Drama and delight

For Bangladesh it was not quite the statistically rewarding year 2009 was, but 2010 provided drama from time to time in the form of intrigue that stemmed from a captaincy tug of war, an impulsive retirement, and Twenty20 madness on the domestic front, among other things. Each of these, though, would pale in front of an individual performance and a series win that are considered watershed moments for the team.

In January, Bangladesh scored 260, 296, 249 and 247 with most of the batsmen making healthy contributions, but India and Sri Lanka had better bats. It resulted in four losses during in the tri-series as Shakib Al Hasan continued leading the side in the long absence of Mashrafe Mortaza.

Bangladesh folded to New Zealand soon after, losing the three ODIs there. At home, they gave England a fright or two but Eoin Morgan's rescue act in the second ODI proved again that the Tigers crumble in the latter half of games.

There were other issues, including Raqibul Hasan's retirement a day before the Test series against England, after he was left out of the one-day side; Mortaza storming out of the team hotel, and umpiring howlers in the Dhaka Test.

Two defeats in the World Twenty20 later, Bangladesh and England were at it again but this time the Tigers, in the form of Tamim Iqbal and Shahadat Hossain, were busy writing their names on the Lord's honours board. Bangladesh then recorded their first international win of the year in Bristol, where they beat England. They lost the series thereafter, and worse, went on to lose to Ireland and the Netherlands in the space of a week. They bounced back in rare fashion in October and are set to be the dark horse for the 2011 World Cup.

Shakib, who in 2010 became the first Bangladeshi to play county cricket, said he would make sure his good friend Tamim Iqbal plays on the English circuit next season, and why not? Tamim stirred Lord's with a cracking 103 and celebrated in fitting manner. He had earlier hit 151 against Indian in Dhaka and followed the Lord's hundred with another in Manchester. Tamim found it slightly harder going in one-day cricket, but given his ability to mold his game for the occasion, a grand World Cup could be in the offing.

Bangladesh mostly faced tough opposition throughout the year, came up trumps on a few occasions, and provided a measure of fight in almost every battle.

High point
The 4-0 series win against New Zealand was undoubtedly the most memorable of this year. Without Tamim and Mortaza, Bangladesh managed to thwart the Kiwis with some of the best cricket they've played in a long time. A long training camp was the perfect precursor. A few new strengths showed up in the form of all-round fielding, death bowling and winning the big moments. Bangladesh were a different side through this series.

Shakib's was the special performance. He captained the side after Mortaza injured himself in the first ODI, and had a hand in each victory: he struck a fifty and took four wickets in the first ODI, rotated his spinners well in the third, produced a century and three wickets in the fourth, and kept the players calm in the last game.

Before the series, Shakib made headlines when he became the first Bangladeshi to be signed to play county cricket. Worcestershire would do well to keep him in their ranks after he picked up 43 wickets from 11 games, including a few match-winning spells.

Bangladesh also won their first-ever Asian Games gold medal, for cricket, in Guangzhou, China. Sabbir Rahman's cracking 33 against Afghanistan in the decider ensured the green and red would go down in history as the first country to win gold in Asiad cricket.

Low point
A few things, however, remained constant. Their Achilles heel, losing to minnows, continued this year when they went down against Ireland and then to Netherlands.

Off the field, Bangladesh struggled to keep the captaincy issue at bay. Shakib insisted he wanted the job long-term, while the board waited for Mortaza to get fit. The Narail Express remained derailed for most of the year, playing only 13 out of 33 games for Bangladesh and none of the Test matches. He was out for more than eight months after his ankle injury in the Caribbean in 2009, which again resurfaced against New Zealand in October this year.

New kid on the block
Among the four players who entered international cricket this year, Shafiul Islam stood out with his temperament mostly, and then his wickets. The right-arm quick bowler from the quiet town of Bogra made a simple enough debut, but his name has been doing the rounds in domestic cricket for the past two seasons. Regarded as all-round material, Shafiul did better with his primary suit, picking up 27 ODI wickets, which placed him among the world's top 10 wicket-takers this year. His death bowling against New Zealand was instrumental in Bangladesh winning the series. He fields well too, and took some excellent catches this year.

What 2011 holds
The big one, the World Cup, also to be co-hosted by Bangladesh, starts in February. Afterwards, Bangladesh are set to play one-dayers against Australia, a full series against Zimbabwe (pending restoration of their Test status), and also to tour West Indies and host Pakistan. New Zealand might return to play two Tests. What 2011 truly holds is the longing for a more consistent national team and the countrywide development of cricket.