Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bangladesh vs Canada

I have been reasonably lucky that Canada and Bangladesh have not faced each other much in any sports. I mean, Canada plays ice hockey and all winter related stuff, and Bangladesh is mostly into cricket and soccer.

With Canada's recent emergence in cricket, however, the meetups are becoming more frequent. In August, Bangladesh comes to Canada to participate in a T-20 tournament and will face the hosts, Canada.

So who will I support?Of course this is nothing new - in England they have something called the Tebbit test, which most British of foreign origins fail every time "their" team visits England.

I live in Canada, I work in Canada, I travel everywhere with a Canadian passport. When people ask me abroad "where are you from" I say Canada. When I say home I mean Canada.

Then why do I want the Bangladesh cricket team to win?

My more important question is - does it matter who I support? I am on record saying this to the BBC: "I supported Bangladesh as cricket means more to Bangladeshis than Canadians. If it was ice hockey, curling or skating, go Canada go!"

If you were an immigrant and it's your home country versus your country of origin, who would you support?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't follow cricket much but I would support Bangladesh over Canada any day (born Bangladeshi came here 5 years ago). Imagine if Canada beat Bangladesh and the news reaches my office and the taunting I would get from my co-workers...oh wait, that has happened before!

mezba said...

Farah: Glad to see you back!

Yes I remember during the 2003 World Cup after Bangladesh lost to Canada, I was in a Payless shoe store and the owner (who looked born and bred Canadian) remark to another one "I heard we play cricket nowadays, we are in the World Cup.. and we beat some team too.. Bangladesh I think!"

I made a hasty exit.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see some payback.. You are absolutely right when you say, cricket is life in Bangladesh (just as hockey is to Canada). It would really be bad if Canada bear B'desh again! I am totally not against the Canadian team beating Bangladesh (considering 80% of the team is composed of players whose roots are from South East Asia), but I would like B'desh to put up a fight to save the game of cricket, which for a lot of ppl in Bangladesh is life.

I have seen ppl (of all age groups) crying and not eating food when India loses a match to Pakistan or to any rival. I would expect the same from cricket-frenzy Bangladesh as well.

Go B'desh!

/Behbood

Anonymous said...

I rarely watch any sports,well,it's been a while. But I would be neutral and whichever team wins, I win :)) sf

mezba said...

Behbood: Bangladesh did beat Canada in all forms of cricket ever since that 2003 day - so I don't worry they will do so again, but the problem with Bangladesh is YOU NEVER KNOW.

Canadian team also has a lot of people from the Carribean, so the WI team should also expect a conflict of interest.

Sf: True, whoever wins, "we" win!

Anonymous said...

perhaps i am just not patriotic or into 'team' sports in that way in terms of supporting one team constantly. or giving it much 'meaning'. when i watch a game, i might support one side because i feel like it, i like the way some particular player looks, the way one side is playing, or whatever transient reason - that is relevant to that match.


so in this instance, for bangladesh winning a cricket match is a big deal so i might feel like supporting them just cos i want the players to feel happy, and i reckon it will mean more to them than the canadians.

dunno, team solidarity in a game about a ball, somehow tied into real life identity, is all a bit strange to me. i'd ask people - why team sports is so significant outside the game context.

*ducks for cover!*

mezba said...

Sonia: Meh! You are a girl that's why... sports is life.. :-P

Anonymous said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_test

mezba said...

Koonj: Yup, been there and failed that.