The hands are shaking convulsively as they somehow cover the face. So many feelings, yet there are no feelings—you are just too numb to fathom anything. But numbness is also a feeling, isn’t it? It’s a void where the heart doesn’t recognize the soul anymore.

This is not something new for the fans of the Bangladesh cricket team. We have all been there before. We have all been there when Inzamam-ul-Haq won Pakistan the game from certain defeat in the Multan Test in 2003.

We have all been there when Shakib Al Hasan was in tears as Mushfiqur Rahim was weeping on his chest after losing to Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup in 2012. We have all been there when the Tigers failed to score two runs from three balls against India. We have all been there when the Men in Red and Green ceded to the Men in Blue in the Asia Cup final in 2016.

We have been there so many times and yet, we have not gotten used to the pain. In fact, if anything, it just hurts more every single time.

But there is light.

Away from home, on the lands of strangers, Bangladesh reached the final and almost won it. This alone is a big positive for the nation’s cricket. At the start of the year, Bangladesh three back-to-back series at home to Sri Lanka.

After that, nobody really expected the Tigers to do much in the Nidahas trophy. They, however, played three fantastic games in the tournament and gave India—the world beaters—a run for their money.

Without a proper coach—no disrespect to Courtney Walsh, but Nazmul Papon had made it clear that a new coach will be hired after the Nidahas—the Tigers played with all their might and stayed in the tournament till the last ball of it.

Perhaps the Bangladesh Cricket Board should give the job to Courtney Walsh on a permanent basis till the World Cup, but that is a discussion for another day.

Right now, the truth is that the Bangladesh cricket team have come a long way since the heartbreak of the 2012 Asia Cup. The knock-outs of the World Cup, winning series against Pakistan, India and South Africa at home, winning a Test against Australia at home, winning a Test against Sri Lanka away from home, reaching the semi-final of the Champions Trophy…

Bangladesh have leapfrogged out of the abyss to become one of the dark horses of the game.

“Bangladesh are certainly a very good team,” said Rohit Sharma after the final. “Definitely in this tournament they are a very dangerous team. We saw a few games when they chased more than 200. They’re very fearless. They come out, express themselves, and enjoy their cricket. They are certainly a very good team. Going forward, in the last three years, we’ve seen how they’ve changed their style of cricket.”