Cardiff then and now

Sophia Gardens is engraved in gold in Bangladesh's cricketing history. It was on this ground that Bangladesh pulled off a famous victory against Ricky Ponting's all-conquering Australia in 2005. That five-wicket victory is still considered one of the biggest upsets in one-day history.

12 years after that magnificent win in a game where Mohammad Ashraful scored a sumptuous 100 and Aftab Ahmed finished a chase of 250 in some style, hitting the first ball of the last over from Jason Gillespie for six followed by an unforgettable single, a different breed of Tigers returned to this very ground with a higher ambition to fulfil.

They will take on New Zealand here tomorrow and victory will put them in a potential Champions Trophy semifinal, provided that England -- a team who have already made it to the semifinals with two straight wins -- beat their bitter rivals Australia on June 10.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is the only survivor of that victorious team from 2005. He was a vibrant young pace bowler then, but things have changed dramatically since 2005 and Bangladesh have become a more competitive team now.

The venue has also gone through a lot of changes and for the few reporters who made that trip to Cardiff in 2005, it was very hard recognise the venue. As we entered the ground to attend Bangladesh's morning practice session we could not find any conceivable structure of the past. The venue, which has recently been renamed the City of Swalec Stadium, has got more metallic structures than the erstwhile lush green.

The new generation Cardiff volunteers were also at a complete loss when this reporter wanted them to point out the famous tree near the boundary rope. A clerk of the facility, who watched that famous game, finally gave a vivid picture of where all those structures were.

I can still remember there was a press box that could accommodate only seven to eight reporters.

"Oh! The press box was right over there beside the manual scoreboard," said the witty Joan, who used two fingers to quote-unquote the press box, which was too small for comfort. The present players' lounge was actually a green bank and there was only one stand right at the opposite end of the member's lounge.

Only the green top in the middle, which has now got a more rectangular shape, provided some reflection of the past. A volunteer, who was very enthusiastic to show us the picture of that victorious team stuck on the wall of what he described as the national gallery, could only remember that 'Ashraf' (Ashraful) scored a century in that match.

The adage goes that "change is the most unchangeable aspect". The venue has gone through a lot of changes and so has the Bangladesh team. But that image in the gallery can be the biggest inspiration for the new generation of Bangladesh cricketers to emulate that blast from the past.