Bangladesh beat the Black Caps by eight wickets in Mt Maunganui. Photo / Photosport
Bangladesh beat the Black Caps by eight wickets in Mt Maunganui. Photo / Photosport
Twenty-one years ago, Khaled Mahmud was part of the first Bangladesh team to visit New Zealand.
They played two tests, losing both by an innings – a result that became familiar for the tourists on their travels.
A former captain of the team, Mahmud then moved into coaching, and now holds the title of Bangladesh team director, watching on as his team produced a few excellent results at home but continued to struggle away, especially in their 32 consecutive defeats in New Zealand.
But, two decades after he first set foot on New Zealand soil, his nation has finally triumphed, and he was on hand to celebrate.
"It's a dream come true," Mahmud told Spark Sport.
"We have been working very hard coming into this tour – it's not a very experienced side, we have a lot of youngsters in the team, but the boys did the trick."
History was against Bangladesh, but so was the present. The Black Caps were on a record unbeaten run at home, had won the World Test Championship and even managed to snag a draw in India.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, had been smashed at home by Pakistan in two tests, and their only test victories since 2018 had come against Zimbabwe.
However, Mahmud revealed that their time in MIQ in Christchurch led to some hard truths, and hard work.
Bangladesh beat the Black Caps by eight wickets in Mt Maunganui. Photo / Photosport
"We didn't play well against Pakistan. We came here, spent time in quarantine, and the one thing I spoke to the team was that somebody has to raise their hand and say 'yes, we can do it'. The boys worked really hard, I think coming here early helped us a lot to practice in these conditions and know what is coming when we are batting and where we need to bowl.
"The execution was perfect, and the patience – we all said 'we have to hang on here, we have to bat long here' – we had to fight because we knew the New Zealand boys are very tough disciplined bowlers."
Conversations were also had with fast bowler Ebadot Hossain, who turned a loose first-innings performance into a breakout display in the second innings, taking 6-46.
"In the first innings he was not that disciplined with his bowling – he was bowling a lot of half-volleys, a lot of short deliveries, wide of off-stump. He wants to bowl back of a length but we talked to him and said you can't bowl that length, you have to bowl a fuller length, where you can trouble the batsmen. He did it perfectly."
Mahmud acknowledged some things went Bangladesh's way, but few would begrudge them their famous victory.
"The toss was very important for us, we were lucky to win the toss and in the first hour we were able to get Tom Latham early, that helped us a lot and the confidence built up from there.
"It's always challenging playing New Zealand but I'm very happy the way the boys played. I feel very proud."
