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Donald hails Bangladesh’s pace revolution after Australia triumph Former Bangladesh pace bowling coach Allan Donald expressed immense pride in the team’s pace attack following their historic nine-wicket Test victory over Australia in Darwin, with Player of the Match Hasan Mahmud earning particular praise from his former mentor. The South African pace great, who served as Bangladesh’s pace bowling coach until the 2023 World Cup, has remained in regular contact with Taskin Ahmed and Hasan even after his tenure ended. The pacers have continued to seek his guidance, while Donald has remained available to them despite no longer having a formal role with the team. Speaking to cricket website Cricblog about Bangladesh’s impressive performance, Donald highlighted the team’s resilience after they were bowled out for 54 in their tour match against a Cricket Australia XI. “Firstly, it was to come back from the warm-up game that they played against Australia or the President’s XI, where they got bowled out for 54. Then to go into that Test match maybe with all those horrible flashbacks from getting bowled out for 54, I think, yeah, what a great comeback,” Donald said. “What a great response by beating this Australian team. And there’s obviously a lot of knives being sharpened and, you know, if Australia thought that Bangladesh was just going to be there for the ride, they got absolutely humbled. They got a proper shoeing,” he added. Reflecting on Hasan’s standout performance and his recent county stint, Donald stressed the importance of county cricket in a fast bowler’s development. “It was a valiant performance. First of all, I mean, to bowl Australia out with Hasan Mahmud in such magnificent form. And then all the support came from Taskin and Ebadot and the spinners did their thing as they normally do,” Donald said. “I’m so pleased for Hasan because it was a proper team performance, especially with the ball. First up, Hasan really impressed with Kent. I’m so happy for him that he’s getting out there.” “County cricket is the greatest stepping stone for any fast bowler to go and discover yourself. And I know he’s got a bit to go and I know that Shoriful is about to also join Kent.” Donald also credited his successor, Shaun Tait, while praising the development of Bangladesh’s pace unit over the past five years. “Really proud. I know that Shaun Tait has had a lot to do with this as well, but how these kids have grown in the last five years is just incredible,” Donald said. “And just the mindset that they’ve embraced, you know, the attitude of not taking a backward step, of backing themselves, of getting in it and in the fight is great to see. It really is.” The former Proteas great was equally impressed by Bangladesh’s batting, describing the victory as one of their finest away performances. “With the bat, Bangladesh were brilliant, brilliant and aggressive, so it was just all in all a magnificent team performance that they can feel very proud of,” Donald said. “And there’s just no question about it that Australia is going to come with an almighty comeback and then there would be some words for sure. It’s a wonderful team performance … one of the great away wins. “They’ve beaten Pakistan away, they’ve beaten Pakistan at home. They could win a series in Australia and create more history,” Donald concluded.