Chittagong - Gone are the days when the sole motivation for international teams visiting Bangladesh was to gorge themselves on runs and wickets to attain personal milestones that inflated their averages. Likewise the disparaging comments that questioned the hosts’ validity as a Test nation for so long can now firmly be cast aside.
Bangladesh are a team on the rise. Of that there is no doubt. Their home One-Day International form has been nothing short of sensational, while there are promising signs emerging in the longest and purest form of the game too.
Emotionally scarred local scribes that have covered “The Toothless Tigers” through their most wretched periods err on the side of caution with comments like “they are only one batting collapse away from imploding”, but even they cannot disguise a sense of pride at Bangladesh’s current achievements.
There certainly was a lot to be proud about on Wednesday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. It was not overly exciting or gripping like the Ashes that enthrals cricket aficionados on the other side of the world right now, but it showed a side of Bangladesh cricket that had been lacking for so long: the willingness to fight and grind it out.
Often in the past the superstar factor of the visiting teams has caught them off-guard, with the home team’s players almost being in awe of their more illustrious opponents’ reputations.
In terms of a Test new-ball pair, they don’t come with much more gravitas than Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander though, especially a refreshed Steyn - Wimbledon headband and all - was searching for those elusive four wickets to gain entry to the 400 club.
But out they came, prepared to slug it out and go toe-to-toe with the finest the world game has to offer, and were rewarded by neutralising the posing threat with their dead bats. The most impressive was senior opening batsman Tamim Iqbal.
Often criticised for his reckless approach at the top of the order, Tamim reined in all his natural attacking instincts when Steyn and Philander probed diligently outside his off stump. The patience he exuded was exemplary even after Steyn eventually found the edge, only for the ball to slip through the vacant second slip region.
The only resemblance to the Tamim we all know was the two successive boundaries creamed off Steyn in the morning session when he leant forward to push an over-pitched delivery straight down the ground followed by a trademark flashing cover drive that raced to the fence.
Tamim’s concerted effort seemed to inspire the remainder of the Bangladeshi batting unit as each batsmen - bar Mominul Haque - put a hefty price on his wicket. This approach helped the home side build steady partnerships - 46 for the first, 89 for the third and 34 for the fourth - to show that they had learnt from South Africa’s mistake of losing wickets in clusters the previous day.
To the bowling unit’s credit though, the Proteas maintained their disciplines rigidly on a surface that did not offer the pacemen any great assistance. Therefore the reward gained by part-timers such as Stiaan van Zyl, Dean Elgar and Simon Harmer carried its weight in gold before Philander chipped in with the all-important wicket of Mahmudullah just prior to the heavens opening that brought about early closure.
“I think it was a really tough day. Bangladesh really batted well. They were patient, if you look at them, they are normally the second-highest in terms of scoring rate. Stiaan and Elgar are part-timers and if they do get wickets it is rewarding, but it is the pressure that the four main bowlers create that is important,” bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said.
“I think we were aggressive. The SG ball does get soft quickly. You need to be aggressive in your lines, lengths and attack the stumps more. Obviously we wanted more, but Mahmudullah batted unbelievably and Tamim batted well.”
Cape Times