It is difficult to understand what goes through the crowd's mind. Why is that? Well, when the team does well it is one story and quite another thing when the team goes through a rough patch. The loyal fans supporting the Bangladesh Tigers are definitely at their wit's end seeing the state of the team.
It was amazing to see a full house even after the bashing they received in Chittagong. The atmosphere was electrifying inside the big bowl. People of all ages thronged the Bangabandhu National Stadium from morning and only half managed to get in. But the lucky few were stunned as wickets tumbled before they could even take their seats.
The devastated home fans instead of cheering started jeering when the top four batsmen returned to the dressing room. It was a case of shattered dreams for players and fans alike as the scoreboard read 4-7.
But the cricket-mad supporters never abandoned their heroes because they continued to beat drums, waved flags and enjoyed every run even after the carnage.
They were full of life after half an hour when Rajin Saleh and Mushfiqur Rahman picked up the pieces. Believe it or not the whole stadium exploded even the home team reached the 50 mark in 25.3 overs.
SHAMIM STAKES CLAIM
Bangladesh's first cricket captain Shahim Kabir was shocked at the top order's submission that prompted him to say that he should pad up and show how to deal with the new ball.
The disgruntled 62-year-old claimed that he was still good enough then the current Bangladesh top order.
"Look man, you need to remain standing in the first ten overs. Don't play shots unless you have to. But to me it seems they are too hungry to play shots. That's ridiculous," said Kabir before storming out of the stadium half way through first session.
Kabir led Bangladesh in their first international match against MCC in 1977. Talking to a group of reporters at the hospitality box a visibly dejected former opening batsman said that he was still keeping fit playing tennis at his age. And jokingly said that with a little practice with the willow he could still bat better than what the current Bangladesh batsmen were doing these days.
THIRD TIME LUCKY!
Channel-i, a private TV channel, sponsored the gold coin that was used for the toss in the second one-day international between Bangladesh and England at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The leading sattelite channel purchased the commemorative gold coin paying Taka one lakh to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) at the start of the England tour.
Shaikh Siraj, the director news of Channel-i, carried the coin into the middle before the toss and handed it over to match referee Wasim Raja. Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud was lucky to call the coin correctly, however it brought no luck for his side at the end of the day.
Siraj will definitely keep the coin in a special place, but it would have given him more pleasure had the gold coin done the trick.
Earlier, Aziz Al-Mahmud, the vice-chairman of Partex Group, sponsored the first gold coin that was used in the first Test. Partex purchased it for Taka one lakh five thousand. That also did not change the fortune of Bangladesh.
Now it's time for CityCell, who bought the third coin, which would be tossed in the third and final one-day at the same venue on Wednesday, to see if the Tigers can do better than just winning the toss.