BANGLADESH has blanked Pakistan 2-0 to win the 3 games ODI series with one game to go. This is the same Pakistan we have failed to win over since that famous World Cup-1999 victory. It has been 16 years. The wins have rejuvenated the whole country and we congratulate our boys taking pride in their feat of success. We were already proud of them with their sterling performances in the World Cup-2015 reaching the quarter finale and they made us proud again with spectacular success against Pakistan. Bangladesh was targeting this victory for long but to beat them so convincingly was not so easy for us to expect. We must say Bangladesh cricket has become a force to reckon with at international level.
It has to be said that they need to work harder and get still the best training possible. The well-deserved victory against Pakistan this time was not that much of a challenge to our team. That was for everybody to see. It is horribly a weak team. It is surprising that no well-known player was included in the visiting Pakistan team.
Bangladesh cricket made its debut in a slow but steady race. The first few years we were happy to have played out just 50 overs while batting. We were happy if a bowler or two troubled the international stars. We were learning and not even competing. We were simply moving into an arena where established nations made us feel like novices. We were learning to crawl.
Bangladesh team has always had good cricketers at domestic level but we waited until 1979 when our team played in the ICC Tournament. Bangladesh won the 1997 leg with players like Akram Khan and Mohammad Rafique standing out. Even with the upset victory over the star-studded Pakistan side, we were never consistent. We entered the arena of glory since inducted to full Test status in 2000, but we were still struggling to travel a lot. Then the 2005 Cardiff win over Australia etched our minds. The World Cup-2007 win where we knocked out India will be cherished. The 2009 Test series win against West Indies gave us first blood in the Test arena. Many dismissed it as a result purely on the basis on domestic unrest of the Indies. But we knew better.
Bangladesh gave the first whitewash to New Zealand 4-0 (one match was washed out) in 2010. We beat the same side again by 3-0 in 2013. We needed to prove ourselves time and again to the World to come to this point. But the year 2014 was a poor year for us as we lost 12 games in a row including Afghanistan and India until we managed a win over Zimbabwe. Many surmise that it was a phase where forces other than pure cricket reared its head. In any case, what matters today are that our team is playing wonderful cricket some players already rated as global level stars. Bangladesh Cricket has good days ahead.
