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End of a cycle?

Sakeb Subhan
There really should not be much hand-wringing about the black and white numbers in the wins and losses column as Bangladesh's ICC World Twenty20 campaign splutters to a halt with the finish line nowhere in sight. This is the end the more realistic of their fans would have expected - they have rarely shown any signs that they appreciate the limited nuances of a game of bluster and brawn.
The expectation on Bangladesh, even the players themselves said as much, was to compete. But they have lost each match of the Super 10s by huge margins and they also lost to a motley group of admirably spirited but amateur cricketers from Hong Kong. So they have not competed, and therefore they have failed at upholding the minimum standard that they set themselves.
If the focus is widened beyond the scope of the T20 World Cup to take in their performances this year, there is the worrying trend of a steep fall. Bangladesh have lost 11 out of 14 matches across all formats - two
wins came against Nepal and Afghanistan in the first round. This is especially disappointing when seen in the context of their performances in the previous two years at home - starting from the 2012 Asia Cup runners-up performance and extending to beating West Indies 3-2 and New Zealand 3-0 in OD1 series at home.
Those performances were not dependent on individual brilliance -- it will be unrealistic to say that Bangladesh can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best sides on their strength in talent alone. There were two pillars behind their success, it can be argued.
After the superstar culture that produced the alchemic brilliance of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim's ascension to the hot seat - and Shane Jurgensen's subsequent assumption of the head coach's role - saw a trend of treating each player equally which empowered the lesser lights to take the stage and gave us Nasir Hossain, Shohag Gazi, Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque and increased the number of performers in the side. The philosophy also stressed on giving each player respect as international
cricketers. The second of these pillars was a mantra that Mushfiqur is very fond of espousing - a focus on putting the right processes in place and a trust that results will naturally follow from there.
In other words, the right processes meant doing the basics right and being as well prepared mentally, physically and strategically before a match as possible. The first sign that these processes were not being followed was their gameplay against Hong Kong - instead of giving them due respect it seemed the Tigers had come out trying to grind amateurs into the dust, and paid a dear price. It is much the same team now, but the results have done an about turn. It is not that they have routinely played terrible cricket this year.
They ran Sri Lanka close in many of their matches and Pakistan too in the Asia Cup. But losing close matches one after the other is itself a sign that something in a team is not working right. There is no easy answer to what that is, the following days will benefit from an abundance of questions searching for that answer.
In one of his excruciating press conferences following defeat in the World Twenty20, Mushfiqur was asked whether the processes were still being followed. He said that maybe the enjoyment had gone down and perhaps the importance of winning loomed too large in the players' minds, and maybe it would have been better had the players just enjoyed the challenge of such a big stage.
The enjoyment has gone down. Now all the talk is about lowering expectations, players feeling pressure and being insecure about their places. On the pressure front, it can conclusively be said that there is not a more loyal and patient fan base anywhere in the cricketing world. But it has been seen with England that the most robust of cricketing philosophies met its end with the 5-0 Ashes loss earlier this year. Seeing Bangladesh's steep fall over the last three months it has to be asked whether their philosophy -not least the policy of what seems from the outside as a mollycoddling of underperforming players - has passed its sell-by date.