Bangladesh Cricket Team: The tigers have woken up but are still not hunting well

Not long ago there were serious concerns raised about the test playing status of Bangladesh. Many boards saw it unreasonable to tour Bangladesh as most of the times the results were evident and the viewership low. To a great extent this concern from the other boards was reasonable since Bangladesh couldn’t even offer any form of contest, forget the chances of winning except for a very few occasions. It is not that Bangladesh is completely devoid of good players. Some of its players have shown sparks of brilliance but have not been able to sustain that performance over time. They have had players like Shakib-Al-Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudllah, Abdur Razzak who have surprised opponents.  Still if we look at the overall performance, it has been dismal. But the year 2013 proved to be one of the better years for the Bangladeshi team. If we look at tests Bangladesh lost 3 matches but managed to secure 4 draws and 1 win. And the important part was that they showed stiff resistance to the opponents like New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In the series against Zimbabwe they recovered after suffering a crushing defeat and drew the test series. In ODI’s too Bangladesh showed that they have matured through their performance. The sweetest memory for them would surely be defeating the touring New Zealand team and that too a clean sweep in the 3 match series. The year saw emergence of some quality youngsters for the side like Mominul Haque and Sohag Gazi who hit centuries for the side during the season and are considered to be the future of the team, the reason being the maturity they’ve shown. Shamsur Rehman and Anamul Haque have also looked good prospects. The big difference has been a shift in the Bangladesh Board’s policy to appoint a full time captain rather nominating the captain just for one series. Mushfiqur Rahim has done a good job leading the side. He has got good support from the senior players like Shakib, Razzak and Mortaza and the faith of the youngsters. It must be said that the Bangladesh Premier League has had a positive impact on the team’s performance in terms of making the selection more competitive and putting pressure on the players to perform. In spite of all these positives, the Bangladesh still looks weak even in comparison to the A-teams of most nations and doing something dramatic in the ICC tournament looks a far-fetched dream for them. The 2014 season has a lot more exposure for them and if they are able to keep up the good work they have done in the last year, they might be taken more seriously and who knows, can pull up a few surprises in the World Cup, just like they did in 2007 to India. Bangladesh has shown growth and its important for ICC and established boards to give them support because it would serve as a good example for emerging nations in cricket and overall development of the game.