Sports

The ICC World Twenty20 (T20 Cricket World Cup) 2012 will start next week with the match between hosts Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Hambantota. This will be the fourth World Cup of the shortest form of cricket and the first time that a country within the Indian subcontinent - widely regarded as both the spiritual and commercial home of T20 cricket - will be hosting this global tournament. England - who unexpectedly and against all odds won the last T20 WC held in the West Indies in 2010 - will be defending their crown in which India will go into the tournament as the favourites due to them boasting the tournament’s most star-studded squad and their vast experience in the most exciting version of the game because of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Although India will be going in the WC as favourites, this tournament (as most T20 matches) is a tough one to call. If England, India or Pakistan succeed in bringing the Cup back home they will be the first nation to lift this trophy twice. Details…

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS

The Summer Olympic Games will begin today in London, Great Britain after the Opening Ceremony – the traditional curtain-raiser – at the brand-new Olympic Stadium in the Olympic Park. The Games of the XXX Olympiad (London 2012) will be staged in the British capital in which over 10,500 athletes from across 204 nations is expected to compete across 26 different sports and in over 300 matches. Details…

The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) European Football Championship 2012 (Euro 2012) will start today with the match between co-hosts Poland and Euro 2008 Champions Greece. The world’s second biggest football event will this year be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine – the first time that this tournament will be co-hosted amongst the central-Eastern nations of the continent. Details…

I didn’t want India to win, really. I supported virtually every other team - Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan, and of course Bangladesh - either for sentiment or admiration of individual players. I just did not want India to win, maybe even because you could see that they were the strongest team in the running. Everyone’s got to root for the underdog, after all.

But the final match, even though I was rooting for Sri Lanka, did not disappoint me in the least. It was the most satisfying of finals because it really did bring the strongest two contenders to face off, and they played the game for all it was worth. You really didn’t know for sure, until there were 15 runs left for India to win. You could tell the crowd felt the uncertainty, of how the game was really on a knife’s edge. Sri Lankans and Indians alike were praying.

I never gave much thought to MS Dhoni’s skill as a player, just thought of him offhand as a good captain who was lucky to have a better team than poor Sourav Ganguly did. Ganguly had to live with a lot of abuse and dislike no matter how hard he tried.

You had to admire Dhoni though, for his absolute calm. At the end of the day that’s what a batsman needs, an absolutely cool head that doesn’t get fazed by the mind games the bowlers play with you. Gautam Gambhir cracked after holding the fort for 97 runs, and before he was out there were a few moments where you could see him speaking agitatedly to his captain, Dhoni looking firm and determined. Once Gambhir was out, any of the other skippers in this World Cup could still have caved in. But Dhoni didn’t. The bowlers kept trying to play cat and mouse with him, trying to catch him out, and yet he didn’t give in to tempting tosses, letting the dot balls accumulate. He persevered, and he really showed everyone how you play. 40 runs off 40 balls? 35 runs off 30 balls? 15 runs off 17 balls? The numbers kept lowering agonisingly, and still, he did not wipe his brow. He did not do anything but bide his time and let the chess pieces move around him.
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Independent Television sports reporter Rubaid Mahbub looks back at the advent and development of fast bowling in cricket

145, 152, 155…I’m sure you all have kept an eye on the speed-gun and wondered ‘how on earth do they bowl so fast?’ Yes friends, this one is about the clan of fast bowlers.

They come in different sizes and shapes. Some are tall and lanky like the legendary West Indian Curtly Ambrose, who stood a wholesome 6 foot 7 inches. Some are not so tall!

Some are heavily built, like the Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhter. Some look odd (just imagine Lasith Malinga!), some look grumpy, some are always indifferent, some smile, some get furious, some are funny. But one thing they all have in common: they hate batsmen. Details…

The match was held at Mirpur stadium. The venue is merely a kilometre away from the head office of Grameen Bank. Muhammad Yunus has millions of members in Grameen Bank. They are very upset as the government wants to push out Yunus from the Bank’s top position. The rural ladies, including the phone ladies, united and organised “bat-ball chalan” across the country. This is traditional rural black magic of Bangladesh. Nevertheless, they recited the “mantra” and sent it through voice-SMS to a designated number, which was located at Grameen Bank head office. An Apple i-Phone, rumoured to have gifted by Hillary Clinton to Yunus, was used in this case. That smart device was held facing the Mirpur stadium. The mantra, pronounced by millions of Grameen Bank borrowers, traveled to the stadium and paralysed the Tigers (not the real ones in Sundarban). Therefore, Yunus has to be blamed for our cricketers’ disastrous performance. Cheers!

