Dhaka, Nov. 1 -- For a cricket-mad nation still finding its feet on the world stage, you could hardly imagine a more stunning blow to its aspirations. For a good five years or so now, Bangladesh's self-image as a nation has become inextricably tied to the fortunes of its beloved Tigers on the cricket field, ebbing and flowing with their triumphs and tragedies enacted on the game's great stages. Overall, the team's upward trajectory seemed to match that of the nation it represented on a wider scale.

Coming as it did on the back-end of a period of particular turbulence, during which the players had taken a stance for the long-term welfare of the sport in the country, it came as a double-blow, holding the power to confuse millions of follow...