2015 has been nothing less than a dream run for Bangladesh.
To this team, winning seems a part of life. They have looked hungry for the win and have held their own against several giants of cricket.
Bangladesh was usually written off days before their series or tournaments started. They looked to change people’s opinion about them. They wanted people never to look upon them as minnows again. They wanted to be a recognized force in world cricket.
Bangladesh seemed more excited than ever, and why not? They had just beaten England in the ICC World Cup 2015 to qualify for the quarter-finals, and in their next group fixture they almost defeated hosts New Zealand but fell short just by a whisker.
They crashed out of the world cup after losing to India, though they put up a strong fight. They went home with a sense of great achievement.
The Banglawash moment had its own essence and importance; Bangladesh’s expectations were sky high after such a strong start to their year. They faced Pakistan at home. Pakistan being in a vulnerable position after the retirements of veterans Misbah ul Haq and Shahid Afridi from the ODI format, Bangladesh crushed them in the limited overs by not even giving away a single win to Pakistan.
When India visited Bangladesh, everybody once more, out of habit, wrote them off.
Bangladesh proved everyone wrong and stunned everyone by winning the ODI series 2-1 against a formidable, full strength Indian team. Bangladesh had a bigger win than just the series win, as they found a gem in Mustafizur Rahman. That was of more importance than winning the series, as Mustafizur is one for the years to come.
Bangladesh was now recognised as a formidable force in cricket. They were stronger than ever, the peak of Bangladesh cricket had just begun, and everyone around the world accepted Bangladesh as a force to be reckoned with in ODI cricket. There were some who described their series win over India as luck. They were soon shut up by the Bangladeshi Tigers as they defeated South Africa as well in an ODI series at home.
Bangladesh announced themselves roaring around the world. They found Mustafizur Rehman and Soumya Sarkar, the two who would go on to carry the team in the future.
The critics should not write them off in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2016 scheduled in India. They are possible contenders for winning the trophy.
Interestingly, there has been a trend in the hosts and the winners of each T20 World Cup edition since 2009 which, as a cricket enthusiast, it is quite hard to ignore. The T20 World Cup 2009 was hosted by England and Pakistan were the T20 champions that year. The T20 World Cup 2010 was hosted in the West Indies and guess what? England went on to win the tournament. The 2012 edition of the tournament was hosted by Sri Lanka and won by West Indies. And the trend did not stop there. The T20 World Cup 2014 was hosted by Bangladesh and won by Sri Lanka. So the trend has been such that the host of the previous tournament goes on to win the next edition.
Edition Host Winner
World T20 2009 England Pakistan
World T20 2010 West Indies England
World T20 2012 Sri Lanka West Indies
World T20 2014 Bangladesh Sri Lanka
Seeing the rise of Bangladesh and this trend, it would not be wrong to call Bangladesh likely contenders for the T20 World Cup 2016.