Sri Lanka captain Rangana Herath’s full toss and Mehedi Miraz sweeping that to the deep backward square leg means not only hitting the winning runs of an ordinary test match, those are extremely precious runs for winning the ninth test match and what best could we have expected than winning it on the occasion of playing Bangladesh’s 100th test match.
It definitely was fitting to see the captain Mushfiqur Rahim while he was running and cheering aloud. His sixth test win as a captain and incredibly valuable indeed. It was an encouraging series draw (1-1) but for the very first time Bangladeshi boys beat Sri Lanka and they beat the lions on their home soil- astonishing the result for the team and the country.
Stalwarts like Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were ‘key’ to the victory in this memorable test match, however contributions from the young guns Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Miraz, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman proved that Bangladesh are right on money- that these young lads will in near future, will take the accomplishments or the burdens on their responsible shoulders.
People can notice how brilliantly Bangladesh’s young members are growing ever so steadily in recent years. The win definitely was celebrated by the Bangladeshis, living in Bangladesh and abroad. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called the team and conveyed her wishes and thanks for pulling off such an epic, historic victory.
National Manager of BCB Game Development Department, Nazmul Abedin Fahim said the regularity of playing tests with England, New Zealand, India and then Sri Lanka is the main foundation of the victory. The privilege of continuation of test matches has paid off and the players have taken full advantage of it.
Since October, Bangladesh has taken part in four test series. The team has evolved as a more professional, mentally and physically fit unit than the previous test teams Bangladesh had.
Now we know the reasons as described by Nazmul Abedin Fahim, the foundation-coach of star players like Shakib and Tamim.
In the past, tigers had very little chance of playing test matches, this regularly. However, it largely depends on the ICC (International Cricket Council). Now the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) officials should penetrate more the international body with rational diplomacy to uphold the demands and needs for the development of our national cricket team. They should seek for more tests. The more cricketers will get chances of playing test matches, the more there is chance of winning and adapting to the tough test conditions, which ultimately will give us even better results in future with professionalism.
We believe, to make our cricket team playing throughout the year is the responsibility of BCB and we certainly have the faith that our national cricket body will definitely take effective measures so that our boys can go out and have a go at the best and most difficult professional format of cricket.
Tigers will definitely roar to more historic victories, if they can play more test matches.
(The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view or editorial policy of Channel i Online or Channel i)