BERMUDA’S national cricket coach Gus Logie hailed Bangladesh’s teenage players this week after watching them help beat powerhouse India in their first Group B game. And although Bangladesh were thoroughly beaten by Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Logie said he wasn’t surprised at how the teenage trio of Tamim Iqbal, Saqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim had performed against India.“I am not surprised by Bangladesh’s young players at all,” said Logie who has had Bermuda’s players gearing up for their final Group B game against Bangladesh on Sunday in Trinidad.

“Having been around the Associates for a number of years I know that many of the Bangladesh players have been pretty young. They have come through the Under 19 tournament and their success is not surprising to me.

“Although they are young players in terms of age, in terms of experience they are quite mature. They have been playing at a high level for a while now.”

It is a rather poignant story — three kids, who should be in school, or just out of it, going to play for a weak team in the World Cup, and beating up on a bunch of hardened pros who are strong title contenders.

Tamim Iqbal, Saqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim took on the combined might of an Indian team that have players who have scored 10,000 runs in one-dayers, clocked over 300 matches, played international cricket for a decade-and-a-half, and came out smiling, on top.

Tamim Iqbal, the youngest member of the side and in just his fifth one-dayer, led the charge of the youth brigade with an audacious 53-ball 51, oozing confidence from every pore and charging the fast bowlers with gusto. What followed was a clinical finish, led by Saqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, two batsmen widely touted as the stars of the next generation. Their 84-run stand — laced with cool and class — clinched the victory. With nine deliveries left, Mushfiqur caressed Munaf Patel through the covers to trigger off joyous celebrations at the Queens Park Oval.

And the celebrations back home in Bangladesh — and the recriminations in India — just shows the passion cricket is taken in the subcontinent, said Logie.

In Bangladesh a government ban on public gatherings was forgotten after the famous victory over India as thousands of jubilant fans celebrated into the wee hours.

Deafening sound broke the night silence as thousands roared and waved flags on the Dhaka University campus and elsewhere in the capital to celebrate the five-wicket win at Port-of-Spain.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, the head of the military-led government, joined the late-night crowd to congratulate the Bangladesh team on their historic feat.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January, when the country’s president cancelled elections and stepped down as the head of the interim government. A military-backed new government took over and imposed the ban on processions, meetings, marches and rallies as part of the emergency measures.

The government power company even conserved electricity for Sunday night to ensure uninterrupted coverage. In India, it was just the opposite.

Their fans pelted stones and started to knock down a house being built by wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni and burnt effigies of captain Rahul Dravid and the team’s Australian coach Greg Chappell following India’s shock defeat.

And before the last World Cup, crowds attacked batsman Mohammad Kaif’s house after the team lost a warm-up game and struggled to beat Holland in the opening match.

At the 1996 World Cup, a violent Eden Gardens crowd forced the semi-final against eventual champions Sri Lanka to be abandoned with hosts India on the verge of defeat.

Logie said: “When you look at Bangladesh, Pakistan and India they are all so passionate about the sport. They have such a passion for the game — it is a culture just like it is in the Caribbean. They want to do well for themselves and their countries and it gives them an opportunity to travel the world — enjoy a lifestyle that is fit for kings and queens.” But the backlash to defeat can be furious.

“There is a huge and fierce competition for places in the team in those countries. You have to be on the top of your game all of the time — you cannot afford to slip up.”

Comparing the responses of the fans in the subcontinent to those in Bermuda, Logie laughed and said: “I don’t think you will see anything like that (tearing down players’ houses and burning effigies) happening in Bermuda. It tells you how passionate those fans are.

“And it is also economics as well — in those countries countless millions of dollars have been invested. When they play everything stops in those countries.”

Of the Bermuda players in Trinidad for their first ever World Cup, Logie said: “It is growing on the players, everything, the whole occasion. I think they are settling down. They are starting to focus and they can produce something of note and we trust it will continue.”

While most of the Associate nations have been hammered by the Full Members, Logie said he was extremely happy when Ireland scored a massive upset over Pakistan.

“The Ireland game was shocking — but not that unexpected. A lot of the Associates have made a lot of strides and they have players not necessarily born in their islands but who come from overseas and are now living in those countries. They have Australians and South Africans and they are bringing in their own experiences and a hard-nose approach to the game. The Associates are improving along the lines as the Full Member teams — their professional outlook and the way they prepare. And most of the players in the Associates want to prove a point.”

But while Bermuda have played a lot of cricket leading up to this World Cup, Logie said they have not played against the quality as Sri Lanka and India.

Playing against teams which have the quality of the Full Members would obviously help, he said.

“We have played quite a lot of cricket over the last year and a half leading up to the World Cup so I don’t think we are short of cricket. But the quality is the difference. They (the Associates) don’t have the bowling quality as the Full Members. But the more you play the more you get used to the format of the game and get used to the partnerships and the patience that is required — how you bowl line and length.

“Experience will always tell. The Kenyans have been involved with the one day (format) for a quite while now and they are still finding it tough.

“The World Cup is always going to be hard for even the most experienced of the Associates members.”

Coming up against the pace of such bowlers like Malinga from Sri Lanka is always going to be extremely difficult for the Associate members, said Logie.

And while some have said more training is needed with the bowling machine cranked up, Logie said: “It is not the same thing — the pitches play differently. There are a lot of different things you have to take into consideration.”

Bermuda played against Bangladesh in a Tri-Series tournament in Antigua in February leading up to the World Cup and if that result is anything to go by then the island’s players are in for tough challenge come Sunday.

Bangladesh beat Bermuda by eight wickets then.

Of his future with Bermuda, Logie said: “I have a contract until 2009 and I fully intend to fulfil that and afterwards we will assess where we are.”