"Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale of all."

The above words perhaps best describe the cricketing journey of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.  His talent was unearthed instantly and his series of comebacks from injuries already deserves to be a subject of research.

The way the brave-heart from Narail transformed the Tigers to win three consecutive home series and the manner in which he led them to a dream quarterfinal berth in the World Cup has left the world's cricket fraternity hunting down the recipe that made this charismatic character.

Arguably the most beloved cricketer of the country, Mashrafe presented the world with a new Bangladesh in 2015. It can very well be said that the year 2015 belonged to this one man.

Off the field his genuine simplicity separates him from the others and on it his fearless approach is the trademark of his character. The best part is that the man in charge was able to infuse that quality among his charges this year.

With four drawn Tests out of five and two T20I wins, the Tigers did witness improvements in these formats. However, Bangladesh's success story mainly revolved around the ODIs, a format in which they won 13 out of the 18 games.

The Tigers' win-rate this year was second only to Australia, but the numbers will not actually tell you the entire story. The respect that the Tigers gained from world cricket not only came through the numbers but also through their fearless brand of cricket. 

The fact that several cricket pundits around the world tagged this year as the year of Bangladesh goes on to show how big an achievement this year has been for Bangladesh's cricket; because these accolades arrive only when the hearts are truly won.

On the night of March 9 in Adelaide, Bangladesh acquired a new self-belief when they shot England out of the World Cup.

That's where the journey began and it continued with spectacular home wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa. Such was the intensity of the wins that it even compelled Mashrafe to admit that he was a bit surprised with the results.

"Before the World Cup I said that if we could perform well then it would help us in the series after that, but I didn't really expect it to help us so much," Mashrafe had told The Daily Star during an interview.

 The performances in 2015 easily leave behind the successes of the previous years.

The ripple effect that took place in the team due to Mashrafe was very much visible. Mahmudullah Riyad ascertained his talent by hitting two hundreds in the World Cup; Rubel Hossain, who was battling a court case, managed to put aside his personal problems and delivered his best; Soumya Sarkar didn't hesitate to fascinate the world with his splendid stroke-play and finally wonder-boy Mustafizur Rahman mesmerized the world with his magic.

The best aspect about the performances was that none of them were expected to be match-winners and yet they turned out with game-changing performances. Many believe that Mashrafe's attitude had a lot to do with this change.

"Any player can be a match-winner… if you want the world to notice Bangladesh then you have meet the other players eye-to-eye," was something that Mashrafe repeatedly told media during the World Cup and was a message that he had given to the team.

Mashrafe, along with coach Chandika Hathurusingha, created such an atmosphere in the team that it ensured the younger cricketers who arrived this year believed in themselves. Soumya's 'periscope' and Mustafizur's 'cutters' have already become terms used in gully cricket in Bangladesh.

Such has been the impact of Mashrafe on the team that people actually still believe that things could have been different for the Tigers had Mashrafe played the last group stage against New Zealand, a match which Bangladesh lost by a narrow margin.

It reflects where the new-found belief in Bangladesh's cricket team has come from; and that's why he is called a father figure.

And if the spectacular World Cup story wasn't enough, the way Mashrafe maneuvered the Comilla Victorians, a side that many expected to exit the Bangladesh Premier League after the first round, to the BPL title only added to his legend.

The Comilla coach openly admitted that the entire mood of the team changed once Mashrafe, against the odds, scored a half-century to lead his side to an unlikely victory in one of the group stage matches. "That was enough for the team. Everybody believed that they could win matches from any position from then on," coach Mohammad Salahuddin had said.

The story of Bangladesh sports in 2015 was the story of Bangladesh's cricket and its true leader's true team that made it a fairytale.