Bangladesh’s decision to play England on turning pitches had backfired in Chittagong but they went for broke in Mirpur and the result was a historic Test win
Mohammad Isam in Mirpur30-Oct-2016Nearly half an hour after Bangladesh had achieved their greatest triumph in Test cricket, the atmosphere outside the home dressing room was festive. The floodlight towers were telling other parts of Dhaka that Mirpur was the place to be.A few minutes after the prize giving ceremony, some of the players headed out in their full whites.”Are you going out for another game?” someone asked Tamim Iqbal jokingly.”Nah, we are going to take the team photograph, but you guys stick around,” he said, and jogged away.Bhulu, known as the tea man to the stars, accosted Kamrul Islam Rabbi and told him a few secrets. Taijul Islam found an old acquaintance in the media. Imrul Kayes was gleaming, pleased about his contribution. Shakib was singular, seeing something on his phone. Unapproachable.BCB officials were also having a big laugh, slapping each other on the back. Not many were around, especially president Nazmul Hassan who is abroad. The groundsmen, nearly always the heroes who make play possible in the toughest conditions in Mirpur, had been handed their winning bonuses, a custom in Bangladesh grounds, and were also hanging around.Smiles all around. Some laughed loudly while others bravely asked some of the players for a selfie or two. Inside the dressing room, there was loud singing and celebration. They also cut a cake to celebrate Courtney Walsh’s birthday, perhaps keeping it in refrigeration for the end of the day.Mirpur, the middle-class hotbed, has become the place to be. You could sense that this had been a special day in their history – and on the team’s home ground, where they have had so many memories.It was difficult to forget the 2012 wins over India, Sri Lanka and West Indies or the whitewashing of New Zealand in 2010 and later in 2013. Some big nights, one dramatic day in 2014, but none as astonishing as Sunday, October 30, 2016.Mushfiqur Rahim and Imrul Kayes claim a stump after Bangladesh’s victory•Associated PressUntil the tea interval on the third day, things were not really going Bangladesh’s way. They had muddled up their batting plans before England ran off to a fine start. It prompted the coach Chandika Hathurusingha to give a team talk during the interval.”I have to use the words carefully because I wasn’t happy,” said Hathurusingha. “We didn’t do what we planned to do. So I actually had to talk to them in the tea break. I cannot tell you what I told them. I just reminded them what we were supposed to do. Some big players have to step up.”Mehedi Hasan and Shakib responded superbly, picking up the ten England wickets in the next 22.2 overs.Mushfiqur Rahim said that it becomes easier for a captain when both young and experienced players step up in tight situations.”It is a very big achievement in Bangladesh’s Test cricket history. It came against a very good England side but there will be a time when we will win a series 2-0 against any big team.”This is a start. It feels great that the younger players are also contributing. We have a number of performers in the team, which is always great for a captain,” he said.Mushfiqur said that the three-day finish was expected in some regard, because that was how Bangladesh had planned to tackle England in this Test series – with crumbling wickets that would aid their spinners, and they responded superbly. Mehedi took 19 wickets while Shakib and Taijul Islam took 11 and seven respectively.”From the time we knew England were coming, we planned to make wickets that last three to four days. The sort of wicket that would help our spinners and trouble the English batsmen. We played well in Chittagong but I was surprised that it lasted five days.”Here our bowlers executed our plans and the batsmen did well too, which made this win possible. We wanted to create this situation from where we could press towards a win. We are feeling really well,” he said.Bangladesh’s biggest stride in this Test series was perhaps their changed attitude towards play on pitches that offered more to the bowlers, who would ultimately have to take 20 wickets in a Test match to give them more chance of a win. Previously, the focus was mostly on giving batsmen slow featherbeds so that they could at least draw a game or two. It was appropriate in certain cases but they squandered opportunities of winning Tests.This time the change in attitude in the Test set-up grew from their giant leap in ODIs at home, as they won six ODI series from November 2014 till October this year.”At least we tried something different. But these changes don’t really happen overnight. We felt that we had enough resources in our bowling attack against any batting line-up.”We executed our plans. Credit goes to Shakib, Miraz and Taijul. It was tough to get wickets in these pitches since they couldn’t just turn up and get them. I hope you will see more such wickets in the future,” said Mushfiqur.He also credited Tamim Iqbal for his contribution with the bat in the series. Tamim finished as top scorer with 231 runs that included the only century of the two Tests and a fifty in trying conditions.”Runs are important in these wickets. Tamim was outstanding, especially in the first innings in Chittagong. I think that 78 was greater than his double-century. He utilized his good form, which is a really good sign.”It was a learning curve for our batsmen, because we never played against such a strong team on such wickets. We have to handle it better in the future, and we will improve,” he said.
