Dhaka, Bangladesh
it certainly was wild, but it was historic too..... the World Cup Cricket win against Ireland sparked wild celebrations throughout the city and it was time to be a part of it, so that we can tell our grandchildren how it all started.....
Ireland may be one of the low-rated teams in the cricketing world, but its actually difficult to describe the emotions attached to this win..... the opening of this World Cup created such expectations that it was almost taken for granted that people would be emotional about the performance of the national side..... the celebrations that I had seen outside the stadium on the eve of the opening match against India, convinced me that this had to be the cup to crave for.... you simply can't compare anything else against this opportunity to play World Cup matches on home soil...... and its the implementation of this opportunity that we had seen on this night.....
I was out with my family on a short road tour of some parts of the city...... and it surely was an experience.... people were on the streets well into night and doing stuff that one would never even think of..... we have more matches coming and I expect even crazier stuff ahead..... history was being made on the streets as they were on the field.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
they went wild right in the middle of the road!!
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
they tried to show off their mood in whatever way they could.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
and all on a sudden there was a traffic jam right in the middle of the night!!
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
there were flags flying everywhere.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
motor-cyclists roamed the street creating heavy noise.......
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
half out of the vehicles.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
main intersections became absolute chaos.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
people were on all sorts of vehicles.....
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| From Wild Celebrations, 25 February 2011 |
people thronged the streets in numbers..... there were pockets of celebrations where colours were being thrown on vehicles.....
to talk cricket, this was one crucial victory...... the India loss was the wake-up call..... and this victory is the reminder of their self-confidence..... it just showed what a confident team can do..... they defended 174 against NZ not too many days ago and again proved that it requires a team effort to win a match, especially a close match.......
Shakib al-Hasan is turning into a great leader..... I think it comes naturally for him..... the way he handled his bowlers and changed the bowling was amazing..... Gavaskar and Athar Ali Khan both said it was wrong decision to give the ball to Shafiul Islam..... but what a decision that turned out to be...... he put left-arm spinners when there was right-hand batsmen.... and put off-spinners when left-hand batsmen were at the crease.... and when there was a right-left combination, he used left-arm spin from one end and off-spin from another...... and his last use of Shafiul when the ball was changed was masterly...... Shafiul was getting natural out-swing after 35 overs of play!!!..... Gavaskar failed to foresee this, but Shakib didn't miss that..... he's destined to make a name as a captain, I think.....
the India loss didn't break Bangladesh.... in fact, it gave them confidence and they can actually win against big teams with a few things going well for them...... and now they were able to defend a pretty ordinary batting display...... this is another boost to their self-confidence...... I think this will give them enough spirit to win at least two more matches in the round robin league...... this is a team that is playing to win, not just to show a good performance.....
