India series win our biggest achievement: Mashrafe Mortaza

Mashrafe Mortaza

Mirpur (Bangladesh), June 22 (IANS) Captain Mashrafe Mortaza believes Bangladesh's first-ever series win against India is one of the "biggest achievements" in the nation's cricketing history.

The hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series here on Sunday with a thumping six-wicket win after Thursday's 79-run victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, reports bdnews24.com.

Bangladesh has been quite successful in ODIs over the last few years. They won the home series against the West Indies, played in the 2012 Asia Cup final, and whitewashed New Zealand twice in 2010 and 2013.

They bettered their 2007 World Cup Super Eight participation by playing in the knockout stage of the showcase event for the first time earlier this year. Following that, they also sealed their first-ever series win against Pakistan with a 3-0 clean sweep.

But victory over the No.2 ODI side with some aggressive all-round display has taken Bangladesh's game to new heights.

"It is definitely one of the biggest achievements. But every win is important as we are still improving. I hope we can maintain it. But obviously winning against a team like India, who are ranked second, is a huge achievement," Mashrafe said.

The hosts' splendid performance has taken even Mashrafe by surprise.

"The truth is that even we did not expect to win the first two matches in such fashion. We knew the series against India would be competitive if we played our best. But fortunately everything went our way. The boys are very confident now," said the right-arm seamer.