Bangladesh feel they have accomplished a mission after beating Zimbabwe 3-0 in the three-Test series to overtake their African rivals in Test rankings and prove their worth.
Bangladesh were languishing at the bottom of Test rankings for several years and the series provided them a rare opportunity to improve that and avoid the ignominious situation.
Zimbabwe won two of their last three Tests before the series, which left Bangladesh in an embarrassing position, something they could only overcome with a convincing win in this series.
This had made the Tigers determined, and now the result is for the world to see. They have now opened up a 14-point gap with Zimbabwe to move to ninth place in the rankings.
While the Tigers won at least one Test in Zimbabwe in their last series, Zimbabwe could dominate them in just one session in this series.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim pointed out on Sunday that barring an hour in the first Test in Dhaka, when they rattled Bangladesh with three wickets for no run, Zimbabwe were never on top.
Once Bangladesh overcame that session to eke out a three-wicket win, they never looked back.
‘Some sessions might have been even, but we dominated them throughout the time,’ Mushfiq said after the third Test in Chittagong, summing up Bangladesh’s performance, which was its most convincing to date.
‘We had 3-0 always in sight… it was nothing unthinkable,’ said Mushfiq. ‘This is quite normal to Bangladesh’s cricket, because against our spinners it was going to be difficult for them.’
‘Credit goes to the bowlers especially, but the batsmen and the runs they scored also have to be thanked. Our key players performed and that’s why this 3-0 was possible.’
One area Bangladesh had identified before the series was that they need to perform as a unit and senior players had to play a leadership role.
Sakib al Hasan’s 18 wickets and 251 runs, Tamim Iqbal’s two centuries in two Tests, Mushfiq’s match-winning 23 in the first Test and Mahmudullah’s three vital fifties would indicate they achieved that goal.
It inspired other players to give their best as Taijul Islam recorded 8-39 in the first Test, Imrul Kayes scored a century in his comeback Test and Mominul Haque overcame the hoodoo of repeated fifties to contribute to Tigers’ success with a century.
‘We tried to set a platform for the juniors so they could enjoy, and they did that,’ said Mushfiq, who also thanked management for preparing pitches suitable to their game.
The pitch was one that gave Tigers their main headache in the third Test, as it favoured batsmen.
Bangladesh came into the fifth and final day needing nine wickets, but there were doubts if they could complete the job.
It did not bounce as much as Dhaka and had lesser turn than Khulna, which meant with better application, Zimbabwe had a chance to survive the day and deny Bangladesh the sweep.
The visitors took on a different strategy by attacking the bowlers to create at least some panic, but they were nowhere close to becoming a serious threat. Mushfiq said Zimbabwe’s penchant for playing shots was their best hope, leading into the final day.
‘We knew that we had to get their best batsmen out in the morning session, no matter how many players were there,’ said Mushfiq. ‘We knew that we needed a few wickets and then we could take the rest because they would be under pressure.’
‘That’s what happened and we won it quite easily in the end,’ he said.
Bangladesh now must wait for the trophy until the five-match one-day series ends. The Bangladesh Cricket Board wants prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to hand over the trophy, which it believes can only be a fitting reward to the players for their commanding performance.
-With New Age input
