Bengali Tigers win our hearts

Bengali players after the final

Today's historic Asia Cup final between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be cherished by cricket fans for a long time for many different reasons. However, here, I would like to shed some light on one important aspect called the spirit of the game. In the midst of a competition, we (fans and players) are often so high on adrenaline that we underestimate the emotional aspect of the game; our competitive drive suppresses our ability to think and behave like humans and our narrowly-focused goal of winning at any cost makes us forget that our actions can have dire consequences. For instance, today, Pakistani team and fans were so jubilant after the win that many of us forgot that our counterparts were also humans. On PTV, many fans were shown dancing to the beat music while Bengali players and fans were profusely crying after a heartbreaking loss. After those scenes, I was truly disgusted with myself. Instead of being proud at winning the Asia Cup, I was embarrassed by how insensitive and inconsiderate we have become. I must also admit that Pakistani players and majority of fans acknowledged and praised Bengali players for fighting till the end, some thought that cricket was the true winner today and others went as far as to dedicate this win to Bangladesh. Hence, Pakistan might have lifted the Asia Cup, one thing is guaranteed that Bengali Tigers have conquered hearts of cricket lovers around the world.