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Admittedly Bangladesh's superlative bowling performance put them in the driver's seat in their opening encounter at the World Cup against India today. Mashrafe Mortaza is known enough that the Indians must have been expecting him to bowl well. But Syed Rasel's first delivery, a beauty that beat Sourav Ganguly all ends up, set the bee buzzing in the ears of the batters. And after the two seamers had done early damage to both the Indian innings and confidence, the spinners bowled with verve and enthusiasm - allowing no backdoor from which India could mount a comprehensive recovery.

And yes, Mushfiqur Rahim and Saqibul Hasan's 84 run partnership for the fourth wicket was the one that bought Bangladesh to the doorstep of victory.

But the most important hand in this historic event for Bangladesh was played by Tamim Iqbal, barely 18, who played a crackerjack innings of 51 off only 53 balls.

When Bangladesh came in to bat, their win was by no means certain. Perhaps the wicket would prove difficult enough to now bother the Bangladeshis as well. Perhaps a steady procession of wickets would ensue. Maybe this was about as far as they would get. In a situation like this, someone needed to believe that victory was there for the taking. Someone had to stand up to the considerable experience the Indians brought to bear on the game.

And someone had to take the innings by the scruff of its neck.

That person of destiny for Bangladesh was Iqbal. Early on he was nailed on the throat by a kicker from Zaheer Khan. Off the very next ball Iqbal did something ghastly and immature - he jumped out and flailed wildly at a delivery well outside the off stump. It looked ugly and immature. And you got the feeling that Bangladesh's lack of winning experience might get in the way.

Someone with more years under his belt might have paused. Jitters would have run through his hands and he may even have talked himself into settling in for the long haul. Instead Iqbal upped the ante and launched a blistering attack on the Indian seamers. Zaheer and Agarkar were dispatched summarily, almost arrogantly from well in front of the crease. Munaf, the pick of the Indian bowlers, was hoicked for a six. When Munaf tried to rattle him verbally, Iqbal talked right back to him instead of looking away.

It's always absorbing to see a young gun like Iqbal being hunted by experienced players who've done it before. It's positively thrilling to see that person buck the odds and come up spades. His knock put runs on the board so quickly that it allowed the remaining batsmen the luxury of time to build partnerships with extreme caution.

It was the cornerstone of the victory - a very important one. Because a new generation of Bangla players will grow up believing they will win, instead of dreaming that they might.

Aspi grew up in India and lives in Chicago. He is average at everything, except Math, at which he is terrible. He blogs on a variety of topics.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Former test cricketers Sunday described Pakistan's shocking three-wicket loss against Ireland in World Cup as the lowest point in country's cricketing history.

"It's terrible," said Intikhab Alam, who was the coach when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992.

"Without a hint of doubt in my mind, it's the lowest point in Pakistan cricket," he added.

Pakistan slumped out of the World Cup contention after losing both its Group D games — against host West Indies and Ireland.

"Irish players rose to the occasion, they meant business and looked more motivated than us," Alam said.

Pakistan was weakened by the loss of pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif and key allrounder Abdul Razzaq, who withdrew with injuries on the eve of the tournament.

The Pakistanis also were without the services of allrounder Shahid Afridi against the West Indies and Ireland as the effervescent allrounder served out the final two matches of a four-match ICC ban.

"No matter who was playing for us and who was not (playing), the bottom line is that still we had more experienced players in our ranks than Ireland," Alam said.

Alam advised both coach Bob Woolmer and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to quit soon after coming back to Pakistan.

Another ex-test captain and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif was at a loss of words to describe Pakistan's early exit.

"It's (the defeat) a crime with cricket, what else do they want. It's better they should leave," Latif said.

"As a former test captain I feel ashamed," he said.

"All the (Pakistan) former test cricketers were kept pointing toward the weaknesses in our team for months before the World Cup, but nobody listened.

"I was not expecting such a shameful performance .... I have no words to describe it."

An outspoken former test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz termed defeat as the "worst ever point in Pakistan's cricketing history."

"While watching the match live on TV, I was just cursing myself and saying, 'What's going on?'"

Pakistan had lost to Bangladesh in 1999 in another upset results of the World Cup, but Nawaz said Saturday's loss had no match of it.

"The wicket was suitable for seamers and Ireland won the crucial toss, but we lost fair and square without putting up a fight," he said.

Nawaz demanded that it was now the high time that all the officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board — including captain and coach — should quit.

"If we can't beat Ireland then I think Pakistan cricket is in the wrong hands," Nawaz said.

"It's better that all who are responsible for this should be shown the door."

Chief selector Wasim Bari said that he too was disappointed.

"Like every other Pakistani I am also disappointed and that's all I could comment at this stage," he said.

When asked was he expecting Pakistan to lose against teams like Ireland in the World Cup, Bari refused to answer. "At the moment I can't comment more than what I had said."

The loss against Ireland also disappointed Pakistan cricket fans, who kept watching the live coverage on their television sets until wee hours Sunday.

"Cricket should be banned in Pakistan from today," fumed Yousuf Ali, student of 10th grade.

"Why are they making us fools?" he added.

A businessman Saifuddin Ghulam Abbas said he wouldn't had mind if the defeat had came against Bangladesh or even Zimbabwe — Pakistan last opponent in Group D on March 21.

"But losing to Ireland is simply not acceptable, the whole team should be sacked."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/18/sports/AS-SPT-CRK- World-Cup-Pakistan-Reaction.php

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KARACHI (Reuters) - Angry Pakistani cricket fans took to the streets in protest and burnt effigies of players on Sunday, hours after the side's shock defeat to Ireland in the Caribbean put the 1992 champions out of the World Cup.

Protesters held a mock burial of the team and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Hyderabad city, while posters and effigies of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Bob Woolmer were burnt in the central city of Multan.

Private television channels were flooded with e-mails and calls from angry fans, who wanted the team and the PCB to be held accountable for bringing shame on the country.

Many of them pleaded emotionally for the government to withdraw all awards given to the players and management and freeze their bank accounts.

"That is the least they can do for the shame and disgrace they have brought upon us. They must be made to pay for their spineless performance," one protester, Yasir Ali, said in Multan.

In Hyderabad, Saleem Kazi, a club cricketer and protester taking part in the mock burial, said that as people celebrated when the team won, they had every right to vent their anger too.

Most Pakistanis have a passionate and emotional bond with cricket and the sport receives massive media exposure in a nation of 160 million people.

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