Friday, August 31, 2001 Don't read too much into Pakistan's demolition of Bangladesh. The Bengali Tigers are some way off being a Test force, and the odd one-day surprise is the best they can hope for over the next few years. In fact, anything less than a resounding victory for Pakistan would have been a shock. The world's top players will be queuing up to boost their averages against the newest Test nation.

Bangladesh's brief cricket history suggests that they have a few accomplished batsmen who can adjust to the disciplines of the international game, led by Hasibul Bashar, who now has four fifties in four Tests. But a bowling attack to challenge even the lowliest of international sides might be a long time coming. Pakistan took full toll in Multan where the only threat to their supremacy came from the heat.

The most interesting of the five centuries was by 20-year-old Taufeeq Umar. He is highly rated and played a composed innings. Pakistan have struggled to find a regular Test opening partner for Saeed Anwar, and Taufeeq, another left-hander, could be the answer. But it is difficult to gauge how dramatic an entrance to international cricket this is. Weak bowling and an easy pitch made his debut unusually comfortable. It is too early to say whether he will do better than Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat, who have all come and gone in the recent past.

Taufeeq would also do well to remember that since 1996 four Pakistan batsmen have scored a century on debut (Mohammad Wasim, Ali Naqvi, Azhar Mahmood and Younis Khan) but none of them is an automatic selection. In fact, none played in this match.

There is greater significance in the performance of Danish Kaneria, the legspinner with the long legs. He is the heir not just to Mushtaq Ahmed's mantle but maybe to Abdul Qadir's crown. Qadir still believes that his own ability has been under-rated in the Western view of legspin history, which tends to place Shane Warne at No. 1 in the pantheon. While Qadir might justifiably claim that he mastered more variations than Warne (the googly being an obvious example), Imran Khan, who championed Qadir, thinks that what Warne does have over him is his ability to get the ball to drift in.

Qadir handed the baton to Mushtaq Ahmed, who possesses all the variations - if not the intensity and determination - of the old master. Mushy is now out of favour with the Pakistan selectors, and although his record has been poor in recent years, his demise has as much to do with mismanagement as waning powers.

By the second Test of the England series last year Kaneria had usurped Mushtaq on the back of a devastating series of performances in domestic cricket. He became the second Hindu to play for Pakistan after his cousin Anil Dalpat. And while he lacked control and self-belief, Danish displayed a mastery of all the legspinner's variations as well as that crucial in-drift. But the pitches in that series were too slow to help him, so Danish started his career with a whimper and no place on Pakistan's subsequent tours to New Zealand and England.

Instead he had to settle for an A-team tour to Sri Lanka where he showed that he could be more than just a domestic matchwinner. His success against Bangladesh is the next small step up the ladder. Danish has a long way to go but he has the artistry to reach the top. Whether or not he has the character will be revealed against New Zealand and West Indies later this season.

Kamran Abbasi, born in Lahore, brought up in Rotherham, is assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. His Asian View appears every Friday on Wisden.com.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd