When Bangladeshis failed to redeem their injured pride

Nottingham:

Humiliations and slights usually fire up Bangladesh against India but neither this nor an incentive could perk them up at Trent Bridge last Saturday.

A few of Bangladesh's proven stars were keen to let the Indians know of their worth with telling performances from bat and ball but it wasn't to be.

Mashrafe Mortaza was stupefied during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa recently when his Kolkata Knight Riders team-mate Ishant Sharma didn't have a clue on a few Bangladesh stars.

"Ishant didn't know about Shakib Al Hasan and found it hard to believe that the latter was rated the best all-rounder in ICC rankings," stated Mortaza.

Mortaza, on his part, conveyed it to Shakib Al Hasan who had then vowed in good humour that Indians would know a lot more about him after the June 6 game.

Similar was the case during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean when Mortaza was stuck by Indian star Anil Kumble's assumption that his side would reach the final stages of the competition.

It was a chance meeting at Hotel Hilton in Port of Spain, Trinidad, before the group matches of World Cup. Mortaza had then bumped into Kumble and struck up a conversation.

Mortaza was taken aback when Kumble casually told him that the Indian team was a bit worried that they would get very little gap between the World Cup and their tour to Bangladesh.

"It almost implied that Indians expected to go to the final rounds and as if we didn't matter. I was then determined to prove him wrong."

It's a standard approach by Bangladesh who were initially grateful to the neighbouring Indians for helping them attain the international status. Over the years though it has given way to raging fury below the surface.

Though Indians have in recent years toured Bangladesh but it's a fact they haven't as much as batted their eyelids in cancelling many a proposed visits by their eastern neighbours.

Even in the glamorous and cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), only two Bangladesh players, skipper Mohammad Ashraful and Mortaza, were given a look-in by the franchises discarded with as much haste as with which they were initially signed.

It's a fact that quite a few Bangladesh cricketers want to be signed up for IPL and that they believe only good performances against the Indians would count in the eyes of the franchises.

This, as well as slights, were expected to help Bangladesh punch much above their weight in the lung opener against India on June 6. But then neither worked!.