Bangladesh's rise to Test status was a long one

On November 10, 2000 Bangladesh played its first Test match. Many eyes were filled with tears as it was a dream which many cricket lovers in Bangladesh dreamt during the time when cricket simply had no chance against soccer after the liberation.

When the ICC announced Bangladesh's Test status on June 26, 2000 many critics were bemused. Plenty were against the ICC's decision. Critics, mostly renowned ex-cricketers, were too harsh with this decision and passed rude comments. But they don't know the tough journey of this small nation towards Test cricket.

After gaining independence in 1971, cricket was no where in Bangladesh. Robin Marler, the famous cricket writer of The Sunday Times, wrote an article recalling the fond memories he had at the then Dhaka Stadium during the East Pakistan era. He was not well aware of the existence of competitive cricket in Bangladesh after the liberation. To him cricket was lost from a country where the capital's largest stadium was once blessed by legendary cricketers.

The sports officials of that time gave more influence on soccer and thus cricket was left in the cold. But cricket's true passion was still burning brightly in the hearts of some passionate cricket fans.

Syed Ashraful Haq, the former general secretary of the BCB, was in England at that time completing his graduation in a London university when he wrote a letter to Marlar in response to his article. He informed Marlar that cricket still existed in Bangladesh and that it boasted a good number of supporters.

That letter started a healthy relationship between Marlar and Ashraful Haq and eventually the efforts of the both and some initiatives from then BCCB convinced the ICC that cricket was still alive. It took eight long years to inform the bosses at Lord's that cricket was breathing in Bangladesh.

In late 1978 Marlar came to visit Bangladesh, this time with an MCC squad. It was a big day at the Rajshahi Stadium. Fans came in thousands crowding the little stadium as if they were about to watch a Mohammedan vs Abahani soccer match on their backyard. Young Raqibul Hasan went into bat and with that Bangladesh entered into international cricket. Many thanks to that government who backed cricket and gave it a life.

The ICC, in due the course of time, conferred Bangladesh an associate membership and inducted it into the ICC Trophy calendar. Thus, Bangladesh began to play international cricket at home and abroad. Every year the team would wait for a provincial Indian team or MCC or a Sri Lankan side to visit. It was becoming a habit by the enthusiastic journalist to ask the visiting team's captain about the progress of our cricket. Dilip Doshi, who visited Bangladesh with a Bengal team, was asked about the progress of our cricket. He bluntly said that we have no quality offspinners and that we couldn't play spin.

A Sri Lankan team visited in the early 1980s and our result against them was pathetic. It just showed the gulf of standard between a new Test team and that of an aspiring one. The same thing happened against the Hyderabad Blues led by Anshuman Gawekwad. Bangladesh were simply overawed by the fact that they had to face top quality opposition bowlers and when they gathered much boldness to face the opposition, the tour would come to an end.

In 1988, cricket commentator and pundit Omar Kureshi visited Bangladesh with a star-studded Pakistan side led by Imran Khan. We were bamboozled by the pace and fury of Imran and Wasim Akram and were clueless against Abdul Qadir. But at the end of the tour something unusual happened in the Bangladesh camp. Rafiqul Alam, known to be an erratic genius, went to face the Pakistani attack and bludgeoned them in the manner that the touring had against our hapless bowlers. It was a memorable scene at the Dhaka Stadium.

At the end of tour Imran had to concede that Bangladesh cricket was rising and would get better with the progress of time. He praised the batting of Rafiq, the pace bowling of Golam Nawsher Prince, the offspin of Azahar Hossain Shantu. And how true were Imran's prognostications on our cricket!

The Pakistan visit in 1988 was a turnaround for Bangladesh cricket. It changed the whole mindset among the cricketers, officials and aficionados. After Imran's remarks, people began to believe that Bangladesh could reach the pinnacle if given enough exposure. In the ICC Trophy, Bangladesh emerged as one of the teams to beat but failed to beat Zimbabwe to the title thrice.

During the 1994 edition of the ICC Trophy, Bangladesh were the overwhelming favorites but fate reminded the team that history is not made easily. A new-look Kenya and UAE side shut the doors for Bangladesh, who undoubtedly had plenty of promising cricketers. By the end of 1994 Bangladesh competed in the SAARC cricket tournament against the likes of Pakistan A, India A and Sri Lanka A. Bangladesh beat India in a pool match and managed to claim a place in the final, where they lost to India. But it was an achievement to be proud of and an indication of the team's progress.

In the 1997 edition of the ICC Trophy Akram Khan led an inspired Bangladesh to their first victory in the championship. In a nail-biting final against Kenya in Kuala Lampur, the Tigers created history by beating Kenya and thus progressed for their first ever World Cup. In 1998, Bangladesh hosted the inaugural ICC knockout tournnament which is now known as the Champions Trophy. The then government was able to realize the thirst and passion of Bangladeshi fans and took a bold step to arrange a mega tournament in Dhaka.

Cricket pundits all over the world were amazed to see the enthusiasm among the people of Bangladesh towards cricket. Even a match between Zimbabwe and New Zealand confirmed a packed stadium. Cricket madness in Bangladesh had been advertised wonderfully during that tournament.

In 1999 Bangladesh made its World Cup appearance. The start was shocking against New Zealand but as the tournament progressed the team improved, with wins over Scotland and Pakistan showing that they could compete. The victory against Pakistan made the ICC think about granting the country Test status. Inspections were made on the domestic structure and Bangladesh's wealth of talents. Thankfully, the country's domestic structure proved more than sound.

Since the victory against Pakistan the cricket board officials took up the challenge of getting Bangladesh Test status. Their intense and enterprising lobbying, the ever-growing passion among the people of Bangladesh, Eddie Barlow, the then coach of Bangladesh, and a successful presentation to the ICC that cricket was thriving in Bangladesh and could continue to do so in the years to come, made the ICC realize that Bangladesh had qualified to join the elite Test club.

All this did not happen easily. November 10, 2000 was not scripted in the twinkle of an eye. There were stories of plenty of upsets, plenty of pain, plenty of tears, plenty of applications, plenty of hard work, plenty of patience and plenty of insults behind Bangladesh's journey towards Test cricket. History was not made easy.

Note: This article has been published on Cricketnext on 10/10/2012  Bangladesh's rise to Test status was a long one

Thank You

Faisal Caesar