Sports Desk:

Everything has a price. Every action we take has a ripple effect on our lives and those around us, and each of these consequences has a cost. The cost of our actions may not always be tangible, but it is always there.

These words seemed to be a reality for cricketers cum politician Mashrafee bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan if recent past is taken into account.

On July 30, Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib received widespread criticism after he had a verbal altercation with a spectator following his game for Mississauga Tigers in the ongoing Global T20 in Canada.

The quota reform movement has sparked protests and clashes across various parts of the country during the past two weeks resulting in more than 200 deaths.

During a match in the Global T20, a spectator urged Shakib, who won the last general election in Magura-2 constituency under Awami League’s banner, to speak out as he remained silent during this national crisis.

Shakib asked, “What have you done for the country?” in response  to the spectator, that remark led to widespread criticism, to an extent that BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus said on July 31 that he shouldn’t have said in this manner as he felt everyone contributes for the country in his own way.

On the following day, Bangladesh legendary skipper Mashrafee bin Mortaza was at the receiving end as well. His graffiti that was on the central library’s wall in BUET campus was defaced by students. And it did not stop there. The students had thrown their footwear on it.

It was surely some kind of shock for both the cricketers as they were considered to be ruling in the common man’s heart not long ago.

Their popularity can be compared in different ways.

From a cricketing point of view there is no one close to Shakib in Bangladesh. On the other hand Mashrafee, who is yet to retire from competitive cricket, had always been a man of the common people despite being elected as member of the parliament on two occasions from Narail 2 from Awami League mandate.

Mashrafee had a very colorful childhood on the banks of river Chitra and to date remained close to his roots and did a wonderful job as a law maker to develop his constituency.

It seemed his success as a politician overshadowed his contribution as a cricketer, who played cricket with his heart out and that too having several operations on his knee.

Shakib, on the other hand, had always won the hearts of the people through his cricketing heroics and as a result it did not take long for him to get the backing of the people despite being banned by the International Cricket Council for a year in October 2019.

However, things changed drastically for both of them in the recent past as people are now questioning their stand during the quota reform protest.

For the common people, they seemed more than a politician, an idol to be precise.

Due to their political commitment it was understandable that they would be required to keep their mouth shut in a national crisis but that hardly went on well with the common people. They did not shy away from raising fingers on the duo after they refrained from giving any status on their Facebook platform when their team mates were brave and shared messages of peace and country without bloodshed.

The country will surely be calm sooner than later after the recent storm but whether these two cricketers can win the people’s hearts over their political identity remains to be seen as it seems they are paying the price of their political ambition.