Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in Chittagong !

[abherath]

The Lions went absolutely silent after Bogra, while the whole of Bangladesh went ballistic. There was no show from the Captain and the Manager at the post match media conference. There was no statement from them even in the Sri Lankan media, though the local scribes (Sri Lankans) had a lot to say about that defeat: about the selectors, about the players, about hitting rock bottom.

Then, come Chittagong, the Lions go Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ! What they could not say in words - for they had nothing to say after the Tigers beat them all ends up at Bogra - they say with their bats.

What had been hatched by the Lions behind that curtain of silence was enacted in broad daylight, in front of 30,000 disappointed fans (save a handful of loyal Sri Lankan fans shouting themselves hoarse): bat themselves to victory, for the Sri Lankan bowling was not quite strong; if they were to bat first, simply bat the game away from the Tigers.

After losing the toss, Mahela said he would have chosen to bat first, anyway. When the Sri Lankans came out to bat, it looked to be a repetition of Bogra. An excruciatingly slow start, with an early wicket. Rather than a sign of what was to follow, it was almost a hoax, a red herring ! Sangakkara was sublime and Mahela was his usual dashing self, usual also in getting out soon after reaching 50 ! However, what they did was simply to create a rock solid foundation for the effervescent, ebullient and young Lokuarachchi, Maharoof and Kapugedara to throw caution to the winds and go CRACK, THUD, BANG ! It was musical too, which is why I chose Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the caption. (Please visit the URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitty_Chitty_Bang_Bang , those of you who are not familiar with the famous musical movie.)

When the Sri Lankan innings ended, so did the game. There was no way the Tigers could make 310. It was too much for even the young Ashraful to do alone. To digress, he is several years ahead of the rest of cricketing Bangladesh, pretty much like Albert Einstein was 100 years ahead of his time; Ash could walk into any national team in the world today, if not for citizenship and residency requirements. He is among the best youngsters in world cricket today.

In closing, I would say that the Tigers went away with their heads held high. This series showed that they are very much on the way up. What remains to be done is mainly on the psychological plane, to make them believe that they can do it. As for the Sri Lankans - now that they have been beaten by all the test playing nations plus Kenya in ODIs - they no longer have any fear of that ‘first’ defeat to any so called ‘minnows’. That is a great tonic for the Lions.

Edited on, February 27, 2006, 6:22 AM GMT, by abherath.

[sunny747]

abherath...why don't you be a cricket columist in some newspapers? ..i think your writing skill is great....much better than some of the international player ofcourse......well just my opinion......
By the way, my SL friends just cooked nice KUKULMAS curry on the eve BD win over SL for their Bangladeshi friends........it was great taste just that using coconut was little new to us....

[abherath]

Originally posted by sunny747
abherath...why don't you be a cricket columist in some newspapers? ..i think your writing skill is great....much better than some of the international player ofcourse......well just my opinion......
By the way, my SL friends just cooked nice KUKULMAS curry on the eve BD win over SL for their Bangladeshi friends........it was great taste just that using coconut was little new to us....

Thanks sunny.

It is great to know you have Sri Lankan friends.

A lot of Sri Lankans work in Bangladesh, especially in the garment trade.

Yes, we do use coconut milk for cooking curries. There are also much spicier curries in which we do not use coconut milk.

The Sri Lankan Sinhalese have Bengali connections. So I think that we Sri Lankans have a lot in common with Bangladeshis and Indian Bengalis. I am doing some research into this.

[sunny747]

Originally posted by abherath

Thanks sunny.

It is great to know you have Sri Lankan friends.

A lot of Sri Lankans work in Bangladesh, especially in the garment trade.

Yes, we do use coconut milk for cooking curries. There are also much spicier curries in which we do not use coconut milk.

The Sri Lankan Sinhalese have Bengali connections. So I think that we Sri Lankans have a lot in common with Bangladeshis and Indian Bengalis. I am doing some research into this.

I'm in Bangkok, Thailand adherath....Few students are here from SL....we play cricket every weekend and party at night...