One wonders if Bangladesh's win in the second Test match which also wrapped up the series was more significant than Pakistan's defeat coming at the latest round of a long dismal record of ten Tests without a win. For Bangladesh it was a great moment, perhaps it's greatest in Test matches as Tamim Iqbal has said and most would tend to agree.

Basically, we are not supposed to play like this. More importantly, Pakistan is not supposed to play like this either and Pakistanis have been saying that in every media. We went there expecting to lose but instead Pakistan lost and handed us a series win no less. It just doesn't make good cricketing sense.

The turmoil series

Many weren't sure that series would happen given the regime change scenario going on in Bangladesh. Nothing was certain and not even the head of the government knew the next step let alone the BCB. It's also true that there wasn't much interest in the series as the people in general including the cricket aficionados had other stuff on their mind because the political prizes to be won or lost were so much bigger.

Pakistan too had been in turmoil but now resting better. Questions were being asked about the need let alone the possibility of travelling to Pakistan in such hours. When the Women's cup was suspended from being held in Dhaka, such fears weighed more heavily. However, putting all such anxieties and questions to rest, Bangladesh did travel and a few days early to get some acclimatizing net practice in Lahore and then pushed on to play in Rawalpindi and history began.

Cricket abroad amidst flood at home

While Bangladesh players got into their whites and waded into the field, Bangladesh or the East Zone-Noahkhali, parts of Comilla, portions of Sylhet etc were massively flooded like never before. It was an enormous flood with many concerns and implications including of the international political variety.

There were direct accusations that India had opened the flood gates to let in water and basically make the new regime distressed which was not considered pro-Indian in the public eye. Facts as always in such matters didn't matter but the usual anti-Indian public sentiment rode high and Facebook was flooded with comments.

This was followed by public response to provide relief particularly by young people who did a lot in Dhaka to collect materials for sending to the affected areas. Many participated and it was a great display of public caring. No one also was critical of the government which was very young but they showed intent. Almost everyone worth their name had their pic showing them doing something for the flood victims or making heartfelt appeals to help the affected.

Amidst all this Bangladesh won the first Test, its first since playing Tests between the two began which came after 12 of them. Suddenly Bangladesh was looking like a team much better than Pakistan. That is going by what angry and frustrated Pakistani cricket commentators were saying.

After the second Test win by Bangladesh, it was not another loss, another wipe out but history making. Bangladesh had beaten Zimbabwe and the West Indies but let's face it, we have a long history of losses and it will always remain so. For Pakistan, a loss at Bangladesh's hands, isn't just another defeat, its historical too. One doesn't have to shriek "1971", it's always there. A defeat at BD's hands is a special humiliation and it touched every Pakistani, cricket lover or not and anyone within its hearing distance. It was grieving music everywhere, the shrieking pain of a loss closest to the soul.

Victory noises?

In Bangladesh, floods have begun to recede; the usual tumult of a regime change has begun to wind down too so the sounds of victory were more visible after the series and second test win. Social media had a few more posts and even televisions, now desperately trying to copy the social media format and language also provided some more space to cricket.

Pakistan media has no such natural disaster to worry about so they gave the full throttle and it was trauma all-around of the kind one experiences when the foundations of an identity are bashed. To Pakistan, cricket is not only a major source of national pride and honour but the only sector it feels it can challenge India, its principal objective in life. And to be better than Bangladesh is taken as given and not being so hurts more than anything else. India has that in good quantum too but to Pakistan it's almost an existential issue.

For Bangladesh, so used to defeats in most spaces, particularly cricket, it came as a relief like rain on a hot summer day. It came at a time when the flood waters began to slow down and turned around to look for the door and the two test victories which became a series win was bigger than any sports prize seen before.