Tigers making it a habit

The quietness of a chilly spring dawn was broken with loud cheers: 'Bangladesh, Bangladesh!'

There were celebrations in the streets but people were in small numbers, it being difficult to gather so many people at that time before the start of a day.

It was, however, not the reason behind lack of wild jubilations on Sunday. One has to look elsewhere. It seems that the fans of Bangladesh cricket has also making a habit of seeing their favourite team winning.

Bangladesh's remarkable five-wicket victory against World Cup title aspirants India undoubtedly made the country's cricket crazy fans proud regardless of age and class, but they never got too emotional like the past.

"I simply had no words to express my emotion. What I can only say that I am not surprised by this victory," was the prompt reaction of Amjad Ahmed, a businessman.

The lack of excessive celebration has only mirrored that how confident even the common people have grown about their beloved team who -- going up the graph in recent years -- have beaten all sorts of teams from Australia to the minnows.

There was no shortage of excitement though, with the Dhaka University campus being the focal point of celebrations.

"What a night it was! I'm excited by the tremendous victory but by no means I am as mad as I had been when we beat Australia because, our performances in the last few months gave me the impression that they can beat any side in the world," said Bakhtiar Hossain, student of DU.

For most of the people the morning started a little late: they were glued to television sets from evening to early Sunday morning to watch the valiant effort by Habibul Bashar's men against a formidable India in Port of Spain.

But once the city life got back its normal rhythm, one topic dominated every discussion from a street teashop to a posh restaurant: the heroic success of Bangladesh cricket team. The Tigers' victory brought a breath of fresh air in the life of the hard-to-live city dwellers.

"It was not so easy to go to bed immediately after the finish of the match. Because it was hard not only for me but also the other family members -- gripped by emotion -- to ease the adrenalin. Actually, at no point we thought that Bangladesh could lose the game. It looks clear that they have already accustomed to the winning habit," reacted Arefin, a BBA student.
"We are used to hero worship Tendulkar, Sourav or Akram. Now we have our own hero, it’s a great feeling," he added.

It was, however, very hard for garment worker Jasim to pass a sleepless night as he must join duty in the morning but even he embraced the sweet hassle.

"Was it possible to miss the match? I can't explain how I feel. I never lost confidence on the team. I am looking forward to more success in the World Cup. I am confident because winning matches is nothing new for us any more. I told one of my friends after Bangladesh beat New Zealand that we will play in the semifinal. He simply laughed at me but now he even thinks beyond the second round," said the excited young man from Satkhira.

Even a vendor was as philosophic as any other credit pundit: "Ami Ashcharja hoi nai karon era khub bhalo khele (I am not surprised because the boys are playing good cricket)," said Hashmat.

"We want to see our team go far from only one victory," was the common feeling.

And why not, the Tigers just roared off the mighty Indians! It seemed that the hunting party had left their rifles back home and just a 'licence to kill' was not enough for the former world champions.