Days before the Darwin Test against Bangladesh, Australia captain Pat Cummins had said in a podcast: “Some of our guys are saying no to half-a-million pounds for 20 days’ work to go and play those two Test matches against Bangladesh. I think it is a tension point.

’” Cummins, the proud face of arguably the best fast-bowling attack in Tests today, was only reminding us aloud how the dynamics of world cricket have drastically changed over the last decade. But, it was Bangladesh cricket that quietly chose to go the other way during that period, a move that ironically culminated in mowing down Cummins’ powerhouse Test team on their own soil on Sunday.

In doing so, six months after forfeiting their T20 World Cup place due to diplomatic reasons, they have made this World Test Championship cycle the most exciting one since its inception in 2019. Bangladesh’s pace resources have now become the talk of the cricket town.

They had shown their potential in demolishing Pakistan — both at home and away in last two years. “Even (as recently as) fivesix years ago, pacers didn’t want to play Test cricket.

They were happy playing just whiteball cricket. The BCB decided to incentivise Test cricket.

Special contracts were drawn where the pacers could make a fancy living by playing Tests,” former Bangladesh captain and current chief selector Habibul Bashar, who led the team when Bangladesh beat Australia in an ODI for the first time in 2005, told TOI from Darwin. BCB changed the match fee and contract structure in 2019.

Till then, ODI players were the best paid which resulted in fast bowlers backing out of Test cricket. The board decided to rework the contracts in a way that saw Test players become the highest paid cricketers in the country.

“Now, our fast bowlers preserve themselves for Test cricket. They don’t run after contracts in T20 leagues.

If a T20 league contract comes, the BCB assesses if the player can be released,” said Bashar. Now, Bangladesh have a battery of pacers who come from humble backgrounds.

Tearaway quick Nahid Rana comes from a remote village in Rajshahi close to the India border and Hasan Mahmud is from Lakshmipur in Chittagong while Ebadot Hossain and Tanzim Shakib are from Sylhet. The word in Bangladesh cricket is that they don’t want bowlers going the Mustafizur Rahman way who didn’t prioritise Test cricket for playing in T20 leagues.