IND vs BAN: Visa restrictions impede travelling fans from Bangladesh for Test series against India

Bangladesh will be missing friendly faces in the stands due to visa restrictions when it takes on India for the two-match Test series.

File photo | While the away fans may be found wanting at the venue, the Bangla Tigers would hope to replicate its success from Pakistan where it emerged triumphant for the very first time last month despite very little support from the crowd. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu

The Bangladesh men’s cricket team finds itself in a quagmire. As if the task of putting host India to the sword in a Test series isn’t already Herculean enough, Najmul Hossain Shanto and his boys will also be missing friendly faces in the stands when the battle lines are drawn in Chepauk on Thursday.

Starting in June, Bangladesh was rocked by violent student protests against a controversial quota system in Government jobs. After its embattled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on August 5, a state of political flux eventually culminated in all Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs) in the country shutting down indefinitely.

Although some IVACs have started offering limited appointment slots for Bangladeshi nationals lately, the services are reserved for only those who require urgent medical and student visas. While that will keep an overwhelming majority of the fans from travelling down to India to watch the two-match Test series, some sports aficionados are built different.

The name Shoaib Ali Bukhari may not ring a bell, but even the most episodic of cricket followers would know who ‘Tiger Shoaib’ is. His tiger-themed body paint, a common sight in Bangladesh’s matches, is impossible to miss even in packed stands.

A Dhaka-based mechanic, Shoaib has been following the Tigers like their shadow for over 12 years now. And it’s not an easy job, especially with the telling financial implications it comes with. But every time he has been found with his back to the wall, an opportunity has presented itself.

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In 2013, when he didn’t have the funds to fly to Sri Lanka to watch his team play, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) came to the rescue. Later that year, some acquaintances and Board members came together to sponsor Shoaib’s trip to Zimbabwe.

When the Indian embassy in Bangladesh shut the door on Shoaib this time, he flew to Maldives to have his application reprocessed from there. “I am currently in Maldives to apply for the visa from here because there isn’t much crowd here and it doesn’t even have the concept of serial numbers. I have already applied on September 16 and my return to Dhaka is on the 18th. If I get a flight to Chennai on that day itself, I will come on the 18th, else will land on the 19th. Yes, I am spending a lot of money but hope it works out.”

While he had, on earlier occasions, often been helped by the erstwhile Ministry of Home Affairs and the Board, the current political unrest has rendered those channels shut as well. “This time it wouldn’t have been easy. When the Maldives idea came up, India’s superfan Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary also supported me. When I reach India, I will be staying with him. People discouraged me saying I could skip this series. But I love cricket, and I love this team. It will bother me if I don’t at least put in an honest effort and just let it go.”

Saiful (L) came to India with a medical visa with Arshad (R). | Photo Credit: Rajdeep Saha/Sportstar

When Shoaib’s flight finally touches down at the Chennai airport, he will be joined by a few of his compatriots, mostly medical tourists, on his way to the stadium. Around 15 Bangladeshi journalists, whose visas had to be facilitated by the BCB, will also be on their way. A few more scribes may tag along if they get their visas on time. The numbers may not be promising but one can only go so far when the circumstances are unavoidable.

Arshad and Saiful, both 41, have been friends since 2000, coincidentally the same year in which Bangladesh played its first-ever Test match. The duo is in the city with a medical visa for Saiful, a sports equipment shop owner in Dinajpur. They are planning to swing by the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium if the dates don’t clash with their doctor’s appointment at a private hospital on Greams Road.

Despite the probability of the fandom having taken a hit against the existing socio-political backdrop, Saiful believes the interest hasn’t dwindled. “If the interest had gone down, then I wouldn’t be planning to watch Bangladesh play on Indian soil on a medical trip,” he said.

A comparatively newer Test side, Bangladesh has featured in only one Pink-Ball and 143 red-ball games since the turn of the century. It has locked horns with India on 13 occasions in the longest format of the game, losing 11 of those contests and playing out a draw twice. However, skipper Shanto would draw confidence from the fact that the side is coming on the back of a historic 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan.

Turja Ray, a college student hailing from Khulna, had accompanied his 62-year-old father Nihar Ranjan Ray (in picture) to get a routine checkup done.  | Photo Credit: Rajdeep Saha/Sportstar

An ardent follower of former skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Arshad, though, is a realist. “What we did against Pakistan was remarkable but defeating India in India is a very difficult task. It isn’t impossible. Inshallah (I hope they are able to beat Rohit Sharma and Co.). Even if they go down, they will go down with a fight,” he said.

Turja Ray, a college student hailing from Khulna, had accompanied his 62-year-old father Nihar Ranjan to get a routine checkup done. While they had planned on staying back to watch the Test match, an early appointment at the healthcare centre meant their India sojourn had come to a premature end.

“We would have surely tried to watch the match. The way Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim batted against Pakistan, it would have been great to rally behind the team,” said Nihar.

Turja added: “If one looks at team strength, then India is better. The momentum is with Bangladesh. But then India is coming on the back of a T20 World Cup win. I wish both the teams all the best, but my support will be with Bangladesh.”

While the away fans may be found wanting at the venue, the Bangla Tigers would hope to replicate its success from Pakistan where it emerged triumphant for the very first time last month despite very little support from the crowd.