The first ten minutes in Mirpur were surreal. The Bangladesh players' celebration was one of incredulity. They had reduced Australia to 0 for 3. The senior players in the huddle stared at the big scoreboard. The younger lot chattered excitedly. Australia, who through the best part of three decades had shown little interest in playing cricket with Bangladesh, were pinned on the mat.
Had there been a bigger crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, it would have been pandemonium. Those who were in the stands reacted to the three wickets with hands on their heads; the Mirpur faithful are used to having their hands on their hips, teapot style.
Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman had caused all the damage. They are two of the most experienced cricketers in Bangladesh's current team, and know every blade of grass at this stadium. Before this match, they had bowled 9461 deliveries between them in Mirpur, across all first-class, List A and T20 cricket. It is the sort of experience that makes them lethal at this venue. When they sensed movement in the air, they attacked the Australian top order.
Bangladesh's XI on the day included plenty of others with this kind of experience: the captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Mosaddek Hossain have all been around for a decade or so, on and off, in international cricket. The team also contained the likes of Nahid Rana, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Rishad Hossain and Tanvir Islam, who debuted in the last three years. Bridging the gap between these two groups in terms of age and experience was Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Test captain who has been finding his feet in white-ball cricket too.
This amalgamation of new and old has come together spectacularly for Bangladesh over the last six months. They held each other in grief when the interim government barred them from taking part in the T20 World Cup. Then they expressed themselves together, beating Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia comprehensively.
Taskin and Mustafizur took three wickets each on Thursday, showing how much they have grown as a new-ball partnership. Taskin said the two of them understood the advantage of bowling in the first hour given the an 11am start, so they made sure to get the most out of the pitch.
"A beautiful start such as that would always put any opponent under pressure," Taskin said. "I think we utilised that advantage we got in the first hour. The ball was seaming in the morning. I think Fizz and I made life easier for everyone by taking those wickets. The pitch got better for batting later, but dominating the first powerplay certainly gives you the upper hand for the rest of the match.
"It is a great feeling to bowl like that against Australia. We couldn't make sense of it in the middle but we were focused every over. We wanted to get the job done quickly, but they had a good partnership towards the end. Still, it went in our favour."
Taskin paid tribute to his new-ball partner for his three wickets, all of which came in the first powerplay. Known more for his death bowling traditionally, Mustafizur has grown in stature as a new-ball bowler. He has now taken three wickets in the first powerplay twice in the last two years.
"Fizz is always a chilled guy," Taskin said. "I think all of us enjoy bowling in partnership with him. Fizz's bowling, particularly with the new ball, tells you how much experience matters. He is a great bowler, an asset for us. He can bowl well in any conditions. It is a sign of a good fast-bowling group that everyone is stepping up with a performance."
When asked if he felt underappreciated given the accolades the likes of Mustafizur and Rana have received in the recent past, Taskin simply said he was proud of being part of this fast-bowling group
"It is actually a great feeling that Fizz and Rana are doing well," he said. "It is the pace bowling unit that is getting highlighted in every game. Every bowler is contributing. When I was fielding at mid-off in the first ODI, there was a moment when I felt immense pride.
"I got really excited seeing Rana going after the Australian middle order who felt scared of him. It is usually the other way around but now we have an express bowler of our own. The cricketing world is talking about our fast bowlers, which is a big achievement."
Rana's surge of wickets in the last three months has been the high point achieved by his generation so far. Within a year before and since Rana's debut, the likes of Hridoy, Tanzid, Tanvir and Saif Hassan have emerged in international cricket.
These players have now won enough matches in a short span to bring the curtain down on the old guard and a past that Bangladesh has loved to hang on to. "This group certainly has the hunger, and the will to improve," Taskin said. "I think we have a lot of room for improvement. When I made the comeback after the pandemic, we tried to build our fast-bowling group. Hopefully in the near future we will do even better."
There were more examples on Thursday of multiple generations combining productively. Soumya, who has underachieved since his debut in 2014, put on an important partnership with Shanto, who is doing justice to his early promise from 2017-18. They added 86 runs in a thrilling second-wicket partnership. The two left-handers went shot for shot in a boundary-hitting display that thrilled Mirpur. Later, it was Mehidy and Hridoy who showed grit to steer Bangladesh home when the chase got tense.
This team has now won four ODI series in a row. Mashrafe Mortaza's team won five ODI series in a row from 2014 to 2016, while Tamim Iqbal's team won five in a row between 2021 and 2022. The current team has also shown depth in their Test performances, beating Pakistan twice in the last two years, home and away. Now they have defeated Australia in an ODI series.
Taskin was quick to point out that Bangladesh had beaten Australia on good, sporting pitches, as opposed to the minefields in which they beat Australia 4-1 in a T20I series in 2021. "The best thing about this series win is, nobody can talk about the pitches," Taskin said. "We played on good wickets. It wasn't a paddy field. We played on good wickets, winning against good teams, so it's a great achievement."
This shift from raging turners to bouncy, sporting pitches is a departure from an old way of thinking. More freedom of expression within the team, particularly with less interference from BCB hierarchy, has certainly paid off.
"This is a memorable win for everyone involved," Taskin said. "We still have one match left in the series but we are already 2-0 up. We will remember this for a long time.
"I think the best part is that we won playing on a good wicket. We played good cricket. We batted well in the first game. The second match was tight but we came through. It is certainly a relief beating Australia in an ODI series. Maybe they didn't have three or four of their players but still Australia has the ability to do well on a good wicket. To win against them, is special."