The scene of the Bangladesh team bus wading through thousands of ecstatic fans at snail's pace on Friday night will remain one of the iconic moments of this World Cup. The almost hour-long ride from the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium to Sheraton Hotel demonstrated the incomparable public support to the Tigers, but the recklessness of some was not missed by even the members of the national team.
Naeem Islam, one of the heroes that night, was one of them who saw bike-riders tagging along the bus throughout the ride. Though Naeem didn't know about the tragic death of young Azad who died after his truck toppled near Banani, 14 others were injured, he said that controlled celebrations have more appeal to him.
"I felt great about the celebrations. Our ride from the stadium was something unique, I never knew that people of Bangladesh are so cricket-crazy," said Naeem yesterday. "But definitely people should be careful and controlled with their celebrations. When we were on the bus, we saw some guys riding desperately on their bikes. It was quite scary actually."
After Bangladesh's dramatic 27-run win over Ireland, the outpour of joy was unrestrained but such scenes were hardly expected. Apart from processions coming out from the different streets of capital, there were instances of fire-breathing, spraying liquid colours as well as youths taking fun rides on the back of pick-up trucks and motorcycles across Dhaka.
"I think as a country we don't get many opportunities to celebrate so when we won, people become very happy. Of course we want everyone to be happy but not at the cost of someone's life," said Naeem, who picked up two wickets in the game and struck 29 runs at a crucial time against Ireland.
While the lack of occasions is one of the major reasons for the unabated celebrations that went deep into the night, several other factors could also be pointed out. The nature of the victory (Bangladesh coming back from a desperate position), the win being the first in this World Cup and the unifying tendency of cricket also contributed to the reaction.
According to S Aminul Islam, professor of sociology at the Dhaka University, the lack of big occasions and the cultural limitation on festivity also make cricket such a cross-culture event.
"Generally, excessive celebrations are not encouraged in our society. The elders would tell you to tone down if you get too excited. But cricket has the uniting factor and everyone simply jumped at the chance to celebrate," said Aminul.
Particularly in the capital, there is no single centre to celebrate together like other cities around the world, observed the expert. "If there was a single spot, there wouldn't be any sporadic incidents," he said, adding that safety should be considered during any big event.
Interestingly though, other cities in the country had large gatherings in a single spot. Shaheb Bazar in Rajshahi, Bogra's famous Shatmatha roundabout, Zinda Bazar in Sylhet and the industrial belts of Khulna metropolitan were thronged by thousands of people minutes after Shafiul Islam took the final wicket. Processions from different neighbourhoods came to the city centres with workers and vendors in Khulna shutting down shops and mills to spend a few hours to rejoice the victory.
The victory against Ireland was Bangladesh's sixth in the World Cup and three more in this tournament would confirm them a place in the quarterfinals. Naeem believed that if all three departments come together against West Indies on March 4, the Tigers have a major chance.
"It's not that the batting will click everyday but I am sure it'll be better against West Indies. If we can bring everything together in that game, I think we have a good chance," said Naeem, who struggled with both bat and ball in the opening match against India.
"I didn't do much in the previous match so it was a fantastic feeling to make a contribution. I was trying to cross the 200-mark because we knew they couldn't chase this total as they haven't done it before in Bangladesh," he said, adding that his father was very happy as the team remained in hunt for a last eight place.
