An open letter to some Bangladeshi fans..

Before I address some Bangladeshi fans, here's something I want to say to all Bangladeshi fans - Congratulations! You are no longer the 'so-called' minnows of World Cricket. You have proved beyond doubt that you belong to the big league - definitely in the T20s and ODIs. For all the passion you have shown by supporting your team, you guys deserve every single moment of the success coming your way. Yes, there are challenges that lie ahead, even bigger ones that your team probably haven't been through. But I am sure your team, with your passionate support, will overcome them just the way they did till now. My congratulations again. Maintain your level of passion and see your team take on the biggies of this sport with confidence and hunger to win.

Now, to those few handful of Bangladeshi fans - 

Grow up!

Seriously.

It's one thing to show and exuberate passion for your team. It becomes crass and downright ugly when you cross all limits of sportsmanship. What some of you did creating and sharing the picture of a Bangladeshi player holding the head of MS Dhoni, Indian captain, was appalling to say the least. If you haven't seen that image, search Google for "Dhoni Taskin image". 

Now that the final is done with and Bangladesh lost to a dominating Indian team, I think and I hope, you guys have got a stunning response from MS Dhoni they way only he can respond. He could've negatively commented on it, abhorred it, raised a complaint etc. But he chose to respond on the pitch. And boy, was that some response?

I know that every fan-base has a set of people who spoil the image by crossing the limits of sportsmanship. It happens in every sport. It happens for every team. Bangladesh has a Cricket team that's on-the-up. They are the team that can genuinely pose a threat to the best in the world and probably win it too. They are no longer the minnows who gets defeated by the big guys and who take their share of the revenue and leave the event without a trace. By performing the way they are doing right now, they can stake claim to the biggest share of the spoils.

I can understand the passionate surge you guys are having when your team defeats some of the traditional biggies of the game and reaches the final of a big T20 tournament. We have all been through it. Defeating the all-conquering West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final was India's moment. We were on the world map in cricketing terms. And then there was no looking back. Yes, there were set-backs in between but these things happen. We have had our shares of mistakes too like the 1996 semi-finals against Sri Lanka where some of the fans threw stones / projectiles on the field to stop the game and eventually hand over the match to Sri Lanka. There are many more such instances. We have learnt the lesson the tough way. You are our younger neighbours. Take this as a word of advice - don't repeat the mistakes the rest of the teams did. Don't bring the sport to disrepute. It's not worth it and you will regret this your whole lifetime. You guys are great fans supporting a soon-to-be-great team. Don't spoil it.

As fans, the best you can do right now is to support the team and accept the results coming your way. It's a sport after all. Treat it like one.

Let's move on.