Led by seniors like Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh are not shying away from responding to on-field sledging with some aggression of their own
Mohammad Isam06-Sep-2017One area in which Bangladesh’s growing confidence at home has manifest itself is in their on-field aggression, and in particular, their sledging. In the first Test against Australia in Mirpur, a few players regularly fired back at the opposition, who had usually done the talking in the contest. Things have been calmer in Chittagong so far, but the series has once again highlighted Bangladesh’s transformed body language on the field.Tamim Iqbal got a demerit point from the ICC for debating with umpires while Australia’s batsmen changed their gloves regularly, and later for his send-off of Matthew Wade in Mirpur. After the 20-run win, Shakib Al Hasan said Bangladesh were giving it back because they are more confident on the field now. Australia, said the captain Mushfiqur Rahim, had seen a new, aggressive side to Bangladesh.Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, is not surprised. The new attitude, he says, is to look an opponent in the eye, while being mindful to not overstep a line.”As a captain, I don’t encourage [them] to do anything that gets them into trouble, especially after the introduction of demerit points,” Mashrafe said. “We might end up losing a player ahead of an important match, which isn’t ideal. But I would always tell them to look into the opposition’s eye when they are looking at you.”Before 2015, we didn’t have a significant win under our belt. But in the last two years, I think we have played fearless cricket but that doesn’t mean we will abuse anyone.”Mashrafe feels the team’s outlook changed following the 2015 World Cup, with the ODI series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa at home.In April 2015, after thumping Pakistan 3-0 in the home ODIs, Shakib got into a finger-wagging joust with Wahab Riaz in the first Test in Khulna. Lip-readers were taken aback by Shakib’s verbal attack.In the ODIs against India in June that year, there was noticeable chatter from some of the Bangladesh players when India’s wickets fell. Ravindra Jadeja was a target, having apparently given similar treatment to Bangladesh’s players previously.”I think it really started around 2015, after the World Cup,” Mashrafe said. “We were prepared to go toe to toe in every match. But one thing that we don’t do is start the conversation in the field. We celebrate a wicket usually and only reply to what they have to say.”Look, we don’t think that we can win a game through sledging. Most of our opposition have been doing it for years. What I believe is that when you are out there, you have to look them in the eye.”Mahmudullah is a good example of the transformation, of players becoming confronters. It is a change that has also come about as individual players have cemented their place in the team through performances.In 2009, Mahmudullah was barely audible when he told off Brendan Taylor in an ODI. In 2012, he reacted tamely when Aizaz Cheema blocked his attempt for a second run in the last over of the Asia Cup final.Last year, however, in the second ODI against England, Mahmudullah stood in front of a team huddle and gave Jos Buttler a proper send-off. A normally quiet Buttler fired back and argued with the Bangladesh players, before Mashrafe intervened.”I think the England incident went on to for too long and I had to step in,” Mashrafe said. “But it wasn’t all one-sided. Both sides had their say that day but it should have stopped earlier.”There was a lot of needle in that England game, and it ended with a confrontation between Jonny Bairstow and Tamim when the teams were shaking hands after the match. Ben Stokes was shown on TV to be apparently pushing Tamim, and an argument ensued.Tamim has always been in the thick of things, right from the time Daniel Vettori got under his skin in 2007. He spoke out against Zaheer Khan when the two collided during an ODI in Mirpur in 2010 and, at times when many Bangladesh players hardly responded to on-field comments, Tamim made it a point to respond to criticism, even when it came from a legendary player like Geoffrey Boycott.Shakib got in on the act. In the 2010 ODI series against New Zealand, he was told off by Nathan McCullum, who complained about the Bangladesh bowlers taking time to finish overs. Shakib, who was the stand-in captain at the time, dismissed McCullum and gave him a send-off.These signs of Bangladesh cricketers standing up for themselves were, however, limited. Instead Virat Kohli telling Rubel Hossain to “f*** off” became a symbol for Bangladesh’s timidity on the field. When Rubel got his own back at Kohli in the 2015 World Cup, it had more to do with the confidence of his match-winning performance against England a week before and less to do with aggression.Mahmudullah in a spat with Jos Buttler during an ODI in Bangladesh last year. The match ended with another argument between Tamim and Ben Stokes•Getty ImagesThese days, even a youngster like Sabbir Rahman has made his presence felt in the middle, getting into arguments with David Warner during this series and Suranga Lakmal in Sri Lanka earlier this year. If he goes on to score bigger runs, he could end up as another vocal presence for Bangladesh in the middle.Before the 2015 World Cup, Bangladesh’s players could say little given the regularity of their losses. Mashrafe recalls an incident at the team hotel during the 2008 Asia Cup. “Once during an Asia Cup in Pakistan, we were subjected to a lot of talk off the field. There was once an incident in the swimming pool at the team hotel. I won’t mention the team but we were waiting for them to leave the pool as it was our time. They made us wait and when getting off, one of them told me, ‘What are you doing in the swimming pool? You concentrate on playing cricket. What will you learn in the pool?'”In previous years, we were told a lot of things on the field but when this happened, we were taken aback. Now we are realising that it was not normal.”Shahriar Nafees, who played 24 Tests and 75 ODIs, recounts his experience in the second Test of Australia’s previous tour to Bangladesh, in 2006. In the first Test in Fatullah, Nafees had scored 138 and did not encounter a lot of sledging but that changed in Chittagong.”During my 138 [in Fatullah], they were in shock so they didn’t say anything. But when I was unable to score for the first 21 balls in the second Test in Chittagong, I heard a lot of things from Matthew Hayden,” Nafees said. “Even when they were chasing in the fourth innings in Fatullah, some of their batsmen were sledging our bowlers. I think they were trying to get themselves out of pressure. And that’s how it was for many teams when we were on top. They’d sledge us.”Nafees says he had heard stories of how Bangladesh were subjected to much more on the field during their early years as a Test side, particularly when they threatened to get on top of the opposition.”I played in one game in which the Sri Lankans questioned our batting and bowling skills,” Nafees said. “From players who played between 2001 and 2004, I heard that a lot of them heard the opposition questioning Bangladesh’s status as a Test-playing nation. I think anyone who has been in an elite club for a long time would take a bit of time to accept a newcomer, and that’s how it was back then.”During a ten-year career for Bangladesh, in which they sporadically played ODIs, Athar Ali Khan says he experienced very little sledging. Now a TV commentator, Athar is happy the current crop is standing up for itself.”The first time I experienced such a thing was when an England A bowler spoke to me. I was initially a bit surprised so I waited till the end of the over before replying to him,” Athar said. “I think afterwards someone said something to me when I was walking in to bat against Pakistan. But I didn’t pay much attention to him. I was taking guard.”Now it is obviously different. I think our team is standing their ground and saying that you can’t push us around anymore. I think they have managed to get out of the culture of backing off. I think that’s how it should be.”
