Series win against Australia

A series win against Australia in cricket sounds almost unbelievable, no matter in what format of the game. Australia took us for granted and suffered from overconfidence which is known to have played havoc with leading teams especially when they are playing with opponents known for their vulnerabilities. They imposed very harsh conditions for visiting Bangladesh compelling BCB to enforce unusually strict measures including forcible exclusion of our star T20 batsman, Mushfiqur Rahman and Liton Das due to health guideline issues.

However, that does not take anything away from our historic and exceptional performance so far. In a low-scoring wicket to hold the Aussies down on three consecutive occasions speaks volume of our bowlers led by Mustafizur, who has kept the visitors guessing as to how to read him. All through the series he was principally responsible for the host team's as-many-dot-balls-as-possible strategy, with his cutters keeping the visitors bewildered. The last match's penultimate over by him was a master display of thoroughly outwitting the batsmen.

As we celebrate, and there are plenty of reasons do so, we cannot but point out that our top order batsmen have consistently under-performed in this series and there is very little evidence that they are learning from their mistakes. Some shots of seasoned batsmen looked down right infantile coming at moments when the team needed them to score most. Even our middle order batsmen, as a whole, cannot be said to have risen to the occasion. It was the lower-middle order that came together and saved the day.

Mahmuddullah Riyad, provided low key but effective leadership in maintaining high energy level, discipline and overall grip on the game. His timely bowling change decisions were superb.

Perhaps the real good news of the day is the coming together of several youngsters that is changing the face of the Bangladesh team. They are a fresh bunch, unencumbered by the weight of legacy teams nor burdened by the thought of maintaining their own image. They are highly skilled, confident, free-wheeling and dashing players who are out there to enjoy the game as they bring in results. They have outdone themselves and must now show in maturity and temperament what they have shown in skills and tenacity.

   The most important takeaway is that no team is invincible if challenged with hard work, justified confidence and a well-entrenched desire to win based on intelligent strategy and preparation. For Bangladesh, the just concluded Zimbabwe tour provided a much needed confidence booster which may become a game changer if we can build on our learnings. However, unlike in the past when we allowed some historic and really significant victories to get into our heads and thus take our eyes off the task of maintaining our form, fitness and regime, we must not get carried away and treat our series win with maturity and circumspection. But for now, we savour the series win.