The much awaited T 20 match contest between two ICC full member country Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could last only 11 overs Bangladesh was recovering from 6/3 in the fourth over to 59/3 in 11. Not a great going. But a score of 130 -140 was possible.

On the other hand Bangladesh could even collapse below 100 in keeping up with its recent tradition. But the match was rained off and in accordance to the rule of the tournament Toss of coin was arranged. Then Cricinfo wrote-

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The ground remains unplayable. Match Referee Venkatapathi Raju has taken the two captains out to toss for the result. Raju tossed. Lahiru Thirimanne called. "Tails". Tails it was. Sri Lanka are through to the Asian Games Final where they play Afghanistan for gold tomorrow. No rain is forecast for that game or the Bronze Medal playoff where Bangladesh takes on Hong Kong.  ”

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Do not get me wrong .As any other Bangladeshi anywhere of the world I was sincerely wishing Bangladesh to win and was checking the score regularly from inside MCG Museum at Melbourne which I was visiting with an adoring South African cricket lover.

While watching 3D animated Shane Warne description of his cricket exploits the rain stopped the match at Incheon after 11thover. The cat and mouse continued .There was desperate try to even go for a 1 over match. But ground did not recover and lady luck smiled on Sri Lanka. Bangladesh had another heart break. The star studded Bangladesh team will now have to fight for the third place with Hong Kong the team that has beaten Bangladesh in T20 World Cup.

It was very difficult from the state of the game when rain interfered that which of the teams was in control. But with Tamim firmly settled and Shabbir playing well Bangladesh was well and true in the contest. It is Asian Games.

It is played after every four years. In such a game the semifinals and finals must not be decided on the toss of the coin. An additional day or some formula of evaluation of  earlier matches can be thought of for deciding the winner .The toss of coin is a gamble .In Cricket different kind of gambling is getting rampant ( do not get me wrong here again).

This morning Aminul Islam Bubul ACC Development Officer and one of the key official of Asian Games Cricket from Incheon was chatting with me I asked him why an extra day in anticipation of weather inference could not be considered for semifinals and finals only .Bulbul replied ACC had to do lot of struggles with Asian Games officails to keep cricket included in the game as the Asian heavyweight India showed reluctance to be part of it. Possibly BCCI is not interested that Cricket develops in associate member countries in Asia.

Coming back to Bangladesh fate of cricket in 2014 its misfortune in international cricket continued in 2014. The Tigers cannot even match the achievement of Tigress this time and will be contend with a bronze. We are disappointed as we thought retaining gold could have given a great moral boost for Bangladesh Cricket team before the home series against Zimbabwe.

But when we think the win would have also given some escape route for the faltering cricket management of BCB I would say the result is not that less befitting. A win would have made all bitter memories forgotten .Selectors and team management would have stopped doing soul searching .No one would be interesting in asking BCB the reasons for poor overall performance of cricket .

Even today three top order wickets were blown away in the twinkling of an eye and there was no guarantee that we would not have experienced a repeat of yesterday’s middle order collapse. Teenage prodigee Taskin Ahmed badly needs more and more international exposure .We did not find any logic why he was not in the team in either of the matches. The selectors can only explain their logic. When going gets tough even nature disfavors .That is what we can conclude about Bangladesh losing the toss of the coin.

Afghanistan with its second string team will play Sri Lanka for the gold and a win for them will give them a huge boost for the mission ICC 2015 .The main team is now acclimatizing in Australia New Zealand now and have already won few matches . Sri Lanka on the other hand has all the elements to win the gold and add another feather to their cap after Asian Cup and World T 20 trophy.

BDST: 1553 HRS, OCT 02, 2014