Despite Bangladesh's historic ODI series triumph over Australia, opener Soumya Sarkar said the team's long-term ambition is to establish itself as a genuine contender in major ICC tournaments rather than being content with bilateral success.
After sealing the series with a five-wicket DLS victory in the second ODI, Bangladesh's celebrations remained relatively subdued. In a video released by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), pacer Mustafizur Rahman was seen reminding teammates that their ultimate goal should be winning a World Cup rather than being satisfied with bilateral series victories.
Soumya endorsed that mindset, saying Bangladesh must continue looking ahead if they want to become a major force in world cricket. "When a World Cup ends, you have to start thinking about the next one and how to perform better. What Mustafizur said is absolutely right," Soumya said.
"If you want to become a big team, you have to do these things. If you don't perform in ICC events or major tournaments, it doesn't count. We want to become a team that can achieve something in any big tournament and take Bangladesh cricket to a much higher level."
At the same time, Soumya acknowledged that a 3-0 whitewash of Australia would rank among the greatest achievements in Bangladesh's ODI history as the Tigers prepare for the third and final match of the series.
Bangladesh had waited 21 years for only their second ODI victory over Australia following the famous Cardiff upset in 2005. That drought ended in the opening match of the ongoing series before the hosts secured a maiden ODI series victory against Australia with a five-wicket win in the second game.
Now Bangladesh stand on the verge of another landmark achievement - their first-ever ODI series whitewash of Australia.
"It will be very big. When we won the series, it was a very big achievement. We should have celebrated this in a bigger way. If we can win 3-0, it will be an even bigger achievement for us," Soumya said. "We all have the same goal, which is to play positive cricket."
Bangladesh have previously whitewashed Kenya, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe in ODI bilateral series but have never managed the feat against Australia. Before this series, they had not won a single match in either of the two previous bilateral ODI series against the five-time world champions.
A major reason behind Bangladesh's recent success has been the emergence of a potent pace-bowling unit led by Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur and rising fast bowler Nahid Rana.
Mustafizur was named Player of the Match in the second ODI after combining with Taskin to leave Australia reeling at 3 for no score early in their innings.
Soumya described the current pace attack as one of the strongest Bangladesh have ever assembled.
"We have one of the best pace bowling departments I have ever seen. It doesn't matter which condition or country we play in. Any team playing against us will definitely think about our pace attack," he said.
"Even when we play overseas, opponents will have to consider whether they should prepare fast-bowling-friendly wickets. We are going through a very good period in pace bowling right now." �"BSS
