Aftab Ahmed was ready with the bat. Shaggy-haired Jason Gillespie starts his run up. Bangladesh needed 7 runs in the last over. Aftab hit Gillespie's ball at mid-wicket for a huge six. In that match in Cardiff in 2005, there was a storm of joy in Bangladesh's dressing room after the world champion Australia were defeated. English fans in Wales also danced and sang to greet the future superpower of cricket- Bangladesh.

A long time has passed since then. Cricket has entered into the bones and marrow of Bengalis. Stars like Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah, Mustafiz, Liton, Taskin have worn the jersey of Bangladesh to shake the world. And yes, the fund of Bangladesh Cricket Board has also accumulated 900 crore rupees. And, what is there to say? Yes, there is a healthy board president, a few selectors to name a few and a few sports journalists who are cricket experts. What else do you want? That's all the achievements of Bangladesh cricket after spending 30 years in international cricket. And the ultimate goal of BCB is to take 900 crores to 1000 crores. It doesn't take much to move on that path, as long as 18 million consumer viewers are staring at this miserable board. Frankly BCB only wants to continue its business with cricket, by retaining their syndicate. Cricketers are not hungry for overall development!

Everyone knows that there is a board to manage cricket in Bangladesh. That board has its board president, who in many respects is better known than many cricketers. It is impossible that Bangladesh will play cricket on the field and the board president will not come to the discussion. Whether the team wins or loses, Karitakarma Papon sahib is awash in social media. However, this person and other members following him have been sitting on the neck of BCB for almost 10 years in 3 consecutive terms. Which is almost unprecedented in world cricket. Let's see how far they have advanced cricket.

The business-friendly BCB has made Bangladeshi cricket a city-centric or simply Dhaka-centric game. Most of BCB's activities are based in Dhaka. For a long time, Bangladesh's international matches were held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Bangladesh did not play much then. From 1988 to 2000, Bangladesh played only 13 matches at this ground. Later MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna and Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Narayanganj were added to this list. A statistic will explain the matter. In 2006, Bangladesh played 13 ODI matches at home. And these 13 matches were held outside Dhaka in Khulna, Chittagong, Narayanganj and Bogra. The solid foundation of Bangladeshi cricket was actually created then. Many talented cricketers emerge in age-based cricket. Today's Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah came through that pipeline. The success of these players has taken the Bangladesh team so far. And the current BCB officials have taken advantage of the growing popularity of cricket in Bangladesh. They are currently the fifth richest cricket board, ahead of South Africa or New Zealand.

But a review of what BCB has done in the last 10 years needs to be done. After receiving Odia status in 1997, where cricket was somewhat decentralized in the next 10 years, in 2023 Bangladesh cricket is now completely dependent on Mirpur. Sher Bangla National Stadium's journey begins with the 56th match at home. Since then, Bangladesh has played 140 more ODI matches, out of which 103 have been played at this one ground. Sometimes two matches are organized in Chittagong and Sylhet. You all know the current situation of other fields in the country. So much for the inadequacy of international venues. The state of the domestic league is more pathetic! Consider the current T20 Premier League. While tournaments like the IPL have played an important role in taking Indian cricket to new heights, the BPL, which started in 2012, has gone in the opposite direction. The quality of day-to-day reading is unmatched.

The BCB president and his directors are focusing so much on the national team that they have forgotten about other important issues like the development of domestic cricket infrastructure which is deteriorating day by day. Cricket related people are not interested in first class cricket. The most surprising fact is that now there is no domestic tournament at U-19 or U-23 level in this country. Whereas, India has more than 150 4-day matches at U19 and U23 levels, with a similar number of ODIs. To be clear, you are seeing the rise of Afghanistan right in front of your eyes. Cricket in Afghanistan was not well born when our Board President came to BCB. Afghanistan now says how many beats Bangladesh at home. How new stars are appearing regularly in Afghan cricket which is plagued with various problems. Countries like Afghanistan now have 6 50-over tournaments, including two age-based ODI competitions at U19 and U16 levels. And we have only the Dhaka Premier League. And there has been endless corruption, biased umpiring towards certain teams for years. And the game is played on low quality ground and pitch.

If you want to create alternative players for Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah with this Premier League, then what can be more stupid than that? Let's talk about this year's World Cup. Bangladesh is playing the one-day World Cup for the seventh time. Bangladesh is the only team in this tournament to have two cricketers playing their fifth World Cup. Mahmudullah Riyad is playing the fourth World Cup of his career alongside Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim.

These three seniors are the 'nucleus' of the current Bangladesh team. Mainly based on their performance, the team is still moving forward and relying on them the most in times of need.

Other teams also have seniors, but alongside them, younger generations of cricketers are sharing the responsibilities. In this place, the condition of Bangladesh can be said to be deplorable. Youngsters like Heinrich Klaasen playing shoulder to shoulder with seniors like De Kock in the South African team, or Shubman Gill-Shrews Iyer being able to take the pressure off Kohli-Rohit in the Indian team, have you seen anything like that in the Bangladesh team? New comers are doomed to failure. Even the U-19 World Cup winners cannot consistently match themselves on the main stage, where young cricketers from other countries are constantly setting new records. If this continues, and no alternative to Shakib Tamim can be made, then Bangladesh cricket will surely turn upside down.

Remember Kenya? What a great team, who were called 'Giant Killers'! They defeated Brian Lara's West Indies when they came to play the World Cup for the first time in 1996. In the 2003 World Cup, the team that defeated Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and reached the semi-finals! But where is that group today?

Kenya is a shining example of how a country's cricket can be destroyed by unplanned leaders. Odumbe-Tikolora was then Kenya's Shakib-Tamim. The country's cricket managers failed to produce any better players after their Odumbe-Tikolo. As a result, Kenyan cricket gradually disappeared.

Again, everything cannot be blamed solely on BCB. The players also have to take this responsibility to some extent. What is clear in the last few years, the stars of Bangladesh are more focused on outdoor games than playing on the field. However, the role of BCB president Nazmul Hasan cannot be concluded in this case as well. He was the one who basically initiated the mutual mud-slinging outside the field. Shakib-Tamim's open conflict before the World Cup, the internal relations of the rest of the players are a sign of an ominous future for Bangladesh cricket.

Discussion about Bangladesh national cricket team and team players is not the first time. Over the past five years, this chaos has gradually become apparent. Cricket has been politicized like everything else. Take the words of Mashrafe! He was suddenly made an MP overnight in a questionable election. Many things can be seen in the way he left the national team. Take Shakib's words. So far Shakib is the greatest cricketer of all time in Bangladesh. There is no doubt about it. But what BCB has been able to hold the reins? The culture of mistrust and unethicality created by the BCB itself and the BCB's lifetime boss is very difficult to overcome.

However, this national cricket team of Bangladesh used to lose almost every match. However, the people of the country have given them unwavering support. After qualifying for the World Cup by winning the ICC Trophy in 1997, there was strong talk that the Bangladesh cricket team would one day win the cup like Sri Lanka.

We used to dream of winning the world, especially in the hands of Shakib-Tamim, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah. That dream remains elusive. 26 years of Bangladesh on the world stage have passed? Any dreams about cricket are gray now. This is how the business-friendly BCB wants to proceed. Match after match will be won in the decorated field of Mirpur, the audience will be cheering. But the 180 million spectators who are supporting Bangladesh cricket with great hunger and hope will continue to be cheated, and the World Cup will remain elusive forever.