Cricket Diplomacy and Bangladesh.docx

Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) Faculty of Security & Strategic Studies Department of International Relations Term Paper Topic: Cricket Diplomacy of Bangladesh with India Course Title: Bangladesh in International Affairs Code: IR 2313 Submitted to: Bulbul Ahmed Lecturer, Department of International Relations Submitted by: Name: Nafisa Nazin Lutfa Batch: BIR-2017 Roll No: 17411048 Section: B Submission Date: 17th March , 2018 Content Page Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------2 Bangladesh Cricket History At a Glance-------------------------3 Cricket Nationalism In Bangladesh-------------------------------4 India Bangladesh Relation Based on Cricket--------------------5 Media level Reaction In Bangladesh India cricket match------5 Fan level Reaction In Bangladesh India cricket match--------7 Bangladesh Before Controversial Umpiring--------------------7 Successful Sports Diplomacy by BCB---------------------------8 Conclusion------------------------------------------------------------10 Bibliography--------------------------------------------------------------11 Abstract: Once Bangladesh focused only in political issues, military and economic issues to cop up with international politics. However international politics has changed dramatically. Interaction with other states is not confined in high political areas. Bangladesh has a great opportunity to extend its influence in a regional and international level through cricket. Bangladesh is looking forward to broader its low politics in order to heal the inter-sate conflicts which developed into a high politics. The author of this paper will try to cover the popularity of Bangladesh cricket across the globe. Cricket which was limited in local and regional level, but now it is a weapon for Bangladesh to access political and social area worldwide. But some controversial events with India made the journey of Bangladesh cricket team facing friction. Through past ten years Bangladesh cricket’s rise became undeniable. The paper will analyze the overall raising of cricket in Bangladesh and its relation with India in case of cricket. Bangladesh Cricket History At a Glance: The courage of Bangladesh cricket team made it name the Tigers. Tigers represents Bangladesh in cricket field for last 30 years and emerged as strong unit that contains the capacity to defeat any cricket playing nation in the world. The main advancement of Bangladesh cricket started after it became independent in 1971. Through independence popularity of cricket started growing. As an associate member of International Cricket Council (ICC) Bangladesh participated in many international competitions. After a long time in 1977, six years after independence the country was granted an Associate Membership by ICC. Bangladesh participated in ICC Trophy in 1979 held in England. That tournament was held to give non- Test playing cricket teams an opportunity to participate in year’s world cup. Bangladesh made their journey short with two victory and two defeats. In 1986 Asia Cup Bangladesh made it’s first participation against a full member of ICC. Bangladesh debuted in international cricket for the first time. On 31 March 1986 Bangladesh vs Pakistan match is market as the first ODI match for Bangladesh. In 1988 a large scale cricket tournament held in Bangladesh ,though Bangladesh could not bag a win. After losing 22 matches in a row Bangladesh claimed their first ODI victory. It took 12 years for seeing a victorious day. It was a match against Kenya. Bangladesh managed to win ICC Trophy on 1997 after participating a long course of time subsequent 1979, 1982, 1986, 1994 edition. After wining the tournament on 1997 Bangladesh was qualified for 1999 World Cup. Then it comes when Bangladesh appeared in world cup tournament. The glory of Bangladesh flourished when Pakistan was defeated by Bangladesh. The match was incredible. The victorious moment introduced Bangladesh in a new way. No matter how sparkling history of Bangladesh cricket team becomes, that joy will be always the most glorifying one. After World Cup, Test status was just a matter of time. On June 2000 Bangladesh proudly managed the opportunity to be a full membership of ICC. Thus Bangladesh became the 10th Test playing nation. On 2000 13th November Bangladesh for the first time appeared in Test match. Bangladesh however could not manage a win against India and lose the match by 9 wicket. Bangladesh went to a long format inside the team. Bangladesh’s losing in Test streak ended when Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh in 2005. Bangladesh clinched their victory in both Test as well as the series by 1-0. Bangladesh showed it’s first color in triangular series with Australia and England. Bangladesh’s glorious win against Australia by 5 wickets earned them the Giant Slayer Tag. In October 2010, New Zealand visited Bangladesh for five one-day internationals. The series victory is marked as the first series victory against a full strength cricket nation. On 2011 Bangladesh again came to light as a co-host of World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. Though Bangladesh saw its victory against England, Ireland, Netherland but it could not defeat West Indies. On 2012 Bangladesh cricket team made the whole nation proud winning against India and Sri Lanka. But the whole nation also cried due to losing the final match against Pakistan. Cricket Nationalism In Bangladesh: One of the biggest stories of the cricketing word is the rise of the Bangladesh cricket team in recent years. This team has evolved from being a pariah to a weak side whose test-playing status was questioned by the most occasional giant killers to its present status as a mostly worthy cricketing force. All through this potential rise of cricket in Bangladesh, as elsewhere in the subcontinent, has been a significant role for nationalism. Before 