BRAVO BANGLADESH

Sports has its own way of springing surprises when they are least expected. It is nothing but miraculous the way Bangladesh got the better of Australia. The media, especially those calling for the removal of the test status of Bangladesh must surely would have felt a bitter taste in their mouths. While going through old magazines, I found that the same kind of arguments were made when India were bowled out very cheaply in a test match in England (1974 at Lord's). The same experts are now singing the praises for the young talent that made the famous victory possible. The British media seems to forget the brownwashes suffered by the English at the hands of the West Indies in the eighties.

It is not entirely unustified for questions to be asked about the ability of Bangladesh to play cricket at the highest level. However, since test status is given, now it cannot be taken back.Well, what about the noise made of Zimbabwe? It is only after Andy Flower fled for England that people began to notice the falling standards of cricket in that country. It is not for just cricketing reasons that people are calling for the demotion of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from test cricket. Let us play cricket in the fair way and not resort to chucking or other unfair means and throw out the baby with the bathwater.