Dear Tigers

The Nation was drenched in faith on the 22nd of March. BBMs, MSN messenger, Facebook, Twitter, SMS and all the rest of the new media mode were buzzing. "So cloooooose", "so happyyyyyy", "so prouuuudd"…there were no dearth of excesses of alphabets used by the Bangladeshis at home and abroad. Bangles alternating with green and red, saris dipped in same colours, at least a bindi on the forehead if not anything; at least a flag to wave to the world, Bangladesh is nothing short of a miracle.

We could not have lost yesterday. We could not have been beaten by two runs in our home ground. We could not have lost in March. We could not have handed over the Cup to our opponents last evening.

Nope. It couldn't have happened to us. No. It would take an extremely angry God to have dashed our hopes. We couldn't have deserved tears.

Who says sports is above politics? And that nothing matters more than the sportsman spirit? To the sportsmen, it maybe true, but for many of us, it isn't. I, for one, don't like India winning any game when they act a bad neighbour. Many of us would like to boo them out of the ground. With the Asia Cup, we have had to make tough choices. India being beaten by Pakistan??? Hmmm…didn't support either India or Pakistan, no, many of us stayed indifferent. India being beaten by Bangladesh??? Hmmm…couldn't have had a better moment! With that victory, a sense of pride set in.

Tigers, you gave us a charter where Bangladesh doesn't need to draw up agreements of compromise. This is one occurrence where you beat them, crushed them and given half a chance, you would do it over and over again. In spite of the prime minister being overwhelmed by Sachin's century, we weren't. We were glad to have beaten them!

Then suddenly, it was Pakistan's turn, one more chance to reminisce.

The phone had to stay on my right; my reading glasses had to be placed right on top of it; my legs had to be crossed as they are, everything just needed to be exactly as it always is, every time we have won any game in the past. As a practice, I did not take any phone calls; I knew that I couldn't afford to jinx the match. In the middle of the game, when a friend joked about our Tigers, I planned on packing an old pair of sandals and sending them out to her at the end of the match, just to slap her vanity.

Let's not forget that in spite of many of us teasing ourselves about becoming ultra-Bangladeshis-cum-hyper-nationalist in the month of December, we do turn into one with the 16th day of the month coming close. Let's not forget that with Ekushey February, we do celebrate the victory of our tongue, in spite of many people calling it a lame, "lok-dekhano" tradition. Let's not forget that with Chabbishey March, we do relive days of March 1971 with an unbeatable passion. For heaven's sake, we are Bangladesh.

On the ground on March 22…we were Bangladesh. My basic knowledge of cricket is a family joke. But when it comes to Bangladesh, I scream the loudest. When your ball rolls over to the boundary line, my hands stay clasped in prayers. When it crosses over, I feel an elation that I share with no one. Bangladesh is 'I'. It is not just 'mine'. You, the players, the Tigers are all part of this huge collective 'I' that defines our core.

Yesterday, Tigers, you were not a possibility; you were a certainty that Bangladesh was dabbling with. Steady as a sure column, you fought till the end. The two runs that humbled you actually did just the reverse. You stood fiercely enriched by the defeat, as we know now that you will only be better with every new game that comes your way.

The fact that the prime minister, president, opposition leaders were all out there on the ground, perhaps made news. But to us, it didn't. What mattered to us, the proud Bangladeshis was the simple fact that you, our very own Shakib had registered 25 fifties and 30 innings of fifty-plus (5 hundreds + 25 fifties), that your 68 off 72 balls was your highest in the Asia Cup, that you had received the Player of the Series award for the fifth time in ODIs for managing 237 at an average of 59.25 and taking six wickets at 33.16 runs apiece, that you, Tamim completed 500 runs in the Asia Cup – 517 at an average of 43.08 in 12 matches. That was all that we had to know. Today, for the palms of Bangladesh you have carved the new lines of identity.

Pakistan has won against you, our Tigers, with the smallest ever margin of two runs. The last time any side had won with such a small margin was in 2004 when India was beaten in Colombo by four run.

On the 23rd of March 2012, Bangladesh has become you. The Nation is no less than the Tiger that it hoped to be; you, the Tigers are bigger than what Bangladesh had ever thought you would become. Tigers, you have given Bangladesh its face to flaunt in the globe.

Tigers, Bangladesh will always be on the ground every time you step in to bowl or bat as with every pace of yours, Bangladesh, too will pace right by your side. You are fighting on a ground that needs no ballots; you are standing on a pitch that has no space for war; you give us a scoreboard that cannot be contested; you are a spirit that need not be fed with green bills.

You make us who we are today, Tigers; and the world better beware of your claws.

—————————–
Rubana Huq, Managing Director, Mohammadi Group.