People are saying that losing the One-day International series to Bangladesh is shameful. In my view, such comments are not only harsh for our inexperienced side, they are also disrespectful to a team that has developed well over the past ten years or so.

Bangladesh are no longer the cricket babies although they remain the latest entrant in Test arena. They have got one of the world’s best all-rounders in Shakib Al Hasan. He can be selected in any Test-playing team, even Australia or South Africa. Among spin-bowling all-rounders, he is the best as Daniel Vettori has quit now.

Then they have Mushfiqur Rahim, who is, without a doubt, a better wicket-keeper batsman than all those Pakistan have ever had. Yes, I believe that he is better than even Moin Khan and Rashid Latif.

Their captain Mashrafe Mortaza may not be one of the best pace bowlers in the world but he can find a place in most of the ODI teams of the world. He is certainly better than many of the pace bowlers Pakistan have tried since the ban on Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

Similarly, Mahmudullah, their top run getter in the World Cup 2015, is a much more accomplished batsman than Asad Shafiq who has been given chances consistently by our selectors over the last five years.

Tamim Iqbal, the hero of the series, is inferior to the Indian, Australian and South African openers, but he is certainly much better than Mohammad Hafeez, who has been the darling of our successive selection committees for a number of years despite being, at best, a mediocre bowling all-rounder.

In my view, Bangladesh are a side very similar to the Sri Lankans in 1995 -- about to touch greatness. Sri Lankans had been considered cricket babies for a long time. But in 1995 many of their players who had been in the international arena for quite some time matured almost suddenly -- Ranatunga, De Silva, Gurusinha, Jayasuriya, Mahanama, Tillekeratne. Besides, some new entrants took little time to develop into world-threatening players -- Kaluwitharana, Muralitharan, Vaas. They made a surprising leap and were crowned the world champions within a year.

So those criticising Pakistan for their failure must also utter some words in praise of the Bangladeshi cricketers who deserved to win the series. This must not be called a shocking result. Shakib, Mushfiqur, Tamim, Mahmud and Mashrafe are all battle-hardened players. They deserve appreciation by every cricket lover.

As a Pakistani I did not like seeing Junaid Khan being hit for sixes by charging Tamim and Sarkar, but as a cricket buff I was thrilled.

Such was the dominance of the Bengali side that they lost only 11 wickets during the three matches, while Pakistan got all out twice.

A few words about Pakistan now. It is time for a Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul farewell. It seems unlikely that Ajmal will ever be as effective as he was before he changed his action. Gul, on the other hand, seems to be past his prime owing to his injuries. He has been unable to take wickets even in the domestic cricket matches while representing Habib Bank Limited and Federal United. Giving more chances to these players would be unjust with the younger ones shining at the domestic level.