Editorial
Win against West Indies
Just keep it up
THIS is a moment of relief for Bangladesh cricket whose Test status has come under occasional embarrassing remarks by pundits, as our cricketers have had a habit of losing Test matches in three or four days. The win against West Indies at Kingston, an extremely hard fought one, should help heal the wounds sustained over the years. It is more than four years since Bangladesh won a Test match, that, too, on the home ground against Zimbabwe. But this is our first-ever Test victory on foreign soil, what if it is against a weaker West Indies side! Congratulations, the new captain, Mashrafe and vice-captain Sakib-ul-Hasan deserve thanks for their leadership.
The entire team fought brilliantly after failing to achieve anything in the first innings. But the dashing Tamim Iqbal took charge in the second innings and his maiden Test century gave Bangladesh a fighting score. The ever reliable Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim also added valuable runs and the West Indians were given a modest, though not a very easy target, particularly when they were batting in the fourth innings on a wicket which had something that the spinners could work on. And it is here spinner Mahmudullah really made a remarkable debut. His haul of five wickets for 51 runs actually broke the back of the West Indian batting and led to a stunning 95-run victory for Bangladesh.
The 23-year old bowler has proved that even an inexperienced off-spinner, usually not treated as a serious threat in top class cricket, could be a match winner if he could bowl with great accuracy and concentration. We believe Mahmudullah will be a potent weapon in our future encounters against good opposition and an inspirer of many more like him to come.
Though the win is a whiff of fresh air into our cricket the cricket managers should not forget that the team has a habit of winning an important match only to lapse into losing meekly. So, there is absolutely no room for any complacency here. The boys, for their part, must now feel confident that they are capable of prevailing over strong teams and look forward to making winning a regular affair.
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