The 30th of October 2016 will go down as a red-letter day in the history of Bangladesh cricket for it was on that day that the world witnessed their greatest triumph ever in Test cricket.
Chasing 273 for a win in the second Test, the visitors found themselves in a good position at 124 for 2, when the slide began in the post tea session. Gary Ballance fell for 5 and the procession began for England, led by Mehdi Hassan who took six second-innings wickets out of the last eight, to derail them to 164 all out.
It was certainly a deserved victory for the hosts, who had come so close in the previous game at Chittagong, only to fall short in the end.
A day after that win, head coach Chandrika Hathurusinghe revealed what he told the players at Tea on Day three, after which the cherished victory was achieved. The Sri Lankan said that he told the boys to stand up and deliver and gave them a reminder of the magnitude of the situation, by stating that they may never get a chance like this again.
“The best thing I can tell you is that the big players stood up. I was disappointed and upset that we were nearly wasting another opportunity we had in our hands. I had a chat with the boys. I challenged them to stand up. I told them that this opportunity will never come again. I am glad that a few people stood up and decided to do something different,” Hathurusinghe told ESPN Cricinfo.
Indeed. Out of their seven triumphs before this, four had come against Zimbabwe, while the other three were against New Zealand (1) and West Indies(2). This win over England is certainly a cut above all those wins and there surely would have been wild celebrations in their camp on Sunday night.
Their next challenge will be to replicate the home performances in overseas conditions. With a plethora of matches coming up away from home, Hathurusinghe felt that if they played with a set plan in mind and executed that in the middle, then he would be happy.
“I don't see it that way (as a challenge). Every day is a challenge, so it is regardless of whether we are playing abroad. We need to come up with a plan that we can believe in. I am happy with executing the plan, regardless of the result,” he said.
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