'This win is special'

Three series wins against three top-notch sides; as far as Bangladesh's ODIs are concerned, 2015 has been a flawless year. They have crushed teams whom they had never beaten in the past, they have found bowlers who are near-impossible to read on the first go and they have found an opening pair that is on its way to becoming one of the most exciting in international cricket.

Barely a year ago, such a scenario would have been described as a dream. And that's exactly how skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza described Bangladesh's ODI run this year.

"We used to dream of beating big teams. Now we are beating them. After some time we will realise that as a professional team we should all have our feet on the ground. We should maintain discipline because there will be a lot of tough challenges coming up," a calm and composed Mashrafe said at the post-match press conference.

"I knew that if we had a good World Cup, we would be set up for the rest of the year. That's what has happened. We have four Tests coming up and I will hope these wins will help us," he added.

While every win helped Bangladesh surpass a new boundary, Mashrafe though described their win against South Africa as a bit more special.

"It is special. When a team starts losing a few matches, there's talk from outside and the team goes under pressure. Many of them are young. The average age of our side is 23. It was important to see how they would turn around.

"I think it is a sign of a good team how we have made a comeback. Credit goes to the boys and team management," said Mashrafe.

Yesterday's match witnessed Mashrafe and Shakib Al Hasan break the 200-wicket barrier. The achievement is one that the skipper will celebrate.

"I am feeling good that I got 200 wickets, more so because of the win. It is a very small milestone in world cricket but I have come through many obstacles in my career to come even this far," said Mashrafe.

Listing down some of the most memorable moments of his career Mashrafe talked about Bangladesh's win over India in the 2007 World Cup, a match, which saw him scalp four wickets. He also talked about the win over New Zealand in 2008 after a host of Bangladesh's players left for the Indian Cricket League.

While player-of-the-match Soumya Sarkar was happy with his defiant knock, he however, regretted the opportunity of not being able to win by 10 wickets.

"Obviously I am really happy. More than missing my hundred, I am sad that we couldn't win by ten wickets. That would have been good for the country, team and we could have had a new record," said Soumya.

"I can't tell my feeling. But the one thing that I try to do is extend my boundary every day and improve myself with every match," he added.

The left-hander hopes that wins like these can compel other teams to arrive and invite Bangladesh for tours.

"I heard before that no big teams liked to play against Bangladesh. So I hope there comes a time when teams will want to play against us and invite us regardless of the format," he said.