Published: Apr 25, 2015, 08:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 27, 2015, 10:41 PM (IST)
On Friday, Bangladesh cruised to victory against a higher ranked side yet again. The latest victory against Pakistan in the one-off T20 International (T20I), which was their 12th consecutive international victory at home. Since the World Cup this side is looking like a team on a mission. Sandipan Banerjee unveils the secret behind Bangladesh’s sudden rise in the international cricket.
Of late, Bangladesh cricket is going through a purple patch, though one feels, the word ‘Purple patch’ is an understatement. On the field, it has been wonderful last six months for this small nation, the best they have ever experienced in their cricketing history. The Mashrafe Mortaza-led side is unbeaten at home in their last 12 international games, which includes three Tests, eight One-Day International (ODI) and one T20I. Bangladesh vs Pakistan 2015, one-off T20I at Dhaka: Highlights
The team, which had an dismal 2014, in which until November they failed to win a single ODI and lost to teams like Afghanistan and Hong Kong (In T20I), suddenly rose out of the Ashes. In ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, apart from their ever enthusiastic supporters, no one had given them any chance of succeeding. Bangladesh managed to reach to the last eight stage from a group which had teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka etc. Undoubtedly, it was their best ever world cup campaign. Now straight after the World Cup, they have thrashed Pakistan on all occasions. Shahid Afridi signals for a review in a T20 International
What exactly has happened to Bangladesh cricket suddenly? Why this abrupt change of fortune? Well, to find out the answer these questions, the first thing, which needs to be clear is Bangladesh have undoubtedly earned the way to glory. They rightly deserved it, luck has played very little part. Pakistan’s loss to Bangladesh lowest point in cricket history: Imran Khan
The current bunch of players at this moment, are without any doubt, some of the best cricketers, Bangladesh have ever produced. This present side is by far Bangladesh’s best ever cricket team. From gutsy and gifted batsmen like Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim young Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahaman to some talented bowlers like Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny — they have every required ammunition, which a top cricket team should have. PCB chairman ‘deeply disappointed’ by Pakistan’s series loss to Bangladesh
But talent was never the problem with Bangladesh cricketers, it lacked the right attitude and self belief. The change of attitude, change of mindset, has done wonders for Bangladesh cricket and this is the secret of their sudden rise.
Friday’s T20I was a classic example of this change of attitude.
Chasing 142 to beat Pakistan, Tamim came out all guns blazing against Mohammad Hafeez, who is a very good bowler against the left-handers. Tamim hit him for one six and couple of fours in the very first over of the run-chase and set the tone for the innings. Eventually Bangladesh won their first ever T20I against Pakistan. Have you ever seen an aggressive mindset from any Bangladesh team before? Pakistan cricket’s domestic structure needs to be strengthened, says Shahryar Khan
Also during that run chase, at one point of time Pakistan managed to pick three important wickets and at the time when the game was evenly poised. But Shakib and Sabbir did not seem under any kind of pressure against a strong Pakistan bowling unit. Especially Shakib, who was handed over more responsibility and sent out bat at No.3, kept on playing his shots, which did not allow Pakistan to build any kind of pressure.
We have seen this attacking approach, throughout the ODI series. Even during their dream run in last World Cup, Mortaza’s boys took the attack to the opposition, like Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lanka in 1996, and produced the right results. They fought their way to victories from tough situations against in the historic game against England. Even while playing against the red hot favourites New Zealand, the men in green showed excellent fighting spirit and took the game down to the wire.
In modern day cricket, top limited overs teams like Australia, India, New Zealand play their cricket exactly like this. They play without the fear of losing. Bangladesh have finally adopted the right path and with the current bunch of players they can afford to play like this. Soumya Sarkar’s maiden hundred scripts historic ‘Bangla-wash’
The credit for this change has to be given to their coach Chandrika Hathurusinghe, bowling coach Heath Streak and the ever aggressive captain, Mortaza. The combination of these three has injected this brand new approach into Bangladesh cricket. If they can keep this right energy and right attitude going, soon Bangladesh will become the team to beat in the cricketing world.
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
