Bangladesh, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, took their biggest stride possible in international cricket on Sunday after hammering Australia by nine wickets in the opening Test of the two-match series. The Bangla Tigers did not put a foot wrong in the entire contest, winning all 11 sessions to seal a famous win for themselves. This was just the team’s second Test win in SENA, with their previous one coming in 2022 against New Zealand. After the victory, Bangladesh skipper Shanto boldly declared that this win over Australia is the team’s biggest win ever.
Bangladesh’s win over Australia has coincided with a rise in fast-bowling stocks in the country. Hasan Mahmud stepped up with the ball in the absence of Nahid Rana, scalping nine wickets, including a six-for in the first innings. If it was the pacers in the first innings, the spinners, mainly Mehidy Hasan Miraz, stepped up in the second innings as Australia failed to post 300 even once in the contest.
“Yeah, obviously, I think this is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh cricket in any format. We believe that and going forward we will do something special in the future,” Shanto said at the post-match presentation.
Shanto also admitted that earlier, fast bowlers in the country lacked much motivation because Bangladesh didn’t play many Tests, but it all changed when scheduling allowed more long-format games, and the results are now evident.
“I think that is the biggest change in Bangladesh cricket in the Test format. Normally, in the five or six years before, the pace bowlers didn’t want to play Test cricket because we didn’t get enough chances. But in the last two to three years, we’ve been playing a lot of Test matches, and boys are getting importance in the Test format,” said Shanto.
“So they now want to play and perform because they want to be world-class. So that is the mindset they have there, and especially the senior guys we have, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, they help them a lot to encourage them to play Test cricket,” he added.
Confidence
With the win in the series opener, Bangladesh now have a chance of winning the series. The entire pressure is on Australia, and the hosts’ batting order is under a lot of pressure considering the poor form of Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne.
Shanto said that if his side can stay in the present, they can create history in the second Test against Australia.
“Yes, we have that evidence, but we need to play good cricket. As I said before this Test match, we need to play five days of good cricket. So again, I am going to say the same thing: five days of cricket need to be played properly. And then, as we did this Test match, follow the process and play session by session,” said Shanto.
“Bowlers did their job, batsmen chipped in, especially the lower middle order and the lower order, the way they batted. So those are the things we need to play in Mackay,” he added.