The celebration of colours took place in just about every street and rightly so. After all, the Bangladesh cricket team finally qualified for their maiden World Cup appearance in 1999, courtesy their ICC Trophy success two years earlier in Malaysia. Today marks 24 years of win against Kenya in the ICC Trophy.
The whole nation went crazy after Bangladesh beat Scotland in the semi-finals of the ICC Trophy as there were three World Cup spots available. As fate would have it, the Tigers went on to clinch the ICC Trophy and subsequently, millions of people came out to the street to celebrate.
However, it was never a smooth run for Bangladesh.
A total of 22 teams took part in the 1997 edition where Bangladesh eased past the first round, winning all the five games to move to the second round. Bangladesh beat Hong Kong by seven wickets in the first match of the second round in Group F but their second game against Ireland was abandoned due to rain. As a result, Bangladesh had to win against the Netherlands to qualify for the semi-finals and in the process, keep their World Cup dreams alive.
And despite bundling out the Dutch for a small total of 171 at the Rubber Research Institution ground in Kuala Lumpur, Bangladesh were in all sorts of trouble coming in to bat. Rain caused havoc for brief periods before Bangladesh were given a revised target of 141 from 33 overs.
At one stage, Bangladesh were reeling on 15/4. Tigers skipper Akram Khan then arrived at the crease to rescue his side and eventually guided Bangladesh single handedly to their destination. He remained unbeaten on 68 as Bangladesh won the match by three wickets with eight balls to spare.
It was probably the most heart-stopping moment for all the Bangladeshi fans back home who were glued to radio commentary, followed each and every single delivery with bated breath.
That particular win actually set the tone for Bangladesh as Akram and his troop went on to create history, qualifying for the World Cup for the very first time after beating Scotland comfortably by 72 runs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Khaled Mashud was the highest scorer with 70 off 96 balls while Aminul Islam struck 50 as Bangladesh posted a challenging total of 243/7 in 50 overs. In reply, Scotland were skittled out for 171 with left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique bagging four scalps and Enamul Haque accounting for three.
But the real celebration was about to begin after Bangladesh not only qualified for the World Cup but went on to clinch the ICC Trophy title, beating Kenya in the final by two wickets at Kilat Kelab Club.
However, once again rain played foul and made things difficult for Bangladesh. The grand finale was pushed back to the reserve day after Kenya posted 241/7 in 50 overs. Bangladesh required 166 runs in 25 overs in accordance with the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Rafique picked up three wickets while Khaled Mahmud and pacer Saiful islam took two wickets each after a magnificent 147 by Steve Tikolo helped Kenya to a formidable total.
The final moved like a pendulum till the very last ball. Hasibul Hossain though paved the way for history to be created, scoring the one run needed off the final delivery, after Bangladesh required 11 runs in the last over. However, Mashud made things easy for his side by smashing a six off the first Martin Suji delivery.
Mashud remained unbeaten on a seven-ball 15 as Bangladesh clinched the ICC Trophy. According to many, it was the team spirit of every single member which guided Bangladesh to the title.
Aminul was the highest run scorer for Bangladesh with 217 runs in 10 games while Rafique was the highest wicket taker with 19 scalps in nine matches.
The players were welcomed back in grand style and declared as heroes of the nation by none other than Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina back then.
Undoubtedly, the 1997 ICC Trophy win turned out to be the biggest push for Bangladesh cricket as the Tigers went on to beat Pakistan and Scotland in the 1999 World Cup. A year later, Bangladesh receiving the Test status was probably interlinked with their previous successes of recent times.
The Tigers have come a long way since then and are now counted as a major force to be reckoned with in international cricket but one should hardly forget the heroes of Bangladesh cricket who laid the foundation back then.
1997 ICC Trophy squad
Akram Khan, Aminul Islam, Athar Ali Khan, Enamul Haque, Hasibul Hossain, Jahangir Alam, Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Mashud, Minhajul Abedin, Mohammad Rafique, Naimur Rahman, Saiful Islam, Sanwar Hossain
Sources: DT
