In the aftermath of Bangladesh's World Cup campaign, Khaled Mahmud replaced Khaled Mashud as captain,[40] and Kamal was sacked as coach with Dav Whatmore taking over the role.[41] Whatmore was not able to begin the job immediately, so Sarwar Imran acted as interim coach during Bangladesh's tour of South Africa in April and May.[42] In 2003 Bangladesh played nine Test and 21 ODIs, losing every match apart from an ODI against West Indies which ended in no result.[4][43] In September, Bangladesh came very close to its first Test victory, when it lost to Pakistan by only one wicket. It was just the tenth time in Test history that a team had lost by a single wicket.[44] In series against Pakistan, Alok Kapali became the first Bangladesh player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket, dismissing Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, and Umar Gul.[45][46] When England toured Bangladesh October and November, Bangladesh's captain, Mahmud, was booed. Ahead of Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe in February and March the next year, he was dropped from the squad and batsman Habibul Bashar was granted the captaincy.[47] At the time, Zimbabwe were without many of their senior players. Bangladesh lost the Test series 1–0, and the ODI series 2–1.[48] The second Test was drawn[49] and brought to an end their run of 21 consecutive defeats dating back to November 2001, a world record in Test cricket.[50] The solitary ODI victory was Bangladesh's first international win since defeating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.[51]
Bangladesh's next matches were against the West Indies in May and June. Bangladesh lost the ODI series 3–0 and the Test series 1–0; by drawing the first match, Bangladesh managed to avoid defeat for just the third time in 29 Tests.[52] In December, Bangladesh defeated India in its hundredth ODI, this being only the third time that it had won against a Test playing nation.
In January 2005, Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh for two Tests and five ODIs. The touring Zimbabwe side had suffered due to player disputes which in 2004 had led to the country's temporary suspension from Test cricket. Of Zimbabwe's 16-man squad, only their captain had played more than nine Tests; Bangladesh were the more experienced team. In the first match, Bangladesh secured their maiden victory in Test cricket.[53] Bangladesh's batsmen secured a draw in the second Test by batting out the final five session after coach Dav Whatmore had opined that "Zimbabwe will win, unless our batsmen do something special".[54] In the match – which helped secure a historic first series victory for Bangladesh –Enamul Haque Jr broke his own bowling record for best figures in an innings for Bangladesh by taking 7 wickets for 95 runs, and secured the best figures in a match for Bangladesh: 12 wickets for 200 runs.[54] In the ODI series that followed, Zimbabwe won the opening two contests, and Bangladesh won the final three to take the series.[53]
After their maiden Test victory, Bangladesh embarked on its first tour of England in May and June 2005. The team faced unfamiliar conditions and the batsmen struggled againstseam bowling. Bangladesh lost both matches in the Test series by an innings; the second Test was the 22nd time it had happened in 38 Tests.[55] Pundits Mike Atherton andRichie Benaud criticised the team's performances and suggested Bangladesh was not yet suited to Test cricket.[56] A triangular series with England and Australia followed. Bangladesh won just one match out of six, but their solitary victory was against an Australian side that at the time were world champions in what Wisden described as "the biggest upset in one-day international history". Mohammad Ashraful scored his first century in that match with a score of exactly 100, which was enough to take the team to victory and then played a blistering knock of 94 off 53 balls against England the following match.[57] Bangladesh's next fixture was in Sri Lanka in September for two Tests and three ODIs. After the one-off victory against Australia in England, Bangladesh were a more confident team; however, Sri Lanka won all five matches by large margins. Captain Habibul Bashar lamented his side's defeat, describing it as "the worst tour since I took over the captaincy".[58]
The first home One-Day International series of 2006 began with some optimism for Bangladesh, which registered its first-ever win against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the series. At the end of March, Bangladesh played four ODIs against Kenya, winning all four. Then in April, Bangladesh came very close to beating Australia in a Test match, taking a first-innings lead of 158, and eventually losing by only three wickets.[59] At the end of July, Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe as the ODI series favourites but lost 3–2. In August, the team defeated Kenya in all three matches of a series and subsequently went on to whitewash Zimbabwe in an ODI series staged in Bangladesh. That year, Shahriar Nafeesbecame the first Bangladeshi to score over a thousand runs (which included three centuries) in a calendar year,[60] while Mashrafe Mortaza became the leading wicket-taker in the world in ODIs staged in 2006 with 49 wickets.[61]
India hosted the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in October and November. Bangladesh failed to progress beyond the group stages, losing two of their three matches. Their only victory came against Zimbabwe.[62] Ahead of the World Cup Bangladesh faced Zimbabwe in nine ODIs, Scotland in two, and Bermuda and Canada one each; of those matches, Bangladesh lost a single ODI to Zimbabwe.[43] On 17 March, in their first match of the 2007 World Cup, hosted by the West Indies, Bangladesh secured a five-wicket win over India; the surprise result triggered late night partying in Bangladesh despite government bans on public gatherings.[63] In their remaining group matches Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka and defeated Bermuda which was enough to secure qualification for the second round while India were knocked out. Bangladesh's only victory in the Super Eights was against South Africa, losing to everyone else including Ireland,[64] a team mostly made up of amateur cricketers.[65]
Bangladesh's next fixture after the World Cup was a home series against India in May, with two Tests and three ODIs. After Bangladesh had helped knock India out of the tournament, the series was seen as an opportunity for India to exact revenge. Bangladesh had not played Test cricket since April 2006. The first Test was shortened due to rain and drawn, but India won the second by their largest ever margin. India won the ODI series 2–0.[66] In the aftermath Habibul Bashar, who had previously resigned as ODI captain, was replaced as captain by 22-year-old Mohammad Ashraful in all forms of the game. Mashrafe Mortaza was appointed vice-captain.[67] After four years as coach Whatmore chose not to extend his contract, and Shaun Williams temporarily filled the position. Ashraful's first series in charge was a tour of Sri Lanka in June and July. Bangladesh suffered defeat in each of the three Tests, losing by an innings on every occasion, and three ODIs. In the second Test, Bangladesh were bundled out for their lowest total (62)
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