Stage set for another Northampton?

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore will be banking on Mohammad Hafeez to deliver the goods upfront when they take on Bangladesh in the Asia Cup final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. The all-rounder has been in supreme form, both with the bat and the ball.Photo: STAR

May 31, 1999: the date is tattooed on the minds of Bangladeshis. That day nearly thirteen years ago saw an epochal shift in the country's cricket. They became giant-killers for the day when they beat Pakistan in Northampton.
Fast forward to the present, and history is still being written, albeit on an entirely different scale. In the intervening years Bangladesh slowly, painfully at times, stepped up from life as whipping boys to become also-rans capable of springing the odd surprise. Slowly but surely, they became the team that is playing the Asia Cup final today -- a team no longer content to wait in the shadows but eager to take their place on centre-stage.
It will be a monumental effort if Mushfiqur Rahim's men do pull it off. Northampton remains their only win against Pakistan and most matches since then have been quite one-sided.
They almost beat Pakistan in the tournament opener with only some panicked batting when the match was almost in the bag leading to their downfall. They beat the two other Asian giants convincingly and confidently and they bear the look of a team that have grown up in the space of three weeks.
Pakistan's senior batsman Younis Khan said as much when talking to the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
“You cannot say that Bangladesh are lucky to get into the final,” he responded when asked if Bangladesh were fortunate to make the final. “They have improved a lot, they have some aggressiveness in their body language and that helps to bring about positive results. That is the way an international team should play. You cannot count them out before the match.”
Younis thought that it was their body language and the fact that they were contributing as a group that has caused the upswing in the team's results. “Their bowling and fielding has aggression and unlike before it is not only Shakib and Tamim who are playing well. They are playing as a group. You're only a good team when many players perform when needed. When you're chasing a total, it is not only one player who should score 150, four or five players should contribute. Someone may score 40, someone else 50; that is how you win consistently. And they have done that in all three matches in this tournament. That is why they are in the final.”
For the first time in their history, Bangladesh have shown a resilience that seems to have taken them to another level altogether, all of a sudden. Their performance has not only delivered a first major final, but ensured that the two best teams play for the title. In a tournament that had the current World Cup champions and runners-up, that fact alone should give supporters the right to hope.