The rise and rise of Bangladesh cricket
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 recent ICC Cricket World Cup, beating England to reach the quarter-finals and seem to be fulfilling that potential now.
Rubel Hossain’s fiery spell against England helped the Tigers knock England out from the ICC Cricket World Cup. Bangladesh seem to have gained the much-required confidence from that match and have been riding on that confidence ever since.
While most eyes are on the star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL), 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 (ODI) series and yesterday’s victory in the lone T20 International was an icing on the cake. The world number 1 T20 all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been in the thick of the action, 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 for years, has been especially impressive with youngsters Taskin Ahmed and Rubel stretching their backs to extract pace while the experienced Mashrafe Mortaza has led from the front.
Fans of the game 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-off. 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 at them with new found respect.
Cricket fans have made their voices heard about their discontent of a 10-team World Cup in 2019. 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.
This article has been contributed by a member of the SK Featured Bloggers Club. It was originally published on the ‘Cricket Reviews By Maanav’ blog here.