in the 25-minute video of the match it is clearly visible that the umpires had called for the covers, but someone from the sidelines instructed that the ‘game should go on’.

A dejected General Secretary of Nabin Sangho, Kazi Tabaraqul Islam revealed that the person was none other than the coordinator of the third division league, Munna Miraz. After the match, Tabaraqul said “The rain first came after 18 overs of play when Badda Akota were at 61 for two and the match was reduced to 40 overs a side. Badda finally scored 182 runs. When my team came to bat after lunch the rain again started after 1.2 overs and as at least 20 overs were needed for a result, the match continued in the rain.

We requested match referee but he told us that it was the umpires’ decision. They were desperate to complete the desired overs as my team lost wickets one after the other, but suddenly Redwan Ahmed changed the complexion hitting three sixes and one four and we required just 25 runs from 28 balls. Interestingly the rain had also stopped but the umpires finally called off the game even though there was enough time to finish it”.

When Miraz was asked about the part he played in this hilarious match, he said “It’s the umpires’ decision. I was there but I could not stop the match”. Match Referee Abdul Aziz Sikdar chose to remain silent and instead of answering the questions, he asked the reporters to “read the match report”.

Match Umpire Abdul Motin Jewel clarified that “The match was called off timely and the match was not played in the rain”. The match indeed was played in the time of downpour, but the match was called off when the intensity of the rain was much lessened and Nabin Sangho needed just 25 runs from 28 balls.

Witnesses reveal

Seeing that it is a rainy day, the locals were out in the field with their football. But they remained dumb-founded after seeing that a cricket match was being played in a down-pour.

One of the boys told “We came to the centre field to play football and saw that there was a third division cricket match going on. We were really surprised because it was raining. We came with about 25 people to play football and none of us could understand how they are playing cricket in this condition. Look at me. I’m soaked. We all are. We were only waiting to play football while the cricket match was going on”.

It is believed by many that these kinds of proceedings take place due to the involvement of many powerful BCB officials in some of the clubs. Tabaraqul also chose to believe the same. It is to be seen what BCB does to bring back parity in the domestic circuit.