Sports Reporter
Sporadic crowd disturbances added salt to the wounds as Bangladesh slumped to a five-wicket defeat in the first ODI of the Grameenphone Cup against Zimbabwe yesterday.
The Tigers' tag of favourites seemed to have been taken too much to heart by a select few present at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, as sections of the crowd started to hurl plastic bottles into the ground expressing their displeasure at the performance of their heroes, in a match most had expected to win. The sad incident in the 29th over during Zimbabwe's chase stopped the game for a few minutes before security personal took the situation under control.
But the ugly scenes are set to prove red flags for the eagerly watching International Cricket Council (ICC) representatives who have an altogether keener eye on proceedings since Bangladesh is all set to host the 2011 edition of the World Cup at this very stadium.
Although a loss at home is always disappointing, fans have traditionally avoided expressing their displeasure in an overtly showy manner. However, these scenes will do nothing to enhance the reputation of Bangladesh as hosts with the World Cup knocking on the door.
As responsible cricket fans, it should be the duty of each present at the stadium to ensure that they do nothing untoward to put the safety of the players into question.
Bangladesh have historically been identified by their fanatic but safe cricket following, having avoided many of neighbours India's decent into violence. With the biggest cricket show on earth coming to Bangladesh, this is exactly the time we should aim to keep up our generally high standards.
