'They're not quite minnows anymore' - Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffery Boycott, former captain of the England cricket team holds that Bangladesh’s imposing series win over India is not suffice "to send waves through the cricket world" as the team had home ground advantage. Boycott acknowledged that Bangladesh, who has never won a series against India in the past, are currently leading the three-match series by 2-0. He also stated that they needed to win matches abroad, against Test giants like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England.
"They're not quite minnows anymore, they've had one or two good performances but I think we are getting carried away a little bit," Boycott told ESPNcricinfo's Bowl at Boycs. "Beating India occasionally, and Pakistan or Sri Lanka, doesn't send waves through the cricket world. Sorry, I don't want to put a damper on your excitement for Bangladesh but nearly all Bangladesh's good performances are at home. That doesn't make the world of cricket sit up until you go to Australia or South Africa or New Zealand, and beat them in their countries…that will be a huge step and we will all take notice."
"I accept that one of their very best performances was beating England in Adelaide in the World Cup," Boycott said. "I was there, Bangladesh were superb, I enjoyed their cricket and it's the best I've seen from them. But Bangladesh can't live on just an occasional or odd one-day performance win. They need to go abroad and start winning Test matches against the big boys. As I said, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England have all got much better Test sides in them in their countries. You've got to go and do that a bit."
Boycott also highlighted that the substantial funding they have been receiving from the ICC is an added advantage, along with the television revenue earned from the broadcasters, which the other teams did not enjoy when they started out.
"Cricket lovers want Bangladesh to succeed, no doubt about that, but you've got to accept that lots and lots of ICC money has been poured into Bangladesh cricket for many years now," Boycott said. "And quite honestly, we, the cricketing nations of the world, need to see more from them. Bangladesh have a huge cricket-mad population and I realise it takes time to be able to match the big countries. It's always happened like that - it took time for West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan after partition, even India were not able to match England or Australia on equal terms in the early days. Now they are.
"But none of these countries received a financial help or clout that Bangladesh have had over the years. They've had loads of money. These countries had to make a lot on their own, there wasn't money around, there wasn't television revenue for ICC, or whoever run world cricket, to pour into India, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies when they were in their infancy.
"And Sri Lanka, let me tell you. I've forgotten them but I shouldn't because they've been wonderful…they've won a World Cup. I want them (Bangladesh) to enjoy their success but I don't think you need to get carried away, you need to keep it in perspective because more is required. An occasional one-day is lovely but we need more."
Bangladesh has now won 10 ODIs on a trot at home, after whitewashing Zimbabwe (5-0) and Pakistan(3-0). They will be looking to whitewash India in the last match of the three-match series on Wednesday in Dhaka, making this the best year for Bangladesh Cricket so far.