Far from being minnows as they were described till about five months ago, Bangladesh are actually a force to reckon with, honestly speaking.
After whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series earlier, they have now stunned India with their two emphatic, consecutive victories in the ongoing three-match ODI series.
A modest Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza says it's fearless cricket on display by his boys.
"I think the boys are playing fearless cricket. This is the significant change. The boys are not scared to play shots. They are not scared to put the slips on so I think that sort of cricket has changed. Cricket is all about mind games. I think we are all playing good cricket at the moment, especially with our head in the right place," Mortaza said in an interview to Espn Cricinfo.
India are now down 0-2 in the ODI series against Bangladesh. How often do Indians get to see such a pathetic sight?
At the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday, Bangladesh outplayed India to clinch yet another thumping win over a fancied Indian side led by none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Bangladesh's 19-year-old left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman made his ODI debut against India in the first ODI of the ongoing series and carried on his job of demolishing the Indian side to the second ODI.
He mauled the Indian side with his six-wicket haul and created a world record , bagging 11 scalps in two matches, something no other bowler in the history of ODI cricket has done before.
His captain Mortaza is a happy man; not only have they trounced India, but also qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. This would mean that either Pakistan or West Indies won't make it to the ICC Champions Trophy, which is likely to be held in England.
"I have always wanted to play attacking cricket. In Tests, you can do it more. I believe that when you hit a boundary, you are still not set. When you take a single with a four, you are set. So the thing that I wanted to tell the bowlers is that when I didn't move the fielders they were taking a few calculative risks. Luckily we survived and on maximum days our plan is to play aggressive cricket," Mortaza added.
Bangladesh have never won an ODI series against India but they have achieved the feat this time, and Moratza feels that consistency has been the key to the success for this young brigade. In spite of back-to-back series' victories, first against Pakistan and now against India, Morataza feels that they got a little lucky and they will have to work on certain areas before their upcoming tours.
"This is one of the biggest achievements. Actually I think the boys are really confident. Maybe we didn't expect (to win) that way. But we always thought that we are going to play to win and fight till the last ball. Obviously I know that if we play our best cricket, it will be competitive. But we can win as well. I will say that a lot of luck was involved.
"If you win matches it doesn't mean that you have won perfect matches. I will say we played perfect cricket against Pakistan. Here there was rain and a partnership but we came back. If you win a match you are always there, but you can always improve in certain areas," Mortaza said.
