By IANS,
Dhaka : The Bangladesh cricket team has come in for severe media criticism for playing “bad cricket” and losing to West Indies last Friday.
The New Age newspaper put the debacle to “over confidence” among the players and the officials after the victory against Ireland.
“It was not just bad cricket. It was no cricket at all,” lamented The Daily Star Sunday.
In its editorial, The Daily Star lamented the “premature celebrations after rare victories” and “indulging players to the point of lionising them”.
The Bangladeshi side’s performance should make the people aware “of how much lower a team playing cricket on a global scale could go. To be washed out for a miserable 58 runs is deep embarrassment”.
“These young men have disappointed us. Tellingly, when the captain informs us, perhaps without weighing the import of his words, that the future for our cricket could be even worse, it is time for the cricket authorities to weigh in with steps for remedy.”
“Our boys did not lose against the West Indies. They simply did not play,” the editorial said.
The newspaper, like others, had questioned the decision of Captain Shakib Al Hassan to send India to bat after winning the toss in the tournament opening match that Bangladesh lost.
Shakib had justified his decision saying that he had hoped to put India under pressure by bagging a few early wickets.