InCREDIBLE

By the time the presentation ceremony began yesterday, almost every member of the Bangladesh team was drenched; not because of the sweat, but because of the water fight that had broken out in the ground in Mirpur as soon as Sabbir Rahman hit the winning runs and led Bangladesh to a historic series win over India at Mirpur yesterday.

Even Habibul Bashar, who wasn't even inside the dressing room, wasn't spared. As he went to congratulate the players, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza held him tightly with one hand and poured a fresh bottle of water onto his head with the other; and the crowd went berserk.

These were euphoric scenes, some of which were unimaginable even just a year ago, when the Tigers were going through one of their worst runs in international cricket. But there it was, Bangladesh had just brushed aside the world's second best ODI team and by doing so also earned a spot in the Champions Trophy.

There were many who tried to find an explanation behind Mustafizur Rahman's breathtaking performance in his debut game. Some cautiously deemed the five-wicket haul as a result of the 'surprise effect', whereas others, particularly some of the experts from the other side of the border credited the result to the unpreparedness of the Indian outfit.

Whatever those reasons were, they were torn into shreds after yesterday evening, as Mustafizur proved yet 

again as to why he was so difficult to get away.

If his off-cutters were merely appreciated after the first ODI, they were deemed legendary after yesterday's match.

Just to put into perspective the enormity of this victory, one has to point to the fact that this was only the second time in the last five years that India lost two consecutive ODIs in a bilateral series in Asia.

Mustafizur's magic kept Bangladesh's target to a nominal 200 and the hosts buoyed by a responsible half-century from the ever dependable Shakib Al Hasan romped to a win with 9 overs remaining.

The left-hander's carnage began from over number one, when Rohit Sharma, who seemed to be in the mood to take the attack to the hosts right from the word go, played a half-hearted drive that was brilliantly caught at point by Sabbir Rahman. India had lost a wicket without any runs on board.

However, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan staged a comeback with a half-century stand for the second wicket and for a moment threatened to take the game away. But that's when Nasir Hossain worked his charm. A part-time bowler, the Indian batsmen must have thought and probably took it easy for a while, for there's no other way to explain as to how Kohli missed the line to a straight Nasir delivery.

Nasir didn't just finish there. He also had Dhawan caught behind.

It was then Rubel Hossain's turn to get a piece of the pie as he greeted Ambati Rayudu with a bouncer, which the latter uncomfortably pushed towards point and lost his wicket in the 22nd over.

With the Powerplays on, Mashrafe decided to revert to his golden boy and yet again, Mustafizur weaved his magic.

Mustafizur's first two balls were normal deliveries and they went straight up. The third delivery of the 35th over though saw him unleash the lethal off-cutter. It bounced, jagged back and all Suresh Raina could do was induce an edge to the keeper.

If the teammates hugged Mustafizur following that wicket, they were busy pouncing on him three overs later as another one of his cutters deceived an Indian batsman; this time it was none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni hadn't picked the twist in Mustafizur's wrist and played the drive too early. The result was a mere lob to Soumya Sarkar.

Mustafizur continued to spring surprises as he followed the cutter that dismissed Dhoni, with a full delivery that trapped Axar Patel in front and removed him first ball.

He was on a hattrick for the second consecutive time in the series, but like in the first ODI, he failed to achieve that mark. A cautious Ravichandran Ashwin was smart enough to defend that delivery.

However, the off-spinner, like the rest of the batting order, was deceived by Mustafizur's cutter an over later and edged one to the keeper in the 42nd over.

Eight wickets down and the visitors received a bit of a relief as the match witnessed a break due to rain in the 44th over.

At the break many reckoned that the Mustafizur's magic had come to an end, since he had only one ball remaining.

However, the scrawny left-hander had secretly preserved his best for the last. The game resumed after two hours and Mustafizur bowled a full-length off-cutter to bowl a sorry-looking Ravindra Jadeja.

Eleven wickets in his first two matches -- a world record -- against one of the best batting line-ups in the world; there's not a lot more that the left-hander could have asked for.

After the exchange, Bangladesh, who were chasing a target of 200 tried to begin in the same fashion as they did in the first ODI and the openers went all guns blazing.

Tamim Iqbal went down the track early on, while Soumya followed suit. However, the excitement of a historic series win must have hampered the top order's concentration as their hunger for quick runs led to three quick wickets.

At 98 for 3, the senior duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib took the crease and shared a half-century stand to stabilise the chase.

After Mushfiqur got run-out, Shakib ensured that there were no further hiccup and took Bangladesh home with an unbeaten half-century.

Towards the end of the game, Dhawal Kulkarni exchanged a few words with Sabbir in vain, further reflecting the huge amount of pressure that the visitors have been in. It only encouraged Sabbir unleash his power through some baseball-esque boundaries down the ground.