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June 31 - Monday the day and 1999 the year. The red-letter day of Bangladesh's sporting existence.

Cricketers have done this nation proud. It is the ultimate gift of the millennium and the mortal Bangladeshis would like to relish the 62-run victory against Pakistan for the rest of their lives.

The historic win, Bangladesh's first against any of the nine Test playing nations, has not only firmly planted a milestone in the annals of the country's sporting history, but also opened up a whole new vista about the future of the country's cricket.

The fantastic win and that too against a team which looked invincible the other day with four straight wins in the tournament, immensely enhanced Bangladesh's plea for Test status.

``We have lost to our brothers. The better team won today. I think Bangladesh will be playing Test cricket in the next couple of years,'' said Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, desperately trying to hide his embarrassment after the stunning defeat.

While the ``captain fantastic'' invoked ``brotherhood'', this victory of Aminul and Co, to many of our readers who phoned in after the match, surely emulates the feat of the millions of Bangladeshis who won in 1971.

The whole nation started preparing for the unique moment when the first Pakistani wicket fell. It was all quite on the streets as people from all walks of life stayed glued in front of the mini screens to watch history in the making. And then came the finest moment when wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud whipped off the bails to herald the fall of Pakistan.

The impact was obvious. The entire nation went wild. The country caught in the walter of diverse affiliation, political unrest and economic deprivation, joined in unison to celebrate a feat that had looked impossible hours earlier.

As about 5,000 Bangladesh expatriates were invading the lush green at the Wantage Road ground at Northampton to have the feel of the heroes, thousands of miles away back home people came out on the streets from every nook and corner.

Victory processions paraded the Dhaka streets. The Dhaka University campus became the centre of unprecedented scenes of joy - cars honking horns, youngsters in ecstasy, national flags flying as proud as ever.