Can Bangladesh ever become a Cricketing superpower?

As I started writing this blog, India was playing an ODI series against Bangladesh in Bangladesh which has no meaning whatsoever. India sends a second string team to Bangladesh giving rest to many big names in the Indian team such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ravinder Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, after a long T20 season in which started in Bangladesh and ended in India with IPL. And to much of a surprise, Bangladesh cricket team produced a brilliant performance by half time of the one dayer that was going on. They shocked India and bundled them out for 105 runs. Can you imagine a side getting all out on 105 rums on flat batting tracks of the sub-continent. But this was a different wicket than usual. This wicket in Mirpur seamed and the bowlers used it to their advantage. A debutant Bangladeshi bowler Taskin Ahmed had just taken a 5 wicket haul on his debut. Another praise-worthy debut by a Bangladeshi.

But after a few hours when I again checked the scores, Bangladeshi Batsmen batted extremely poorly and got all out for just 58 runs. I was in awe of the bowling performance they had just produced and my jaw just widened to the limits after watching them succumb to INDIA`s A team`s bowler Stuart Binny who produced the best ever bowling figures in an ODI of 6 for 4. I think this sums up the story of Bangladesh becoming a superpower.

If we go back in the past and see their performance, Bangladesh have produced some heart winning performances. They have beaten almost all the test playing nations at least once. I can recall a tri series where they had beaten England and Australia. They have beaten Pakistan on many occasions. They have been a tough competitor even for West Indies and New Zealand. Even India have not been saved from their tough challenge. This has just made all the teams think of them as a team who can beat them on any given day especially when they are playing in sub-continent where the pitches help their spinners.

Sri Lanka also started badly when it had started competing in One Dayers. But then from somewhere they got players like Sanath Jayasurya, Arvinda De Silva, a tactful captain in Ranatunga, Kaluwitharna, Mahanama, Muralithran and Dharamasena. They just changed the outlook of their team. Bangladesh too had some wonderful players like Ashraful, Kamran Khan etc. But they haven’t really had many more such players. They now have some quality players in Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib is one the nest all rounders currently. But these players haven’t been able to have an impact on the international circuit. These players need to perform more regularly and also motivate others in the team to come out stronger every time they play.

Bangladesh may not have the services of these players for ever and need to find more such players young from the U-19 stage and prepare them for the bigger stage. No one expects them to win the World Cup in Australia next year. But expect them to be a better side in shorter format of T20 cricket. It will still take them 5 more years to become a very dangerous side. Watch out for them in World Cup 2019.