espnstar.com spoke to former Bangladesh cricket captains on the team’s 2-0 whitewash in the Test series over the West Indies.

By Chandraboli Mitra

This is perhaps the biggest achievement by the Bangladesh Test team in the past nine years and undoubtedly, the former Bangladesh players expressed their happiness at this feat.

As Naimur Rehman, Bangladesh's first ever Test captain told espnstar.com, "We are all very happy. We needed a performance like this from our team. They showed a real team-work."

To this the former Bangladeshi captain Habibul Bashar, who led his team to their first ever Test victory against Zimbabwe in Chittagong in 2005, added, "This was a much-needed series victory for Bangladesh. Obviously, it would have been even better had the West Indies side was not a make-shift team but nevertheless, it is important to get to the winning ways."

Bangladeshi stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan led from the front with 96 not out as his side beat the West Indies in the second and final Test on Monday to claim the two-match series 2-0.

Bangladesh were struggling at 67 for 4 when Shakib came to his team's rescue with his unbeaten 96 off just 97 balls, and also shared a fabulous 106-run stand with Raqibul Hasan (65). Besides, his contribution with the ball that saw him taking eight wickets - five of which came in West Indies' second innings, bagged him the man-of-match award.

And unquestionably, the former players and the Bangladesh cricket administrators were particularly all praise for the young captain.

Rabeed Imam, Media and Communications Manager, BCB summed up Shakib's accomplishment as ‘Unbelievable.'

"When he was made the stand-in-captain in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, no one expected him to shoulder the team's responsibly as well as his own batting, so efficiently. But he single-handedly took his team to victory. Took crucial decisions and stood up to the team's cause when it was needed the most," confessed Imam.

Bashar added, "No one could have asked for a better start as a captain. He was simply fantastic both as a captain and a player. When Bangladesh were struggling, he played gem of an innings and showed a lot of character. He will go a long way."

This was only Bangladesh's third victory in 61 Test matches.

And while the victory has come in against the second-string West Indian side, but the former players believe that a win is a win and the game of cricket is all about confidence.

"It doesn't matter who you play against. A victory helps a team in boosting their confidence and with this series victory, Bangladesh cricket won't have to look back again. This will surely help the team go out there and win more Test matches in future," said a confident Bashar.

While, Rehman said that ‘Bangladesh team's job was to play good cricket and they did just that.'

"The lot of players in the current West Indies team have been playing in their ‘A' team as well as in the national team occasionally. So, they were quite a competitive side. But it doesn't matter which team the West Indians fielded, what is more important is the fact that we did our job to perfection. This win will give the youngsters a confidence to do well in the one-day series as well," concluded Rehman.

Bangladesh will now play three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international against the West Indies.