Bangladesh beat South Africa in their World Cup 2019 opener © Getty

Just over 12 years ago, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Bangladesh lined up for their first match of the 2007 World Cup against India. Still finding their way in international cricket, nobody gave them much chance of causing an upset. India's team was a who's who's of cricketing legends: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh. It should have been a walk in the park for them.

For Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal, the match was the first they had ever played in a World Cup. For Mashrafe Mortaza, it was just his third after playing two in the 2003 tournament. Inexperienced, yes. But daunted? No. Tamim, Rahim and Shakib all scored half-centuries and Mortaza took four wickets in a famous victory. Three weeks later, they knocked off South Africa too.

At that time, the scalps of India and South Africa were enough to make the tournament a successful one for Bangladesh despite winning just one other game against Ireland. It had been a decent showing. But more important than those sweet successes were the performances of Shakib, Rahim, Tamim and Mortaza for what they promised. Here were four young cricketers Bangladesh could build a team round. And that is more or less what they have done in the twelve years since.

The quartet know they are expected to perform, know the standards they are supposed to meet every single game. It has always been the way since they arrived on the international scene, particularly given the talent they all had, the noise they had made coming up through the ranks.

They have delivered, the first players to consistently perform at the top level for a sustained period. Others have burned brightly but faded quickly. This band of brothers are burning brighter now than they ever have, flourishing with the responsibility of being senior pros. They have been through so much together, grown up as cricketers and people together, dealt with success and failure on the pitch and tough times through injuries off it. They are the heart of Bangladeshi cricket.

Unsurprisingly, the victory over South Africa at The Oval was secured with these four players to the fore. Like in that match against India, Shakib and Rahim made half-centuries, Tamim's early onslaught against South Africa's new ball bowlers helped set the tone for the day while Mortaza captained smartly despite not being at his best with the ball. Importantly, their experience told.

"I think it helps us immensely, four of us playing our fourth World Cup," Shakib said after play at The Oval. "We can share this experience with the younger guys. Those who are relatively new to the tournament. Those who are playing their first tournament. That time (2007), if you play well that was good enough for the crowd and for us. Now they are not satisfied with defeat to any other team. This is the expectation level we've got.

The 142 run partnership between Rahim and Shakib, Bangladesh's highest ever in World Cups, was a reminder of how far these players, this team have come. They played as if it was a club game on a Sunday afternoon in the local park. Unfussed, unruffled. Nobody at The Oval was surprised. Rahim and Shakib scoring runs again are they? Par for the course. Par for the course since they were kids.

"We are playing together from the Under-15s," Shakib said. "In the batting order, mostly we came in one after another with him ahead of me most of the time. It was the same when I came to national team. I think me and Mushfiqur always have some very good partnerships. We have played very good partnerships in the last 10-12 years. Because we have been playing since under-15s, we know each other very well."

With the important wicket of Aiden Markram in South Africa's chase, Shakib became the fastest all-rounder to 250 wickets and 5,000 runs in ODI cricket. He has claim to be the world's best in all formats and is ranked number one in the 50-over game, a further reminder of the quality in this Bangladesh team. These are not just blokes who can turn it on in the dustbowls of Dhaka or Chittagong. These are guys who will take you on anywhere, anytime.

All four have fire and intensity which has been used to drag Bangladesh up by their bootstraps. To see Mortaza admonish his fielders yesterday when they allowed South Africa's batsmen to get two when he thought there should only have been one was a reminder of that. Tamim has never taken a backwards step in his life, the same can be said of Rahim - short of stature but full of character. Shakib is quietly spoken but has a steeliness about him.

This is, however, probably the last time all four will play together in a World Cup. Mortaza is 35 and has grappled with myriad injuries. He is unlikely to go on much longer. The other three are younger, and barring injury, will have another World Cup in them but the closeness of the end for Mortaza makes this tournament the quartet's golden chance. This band of brothers who have sustained and embellished Bangladesh cricket for more than a decade will not be around forever. This is their moment.

"It was very important for us that we start in this manner in the beginning of the World Cup that is so challenging," Shakib said. "In that sense it is very special. It is just one match and still there is eight more matches. Every team will play to their best after this result and so we need to prepare accordingly. Earlier we could do our things without being in the spotlight but now that won't be the case as the focus will be on us.

"We want to say Bangladesh is a big team but others don't take that seriously. We have something to prove from that perspective. This start will help us and if we can play like this we can go a long way."

Yes, they can. Bangladesh's band of brothers mean business.