World Cup fever in Bangladesh

My enduring memory of cricket in Bangladesh is from the last day of India’s tour in 2007. There wasn’t much left in the match: Bangladesh were sure to lose the Test by an innings. There was no if, only when. Then Mohammad Ashraful, perhaps the most frustrating cricketer to have come from the country, lifted the gloom with a counterattacking half-century. In the unforgiving heat of May, the whole stadium danced to his shots. It was joyful while it lasted. For those 46 minutes, which got Ashraful 67 runs, the crowd forgot all that had gone wrong with their cricket after a pretty successful World Cup. And then, Ashraful got out. The sigh that followed from the crowd is the loudest I have heard. And then silence. Comprehensive. These crowds make it fun to watch cricket in Bangladesh.

Four years on, I came back looking for similar passion, for similar atmosphere, for similar celebration of cricket. Naturally, huge hype was expected around the World Cup. As Shakib Al Hasan said, this is the only sport they play the World Cup of. The only World Cup they are hosting. The first time in their history when their progression to the second round, if it comes about, won’t be considered an upset.

In terms of build-up, I saw no disappointment. The first thing I saw in the country, walking out of the aircraft, was the big ICC World Cup hoarding, welcoming people to Bangladesh. However, equally noteworthy was the bottom quarter dedicated to the “commercial partners”. All of 11. I must have successfully managed to insulate myself to this aspect of the World Cup in India, because this was the first time it hit me.

The trend continues all over Dhaka. Sponsor after sponsor has queued up to gain from the World Cup. “Tigers, bring home the cup”, “Go fans, cheers for Tigers” are the kind of lines being used to sell motor bikes, soft drinks, refrigerators, everything. This is not what I was looking forward to after my experience in 2007, when an RC Cola trolley used to stroll out during drinks break. Now it is all organised, all multi-nationalised. Nothing unofficial about it.

The administrators have jumped on the bandwagon too, planting stories every other day, about how they will get rid of beggars on the streets, how they will get houses painted, how they will gives buses a facelift. Having read these ridiculous stories, having seen the overwhelming advertising drive, all I thought on my way to Mirpur was, this is not their World Cup. This has to be the people’s World Cup.

With that uneasy feeling, I made my way to the Shere Bangla Stadium for a warm-up game between Bangladesh and Pakistan, past security overwhelming in number and overbearing in nature. That, though, is something we can’t wish away: it’s the fate of those wanting to watch cricket in the subcontinent, except perhaps in Sri Lanka where the cricket still retains the laid-back touch.

The first scenes at the stadium, though, couldn’t have been more reassuring. We were already into the 18th over by the time I got accreditation and other formalities done with, and by then close to 14,000 were watching what their coach and captain had termed “not a real game”. Rooftops around the stadium were taken too, and people stayed there till late into the night. Come the “real game”, the new stylish roof over two stands in the stadium might just come down.

Today, though, it wasn’t possible: news soon trickled in that thousands were stranded outside because of problems with the ticketing process. They had bought their vouchers from banks in advance. The vouchers were to get them tickets at ticketing booths, but the sheer numbers and the alleged slowness of the ticketing process meant some of the people left and some could make their way in only past evening. It was that kind of a day in Dhaka.

More are to follow. Starting Wednesday, Eid-e-Miladunnabi, the nation is going on a five-day weekend. One of those days will be the World Cup inauguration ceremony at the iconic Bangabandhu Stadium, one will be the inaugural match, between India and Bangladesh. If you are not here this “weekend”, you might miss out on a lot.