A Fan in Dhaka

Day Two

By Jonathan Knowles

Wow, what a day. It’s a little disappointing that the Test match won't be lasting much into day three at this rate, although South Africa were extremely impressive, especially with the ball. Wiaan Mulder picking up the first three wickets was an unexpected bonus and then then Tony de Zorzi's non-bazball fighting innings. I do wonder how Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett would have faced the challenge... are they capable of batting time?

    As the sun started to burn its way through the smog at 7.45am I made my way to the nearby big roundabout to catch an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) to the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. There are actually two ways of getting to the ground from the hotel (discounting any lift in the team bus!): the road or on the single-line, above-ground Metro which opened in December 2022.  This morning I chose the road option, and Sarat was the lucky recipient of my company in the back seat for the first day of the series.

    Travelling anywhere in Dhaka in a tuk-tuk is an exciting experience - although some people might say terrifying. For a start, there is no concept of traffic lanes. And then there is the constant noise, with horns blowing at different pitches from the various modes of transport with which you are competing. There are lorries, cars, dented buses, motorbikes, bicycles, tuk-tuks and rickshaws (the rickshaws ring their bells) all on their way somewhere.  And don't forget the pedestrians trying to cross the road...

    There were people carrying large trays of bananas on their heads whilst navigating their way through the traffic from one side of the road to the other, children on the back of their Dad's motorbike being taken to school, women dressed in saris sitting on a rickshaw busy on their mobile phones, buses full of people with the doors and windows open, lorries carrying vast bags of goods on which people are crouched, motorbikes trying to wrangle their way in between a bus and a sedan car, and rickshaws coming the other way towards us...

    Sarat suddenly screeched to a halt inches before hitting the bus in front of us. Dhaka's roads deal in the smallest of gaps: a large bus pulled alongside (and in front of) Sarat's little tuk-tuk; the gap between us was no more than 10cm.  Any gap in the traffic is seized upon by the first person who sees it.

    The amazing thing is that it all works. Everybody must have an incredible sense of what's going on around them because you don't see any accidents. Sarat dropped me off at Entrance 4 in one piece after 38 minutes of organised chaos. He charged me 300 Taka (US$2.50) for the ride, but I was feeling generous so gave him 500. I asked someone to take a photo of us before we shook hands and said goodbye. I wonder where his next customer took him and how much money he earned today? I was later told that my tip was very generous considering Sarat had already added some ‘tourist tax’ to the fee.

    My ticket to today's cricket said that gates open 2 hours before play (8am). They opened at 9.13am, so not quite the two hours!

    I caught the Metro after the day’s play as a contrast. It was immaculately clean, air-conditioned and just 36 Taka (US$0.30) for a 15-minute journey. It’s going to change travelling in Dhaka (and the lives of its residents) so much for the better, especially when all six lines are open - although who knows how long that huge project will take.

    Let’s hope for at least another 75 runs from the last four wickets and a lead of 100…I’m off to find some street food. The hotel restaurant looks amazing but I’ll save that for later in the week.

+ Jonathan Knowles is a South African cricket fan living in London and a serial adventurer and traveller. Please feel free to buy him a coffee to help off-set the price of the team hotel which is bravely paying for!