<i>Asterisk removed finally</i>
Having beaten a full strength New Zealand 3-0, it can no longer be said that the Bangladesh cricket team does not belong in the top echelons of world cricket. Through ten years of gradual at times frustratingly gradual improvement, a constant refrain from experts and journalists around the world has sounded out Bangladesh's ineligibility to play alongside international cricket's elite teams.
Over the past two years there has been a marked upturn in the team's fortunes; yet the asterisks remained. Even with a Test and one-day series won in West Indies, credit was only grudgingly given because the home team was ravaged by a war between the first-choice players and the board. The lasting impression from that tour was that of a hollow victory.
That is why this latest achievement of the national team will be such a source of joy for their supporters and also, it can reasonably be hoped, a genuine turning point for their fortunes. There are no ifs and buts in this victory, it is as clear as the score line: 3-0.
New Zealand arrived with a full strength team. Even with the first few days of their tour being washed out, it cannot be said that they were unduly hampered by their inability to acclimatise to sub-continental conditions; their last international assignment ending not more than a month before they set foot in Dhaka was the triangular series in Sri Lanka, where they beat India in a league game. Even then, their squad did not include world-class players Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Jesse Ryder, which it does on this ongoing tour.
In fact, had the score line read 3-0 in favour of New Zealand which was the odds on result before the series started Bangladesh would have had a better case for being considered the unfortunate side. They entered this series without Tamim Iqbal, who has been such a talisman for the team of late, and lost their captain and pace spearhead Mashrafe Mortaza by the first over of their fielding effort in the opening game.
This series has highlighted two immensely pleasing aspects of Bangladesh's growth on the world stage a burgeoning bench strength and an ability to win in pressure situations. Their early history is littered with heartbreaking losses when a catch held here or a wide less there could have made all the difference. In this series, two of the three matches were won in the last over with the opposition still in with a chance. In both those games, Bangladesh rose from a position of weakness to emerge victors.
It is also fitting that the player who has done more than anyone to raise the profile of Bangladesh cricket, Shakib Al Hasan, has been at the forefront of this landmark victory, with stellar performances with both bat and ball, and also as stand-in captain.
Websites and news media around the world will probably report this as more New Zealand's failure than Bangladesh's success, The Kiwi captain, however, very graciously admitted that Bangladesh “deserved this victory and they have shown us how to play in these conditions”.
With the World Cup in February at home their next big assignment, those words from a top international captain proves that the team and their supporters can look forward to February with high expectations.
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