I’m feeling great to be a Bangladeshi, my country hosting the 2011 Cricket World Cup. I am very big fan of cricket since 1991-91. Cricket had very little presence at that time in our country or in our society. But this is not my point. Details…

 Independent Television sports reporter Rubaid Mahbub checks up World Cup history to see what injuries kept some of cricket’s brightest stars from breaking records in previous tournaments

Michael Hussey, Nathan Hauritz, Eoin Morgan, Praveen Kumar and of course Mashrafe Mortaza. These are some of the names who will be missing out cricket’s biggest event this year due to the demon called INJURY!

Not seeing a fully fit Mashrafe Mortaza in action could well be one of the biggest disappointments as a Bangladeshi spectator, but I am not going to talk about this anymore, as I feel enough has been said and written already about this brave young man from Narail and his injury! Instead, I am going to tell you about some famous and at times bizarre injury incidents. Some injuries made big names miss out on big occasions and some would make you giggle or make you feel pity for the poor soul. So here we go!

Waqar Younis: The legendary fast bowler missed out on his country’s biggest achievement in sports, when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992. The charismatic Imran Khan and his green machines brought the cup back to the subcontinent without their fastest bowler. Waqar was suffering from a stress fracture of the back. However, the records suggest World Cups and Waqar, fondly known as ‘Burewala Express’, never got along very well. He participated in three World Cups 1996, 1999 and 2003 and took 22 wickets in 15 matches.

Brett Lee: Australia’s fastest bowler missed the 2007 edition of the World Cup in the Caribbean. After a wonderful show at the 2003 World cup, where he picked up 22 wickets in 10 matches, an ankle injury forced Lee to become a spectator at Australia’s third consecutive World Cup triumph. At 34, ‘Binga’, is back for, perhaps, his last World Cup bash this time…way to go mate!

Shoaib Akhter: The fiery Pakistan pacer missed a lot of cricket due to injuries throughout his career though the reason for missing out the 2009 T20 World Cup was personal. The Pakistan Cricket Board very honestly revealed why he was left out of the squad that year. The board put out a press release stating that the ’speedstar’ player was suffering from genital warts! A very embarrassed Akhter considered suing the board!

Dennis Lillee: One of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Lillee, broke down on Australia’s 1972-73 tour of the Caribbean, after fighting back problems for over a year. He was able to return after months of treatment and a remodelled action, which considerably cut off his fearsome pace. A famous story goes that ahead of the 1974-75 Ashes, England players went to watch Lillee in the nets and left after a few minutes, convinced that he was a shadow of his former self. Lillee took 25 wickets in that series as England, drowned 4-1, were destroyed by the pace and hostility of Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

Sachin Tendulkar: Yes, he too had to suffer like a mere mortal! Sachin is in his 22nd year as a professional cricketer and missed just three Tests and 45 ODIs in his first 15 years of playing. Then came the infamous tennis elbow in 2004 and turned sports pages into medical dictionaries in India. It kept Sachin out some very high-profile contests, including the Champions Trophy and half of the Test series against Australia.

Shane Bond: At his peak and when he was fully fit, he was the best fast bowler in the world. But, unfortunately for the Black Caps, his success came at a very high price. Bond’s body was barely able to cope with the strains of fast bowling. He played only 82 ODIs in a career span of nearly 8 years. In his only World Cup appearance in 2003, he took 17 wickets in just 8 matches.

 You probably don’t know this but bdnews24.com has a stall at the Ekushey Boi Mela, and today our task was to get GrameenPhone users to subscribe for cricket updates (sms “CRIC” to 2002). In return, we gave out some great t-shirts with the tiger wearing a Bangladesh jersey - bdnews24.com’s mascot for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. This eventually resulted in chaos, though I am sure the spirit was right. Who isn’t excited about the first match of the tenth World Cup? It’s Bangladesh versus India, and even if you don’t understand cricket, you care about how it turns out!As I am writing this, ten overs have been bowled and desperation and frustration unite (frusteration?) in all of us, more so to the superfans at the stadium, clad in green, red and gold. If we don’t break the Virender Sehwag-Sachin Tendulkar partnership soon this will go badly for us. As in, not just a loss, but a humiliating loss by a ridiculously immense margin. Sehwag and Tendulkar have made it to their 16th half century partnership. This is not good. Incidentally, Tendulkar has the world’s highest number of double century partnerships. Notwithstanding the hilarious motorcycle and Bournvita adverts, this man is dangerous.

