Tigers On MCG Mission….Saleque Sufi

….Tigers On MCG Mission….

The spirit that I have seen yesterday at and around Iconic MCG, Federation Square last afternoon and evening was the same I saw on the historic 7 March 1971 at Ramna Race Coerce, the same feeling I had as teenager over the entire period of the liberation war in 1971. Our Brave Bengal Tigers have turned Melbourne into Mini Bangladesh. Joyful and cheerful Bangladeshis have assembled from Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and Cairns. Many came from New Zealand, USA, Canada,UK , Western Europe and off course from Bangladesh .We had a great grand gathering of Bangladeshi Cricket lovers at Federation square last evening .Some Indian media journalists were with us . Our Cricket legend Bulbul was interviewed on Indian electronic media .Great Omar Khaled Rumi was interviewed by SBS. Confidence is oozing from every tiger.

We have organized a brief musical session before the match at fans corner of Federation Square, a tiger parade will start from there at 12:30 PM for MCG .We will turn MCG the Sundarban mangrove forest –the happy hunting ground for Bengal tiger’s .We will see Tiger Mashrafee leading out his team with his traditional Tiger Cheer. Our able commander will lead Bangladesh on the Cricket Frontier .We will hunt down Indians.
Aminul Islam Bulbul, the first centurion of the very first test against India at Bangabandhu National stadium Dhaka looked very impressive in TV talk show alongside with Naser Hossain (English Captain) and Dada Shourav Ganguly yesterday on Indian Headline News. Bulbul told me he could feel Sourav’s hurt pumping .The interviewer was the famous Indian Cricket writer who authored great Tendulkar Auto Biography.

The spirits we have seen on the eyes of the players and every Bangladeshis we met around MCG, Federation Square gave me a feeling that the euphoria has gripped the great Bangladeshi nation all over the world .We can feel what is the environment in Bangladesh
The sky is under cloud cover in the morning at Melbourne. I can see cloud gathering in Melbourne Sky., Forecast says it will remain like this till 7PM .By then 65% of the match will be done and dusted .There may be few spells of shower after 7PM .Batting first may be a bit tricky .But if opportunity comes our way we must bat first, score 300 plus and add pressure on Indian batting which appeared brittle at times in Australian summer. The Indians are not invincible .Indomitable Mashrafee led pace battery can hurt Indian top order. If that happens Indian batting will bleed. Bangladesh now is brilliant fielding unit .We have good energetic fielders and inspired bowlers .Taskin and Rubel are two worthy lieutenants of Mashrafee. We have to appear with 5 genuine bowlers .We do not need to stuff the team with 8 batsmen. If 7 cannot deliver what the 8th batsman will do .Rather an additional bowler in the armory will be useful. Bangladesh is badly missing experienced Abdur Razzak .He was so useful in batting power play early on and at death.

My team for MCG would be
Tamim Iqbal ,Soumya Sarkar ,Mahamudullah Riyad , Shakib Al Hasan , Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafee Bin Murtaza, Arafat Sunny ,Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed. I thought of playing Mominul .But BCB think tank has shattered his morale. Arafat Sunny can have few overs early on to stifle Shikhar Dhawan. Kohli may be brought at the wicket early .He is not a good starter .We must plot his early demise. The top six Indian batsmen and Dhoni are world class. Indian team has lot of stake at MCG .It is India which is under lot of pressure. Bangladesh will play fearless brave cricket come what may. We will celebrate the night at Federation Square after the match. We will win MCG , we will set a date with Australia or Pakistan at SCG on 26 th March .Chalo Bangladesh