Bangladesh fans deserve more - Dravid

Rahul Dravid believes "people in Bangladesh deserve a bit more from their cricketers" as they approach the World Cup in a few days time. Dravid was speaking on Contenders, ESPNcricinfo's build-up programme for the upcoming World Cup. Dravid's co-panelist on the show Graeme Smith, while reflecting on Zimbabwe's troubles leading to the tournament, said poor administration "had really cost" the team.

Bangladesh have pulled off a couple of memorable upsets at World Cups , shocking Pakistan in 1999 and then India in 2007. However, they have failed to consistently challenge top teams and Dravid has said that has led to very few "positive stories" for their fans.

"Sure they had the odd upset. Losing to Bangladesh in the 2007 world cup cost us deeply," he said. "You thought that from 2007 they would grow and become a more consistent team, it just doesn't seem to happen and it's been a long time since 2007. We are talking eight years later and still there aren't enough wins against the top-eight sides. For Bangladesh, they need to have more wins and more confidence in their own cricket and players."

Smith agreed with Dravid saying the "passion" for the game in Bangladesh deserves better results from their team. "They've got a few left-arm spinners, their batters are hit and miss," Smith said. "There's no consistency in their cricket and there has been no development in terms of 'oh, there's a fast bowler coming through' or 'oh, that batsman really has potential'. They always stay the same, and you wonder if it's coaching or the way they think about the game or what they're exposed to in terms of growth."

Zimbabwe too have had their share of memorable performances in World Cups, beating England in 1992 and India in 1999. However, in recent years, they have made more headlines for administrative problems than results on the field. "They have had a lot of challenges over finances, managing finances, a lot of players haven't been paid." Smith said. "They had a walk out where a lot of quality players just walked away from Zimbabwe cricket. They've had unique challenges but a lot of these players have hung on and stuck through it."

Dravid was part of the Indian team that was beaten by Zimbabwe at the 1999 World cup and said it was a "pity" that they had been unable to maximise on the small resources at their command. "When you see the quality of players that have come out of Zimbabwe, you'd think that by now they'd really be growing from strength to strength," he said. "It's just not developed from there. You felt at some point in 2000 or 2001 that Zimbabwe is going to become a force. It's actually regressed to a level where they're struggling."