…AND SACHIN TENDULKAR IS RUN OUT!

Not that we can’t still lose by a tremendous amount, but removing a cricket legend for 28 runs is something to celebrate! But the boundaries are still coming in like raindrops and this is absolutely killing me. YOU FIELDERS NEED TO MOVE!

As expected, the jubilant mood could hardly last. Sehwag hit the first six of the match and made it to his half century with ease. Grit your teeth and endure. There’s 35 more overs and the second half to live through.

The records keep building. Sehwag now has the seventh highest total by a batsman in the World Cup. Virat Kohli and Sehwag complete a century partnership. 

Okay, now that the full 50 overs are complete, here are some brutal stats to mull over as we watch Team Bangladesh in their futile chase for 371 runs:

1. India’s 370/4 is the fifth highest World Cup score, also India’s third highest score in the World Cup. Previously, they’ve had 373/6 in 1999 against Sri Lanka, and 413/5 in the last World Cup against Bermuda, which is the highest score in the history of the World Cup.

2. Sehwag’s 175 ranks fifth in the highest World Cup individual score, equalling Kapil Dev in India vs Zimbabwe in 1983. The honour of highest total by a batsman in the World Cup is still held by Gary Kirsten in South Africa vs UAE in 1996.

3. It was Virat Kohli’s first ever World Cup match, and he didn’t do to shabbily, scoring a century off 83 balls. This is also his 5th ODI century.

4. Sehwag and Kohli’s 203-run partnership is India’s fifth 200-run partnership in the World Cup, and Sehwag’s second.

And:

5. This is the highest score Bangladesh has had to chase in the World Cup. This is not going well. 

Bring it on, second half.

From the team captains being taken on rickshaws around the field, to the dancers, to Sabina Yasmin, Momtaz, and Runa Laila’s singing, to the final theme song and fireworks, it was a real grand show. Hopefully, in another 4 years, we can lean back and say, “That’s nice, but the ceremony we had in Bangladesh for the tenth World Cup - now that was something!”

“The wall cricket was amazing! That and Bryan Adams were the best parts of the show,” said one viewer. To recap, for those of you who had your cable line sabotaged in the middle of the ceremony: highlights include the beautiful automated kites, the acrobats scaling the side of the neighbouring Shilpa Bank Building in a rendering of the cricket pitch and game, and Bryan Adams singing the very three songs that are best known in Bangladesh: “Summer of 69″ “Let’s Make a Night to Remember” and “18 till I Die”. And a very elaborate, well-executed dance by the Sri Lankans - yes, there were other dances, from Bangladesh and from India, but the Sri Lankans outdid the others with their ship and giant oyster.

Speeches from the chief guests were all succinct and to the point, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board President expressing his gratitude to the states hosting the event and the International Cricket Council President ending with “Bangladesh Zindabaad.”

There may have been a crooked lotus or two out there and a few questionable wardrobe choices - one of the most striking being Sonu Nigam in a silver faux snakeskin coat and black waistcoat, exposing an unnecessary amount of chest - but in general everyone carried themselves through beautifully. It was definitely a night for everyone to be proud of Bangladesh and inwardly relieved that nothing took a politically significant motif.

Plus the official song for the 2011 World Cup is very catchy. Performed by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, “De Ghumaa Ke” has verses in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhalese. It’s no “Waka Waka”, but still a fun rhythmic song to dance to, and definitely beats the Commonwealth Games anthem. The fireworks began halfway through the song, and that marked the end of a really well-orchestrated evening.

Just a side note on fun things the government has done to make sure this event went over well: paid off all the neighbourhood beggars to stay away from the visitors, and sent out Dhaka City Corporation officials with mosquito repellents into the ditches surrounding the hotels and stadiums, so that our visitors would not be bitten by mosquitoes. Wonderful gestures that we, (mostly) tax-paying citizens of the nation, of course do not merit. Our hides are used to mosquito bites and warding off beggars.

The only people in the audience who didn’t seem to appreciate the spectacles at the opening ceremony were the team captains, who all looked very striking in suits, but extremely grim as they observed all the song and dance. Quite a contrast to all the ministers and cricket authorities who were clearly absorbed and enjoying all the festivities! Presumably the pressure is already on for the first games: on Saturday, Bangladesh versus India, and on Sunday, Kenya versus New Zealand and Sri Lanka versus Canada. Anyone care to predict outcomes? The games are officially on!