While most eyes are on the star-studded Indian Premier League, Bangladesh are in the midst of a historical Bilateral Series against Pakistan.
Bangladesh Cricket has come under scrutiny a number of times in the last few years. People always felt that Bangladesh Cricket had great potential but were never quite able to fulfill their potential. They played some brilliant cricket, however, in the ICC Cricket World Cup, beating both West Indies and England to reach the Quarter Finals and seem to be fulfilling their potential now.
Rubel Hoassain’s fiery spell against England helped the Tigers knockout England from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Bangladesh seems to have gained the much required confidence that their game required from that match and have been riding on that confidence ever since.
While most eyes are on the star-studded Indian Premier League, Bangladesh are in the midst of a historical Bilateral Series against Pakistan. They’ve raised eyebrows all over the world by beating Pakistan 3-0 in the One Day International Series and have iced the cake by beating Pakistan for the first time in a T20 International. The World’s Number 1 T20 all rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been in the midst of things scoring the bulk of the runs and taking plenty of wickets, setting an example for the impressive youngsters in the squad.
Bangladesh’s pace bowling, considered a weak link in the side for years, has been especially impressive with youngsters Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain stretching their backs to extract pace and the experienced skipper, Mashrafe Mortaza, leading from the front, picking wickets along the way.
Fans of the sport globally, can now look forward to much more competitive cricket from Bangladesh if their form carries on. This sure is an exciting time for Bangladesh cricket and they must make sure this isn’t just a one time bubble. The real test for Bangladesh isn’t far away with the first Test match against Pakistan starting on the 28th of April and if they can come through this without the bubble bursting then teams around the World will look up to them with new found respect.
Cricket fans have made their voices heard about the discontent of a 10 team World Cup next time. The rise of the minnows and now the emergence of a confident Bangladesh in such a period is great news for the global development of cricket and will definitely make the ICC rethink their decision of curtailing World Cup participation.
Cricket Reviews By Maanav 