A big statement: Mushfiqur

There was a time when a Test match against Bangladesh was expected to be a one-sided affair and the Tigers had to struggle to adapt to the longest format of the game while facing a lot of criticism from the cricket pundits.

Things have changed over the years and Bangladesh have started to become a new threat in the Test arena since last year's series against England at home.

Yesterday, the Tigers registered their maiden Test win over Australia after some brilliant cricket sealed a scintillating 20-run win, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the two match series.

According to Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, it is a huge achievement for the Tigers and the win against Australia is a big statement for the cricketing world.

"Obviously, it's a huge achievement and now we can say it's a historic one as you have said before that we are going to play against Australia after 11 years. I think a match itself can't be historic; it's the result that makes it historic.

"England were a strong side and Australia may not have a good record in the subcontinent in the recent past, but they did have their best players in the side. I think we fought neck and neck till the fourth day, but I will say they were ahead of us today [yesterday]. Still, we knew the pitch was helping the spinners and apart from the two batsmen [overnight batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner] they didn't have the experience to survive. These wins will help teams like us become confident and in these times experience counts for a lot, so when we will face these situations again we can handle them better. I think it's a big statement," said Mushfiqur after the historic win over Australia in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The 30-year-old was of the opinion that the Australians have realised that the Bangladeshi players are also aggressive and revealed that there were some fiery words between the sides, reflecting the confidence of the Bangladesh team.

"They [Australia] had the aggression but at the same time they also realised how aggressive Bangladesh can be, not only while playing but also in our body language. If you have noticed, there were six minutes left before the lunch break when [Glenn] Maxwell tried to waste all the time for an over so that they didn't have to face more than an over. A team like Australia, who always try to dominate the opposition, were not willing to play an extra over before the break. That's a big statement. They even exchanged words with our tailenders and also with the junior players as well as the senior members of our team," he said.

Mushfiqur also praised spinners Taijul Islam and Mehehdi Hasan Miraz, but added that they still have a lot to improve and the ability to do better in future.