& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Minnows or not?

BlSHWAJIT ROY from Brisbane
"It is very tough to bracket the teams under small and big tags in cricket," a glaring Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said in response to a question at the prematch press conference yesterday.
Fora moment his expression almost matched the gloomy conditions outside. It was quite obvious that the Bangladesh skipper did not like that his team were being referred to as 'minnows'.
For someone who possesses that rare 'give-it-back-to-you' attitude and has comeback from careerthreatening injuries a number of times, it wasn't a surprise the way Mashrafe reacted. On the field, too, one could notice his aggressive approach and how restless he gets if the game gets out of his grasp.
However, going by Bangladesh's record in the last ten years, questions such as whether defeating Australia in 2005 would inspire theTigers ahead of their World Cup clash against Australia sounds quite legitimate.
That was a famous win and unfortunately their only success against the Aussies. And things have only got worse for the Tigers since famous victory.
After wins against New Zealand and the West Indies, many reckoned that the minnows tag would gradually fade away. The logic that at home and on their best day, the Tigers can beat any side in GDIs didn't pertain for too long. They haven’t been as consistent
when it comes to beating big teams.
The minnows tag gets more pronounced due to Bangladesh's poor run in the longer version.
While players can be blamed for the not-so-great record, a close look however would suggest that very little has improved in Bangladesh's cricketing infrastructure and facilities.
From irregular competitions to the
lack of leagues in different parts of the country, it could be safely said that not much has development has taken place outside the capital.
These are features that have been written about a countless times in the media. However, in the last few weeks these things have been highlighted yet again, mainly due to the excellent facilities observed in different parts of Australia.
Ever since Bangladesh team arrived in Brisbane, the cricketers have been amazed with the cricketing facilities here.
While it would be illogical for one to expect similar kind of facilities in Bangladesh, the state of cricketing infrastructure in the divisional cities have plenty of scope for improvement.
But the question remains as to who will take the responsibility.
History suggests that our cricket administration has mainly centred around 20 to 25 national players and when the rare wins arrive we tend to take them as steps of progress, not knowing that there's still a lot to do at the grassroots.
Bangladesh's officials often visit cricket playing countries. Hopefully, on this tour, they have noticed the structure that is required to develop the game.
The fact remains that everybody knows what is needed to be done, it's just that the initiatives never seem to be taken.