1971, cricket was scorned by East Bengalis because it was seen as a game that lighter-skinned elites played only for their entertainment. As a cricket hyper-nationalism, the game is often turn to war by other means. Beyond a game it represents nationalism and pride. No one other than Mashrafe Mortaza, the philosopher-captain-hero of the Bangladesh team narrated once that he is a cricketer but can save a life. This is because a doctor can save life but no-one claps for the best doctor in the country. Though They will save more lives and they are the stars. The politicians are the stars, they build the country. What have cricketers built using cricket? Paddy doesn’t grow well on the cricket field, but cricketers grow nationalism. Every night when Bangladesh play against any games the whole country sit before the television just like 1971. (Chatterjee, 2017) India Bangladesh Relation Based on Cricket: India and Bangladesh are neighboring countries, where Bangladesh is India locked. This two countries have the same types of people, cultures, religions and lifestyles. During 1971, India helped Bangladesh win their liberation war. India supported Bangladesh directly during the war. These two country share a strong democratic affinity between themselves. Significantly many things are common in these two countries, it is understandable that both countries play the same types of sports. As a members of ICC (International Cricket Council) they mostly play cricket and are the most strong player. Most importantly thing is Indian and Bangladeshi people are very fond of cricket. This become so serious when people love cricket so much that they almost worship it. No other nations actually cry when their teams win a match. It creates a huge nationalism. But it is veritable that though these two countries play cricket, the Indian team is stronger than the Bangladeshi team. While in Bangladesh the number of great players is only a few, but there are a lot of great players in India. In the whole world India has one of the largest and richest cricket board; they are capable of arranging various tournaments every year, whereas Bangladesh is still fighting to set up a proper academy by which new players will come out to take the responsibility of resenting the national team. More than a hundred times, Bangladesh and India have faced each other on the playground and most of the times India managed to win. The journey of Indian cricket commenced a long way back, on the other hand Bangladesh is still a young country to play cricket. When the Bangladesh team wins big against any team other than India, the press of West Bengal becomes typically jubilant. On the other hand when the Bangladesh team defeats India, the loyalties of West Bengalis understandably remain unacknowledged and unpublished which is much wired. (Al Hasan, 2015) Media level Reaction In Bangladesh India cricket match: So the problem arises when Bangladesh turned into a good cricket team. Though India is so friendly with Bangladesh, the Indian media does not give much priority to the Bangladesh cricket team as Bangladesh lags so far behind. Some Indian media humiliate Bangladesh by showing statistics and comparing their players and records. Diverted by the media, Indian fans follow along on social media. Recently, Bangladesh started to show it’s best to beat and knocked England out of the World Cup. It was a great day for Bangladeshis to celebrate. The whole country was engaged in a festive mood and sang in praise for the. But some India supporting channels, newspapers, commentators and even cricket analysts remained strictly prohibited from admiring the Bangladesh Cricket team. Bangladesh was belittled in some cases. They even criticized the celebrations. In the year 2007 this impassivity started back World Cup when India got knocked out because of Bangladesh. Bangladeshi emotional cricket lovers launched a storm on Bangladeshi media and social media as they can not take this slight easily. Bengali people became shocked and outright resentful. As a neighboring and cricket-playing country, India also has a lot of supporters from Bangladesh. In this sub-continent, it can be said that only India has a larger number of cricket supporters than Bangladesh. The impact is significant. Bangladeshi cricket lover have also joined this media war. They started to criticize India and its team; they are showing hateful attitude for India on social media. This will have a great effect in the long run of diplomacy. It could spoil the bilateral relationship between these two countries entirely, because this type of bitter events ultimately turn into a bigger shape in the end. Thus both countries should take that into serious consideration before it turn into a disaster. If it goes on, the stable environment of cricket will be lost eternity in this sub-continent. Pakistan is already facing a problem due to consideration of the safety issue as other countries don’t come to visit them. Now if India and Bangladesh start to hold feelings of hostility, this would make other countries of the cricket playing countries to have some negative feelings towards these countries. Indian and Bangladeshi cricket supporters have a great image across the world for being the most emotional and diehard fans for their respective teams. This image would be ruined for good If their media and people fight each other for cricket. (Al Hasan, 2015) Fan level Reaction In Bangladesh India cricket match: Fans of the Bangladesh cricket team, expecting a series sweep, but suddenly humbled on 2015. They praised and consoled the Bangladeshi players, but had not appreciated for the Indian opponents. They decided to focus on the commendable performance of the national players and declined to make India the object of attention for this series. Before the final match, the atmosphere in the Bangladeshi community was somehow different. Bangladeshi fans lauded the national team’s