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The performance in Sri Lanka is a significant stepping stone for Bangladesh and its impact should be felt in the near future

Mohammad Isam
April 1, 2013

Apart from the results, it has been remarkable how certain areas that went unnoticed even during successes at home have surfaced here and become contributing factors to the team's impressive performance. The first among them has been how the leadership injected belief into a team that was without its best all-round cricketer for the entire tour, and partly without its best batsman and senior-most bowler. Imagine Sri Lanka without Kumar Sangakkara for the whole series, and Rangana Herath for parts of it, and it will give you a fair idea of the personnel missing for the Bangladesh side.

Mushfiqur's management skills and personality were both put to the test over the 32 days in Sri Lanka. He has dispelled notions of any fragility and has show that even without scoring runs he can be the driving force in the team. It represents a big change from what Mushfiqur was perceived as when he took over as captain. His deputy Mahmudullah and head coach Shane Jurgensen, too, helped him.

This tour has given Bangladesh plenty to cheer, and must be remembered for being one where they remained competitors through its entire duration. But it shouldn't be a lasting memory necessarily; it was, after all, only a stepping stone for what, Bangladesh must hope, will be more memorable success in the future. As an indication of how well Bangladesh can perform when on tour against a better team, these 32 days have served a strong example.

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