victory through using some crude sexual terms, such as “baladkar kore de” (rape India). Asif Mohiuddin, who is a Bangladeshi atheist blogger and human rights activist explains the situation. According to him such remarks, which are unwittingly being used by women and children too, venerate a culture where rape is normal; where sexual intimacy is a sign of revenge, humiliation, and domination. This was really shameful. Photo-shopped image of Taskin Ahmed holding severed head of MS Dhoni irked Indian fans in the past and it became viral on social media. On June 27,2015 a leading national newspaper of Bangladesh published a photo along with an attractive titled “We Can Beat South Africa”, in which the confident captain of the Bangladeshi cricket team was seen with an aggressive facial expression and his middle finger propped up. This photo is being interpreted by a few citizens as a subtle reference to the sexualized victory chants that are popular among local fans. Againmany times Sudhir Gautam, the most visible fan of Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, was allegedly attacked with jeers and stones by angry fans near the stadium. (Islam, 2015) Bangladesh Before Controversial Umpiring: Bangladesh cricket team faced crucial umpiring on 2015. There were two umpiring decisions that shocked Bangladesh’s cricket supporters all over. Which made the Tigers ended up losing the game by 109 runs. AHM Mustafa Kamal, president of International Cricket Council (ICC), mentioned that Bangladesh will appeal against the most controversial umpiring decisions during Bangladesh’s quarterfinal game against India in Melbourne. Mr. Kamal, also presented his plan towards the minister of Bangladesh, that he will resign as ICC chief for protesting the “controversial decisions” made by the umpires. AHM Mustafa Kamal, president of International Cricket Council (ICC), said Bangladesh will appeal against “controversial” umpiring decisions during Bangladesh’s quarterfinal game against India in Melbourne today. Earlier in the 34th over, when replays showed majority of the ball had pitched in line with the stumps Mashrafe’s LBW shout was turned down by Ian Gould. Mashrafe quickly called for a review but the third umpire ruled in favour of the batsman, Suresh Raina who was batting on ten runs. Thus the whole match turned out. (Daily Star 2015) Successful Sports Diplomacy by BCB: On 2015, former skipper Shafiq Ul Haque Heera was invited in the last meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as crucial for the country and stating that they became successful in their cricket diplomacy by addressing the challenge and erupting situation. According to him it was a difficult situation in country’s cricket arena after the postponement of the men and women teams’ tour of Bangladesh by Australia and South Africa respectively. It was within a the week-long gap. But Bangladesh successfully accepted the challenge and managed the situation by their tactical and timely cricket diplomacy. After the situation of World Cup 2014, Bangladesh saw it’s worst day in cricket diplomacy. It was a case when it was tried to shift the venue of the showcase event from the country while political mayhem was going on in the country. It was a part of international conspiracy. Then Australia denied to attain Bangladesh for a test match. Then Bangladesh again played a significant role through it’s diplomacy. BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon met the presidents of Cricket Australia (CA). BCB president provided the assurance of high profile security for the foreign teams inside our territory. Australia gave their positive vibes to tour in Bangladesh after getting the promise of high-profile security. Australia narrated that they will talk with Bangladesh as soon as possible to fix a suitable date for the significant tour. Conclusion: Sports is a good medium, by playing mediating and pivotal role in inter-state relations in Asia. Through attaching sports as a scope of international relations it would be a helpful to boost the size of diplomacy for Bangladesh. Cricket as a sport raises mutual understanding and promotes peace between Bangladesh and India. Sport exchanges culture, and furthermore worked as a trigger to overcome prejudice against each other for a long term. As a result, sports exchange between India Bangladesh often have used as a tool of public diplomacy, considering that the aim of public diplomacy is also to see to foster mutual understanding. Bibliography: 1.Islam, M. (2015). “Violent cricket nationalism in Bangladesh” | YourCommonwealth. [online] Yourcommonwealth.org. Available at: http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/social-development/sport-for-development-peace/violent-cricket-nationalism-in-bangladesh/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018]. 2.Chatterjee, G. (2017). Why cricket has been a potent vehicle for nationalism in Bangladesh. [online] Scroll.in. Available at: https://scroll.in/field/804696/why-cricket-has-been-a-potent-vehicle-for-nationalism-in-bangladesh [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018].   3.Al Hasan, A. (2015). "India’s reaction to Bangladesh’s 2015 cricket victory" | YourCommonwealth. [online] Yourcommonwealth.org. Available at: http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/social-development/sport-for-development-peace/indias-reaction-to-bangladeshs-2015-cricket-victory/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018]. 4.The Daily Star. (2015). Bangladesh to appeal against ‘controversial’ umpiring: ICC chief. [online] Available at: https://www.thedailystar.net/online/bangladesh-appeal-against-controversial%E2%80%99-umpiring-icc-chief-72576 [Accessed 16 Apr. 2018]. 5.Talha Sarkar, M. (2015). BCB�s cricket diplomacy pays dividend | Independent. [online] Theindependentbd.com. Available at: http://www.theindependentbd.com/home/printnews/19598 [Accessed 16 Apr. 2018]. 1