This week, what Yashasvi Jaiswal did at Perth and what the Bangladesh batters failed to do in Antigua could be enough to realise why the two countries are on opposite sides of the spectrum in Test cricket.
Faruque Ahmed was officially announced as the president of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on 21 August. Yet, just two months in, governance issues are already surfacing within the board. While former president Nazmul Hassan Papon ran operations like a one-man show, Faruque appears to be centralising operations similarly, as seen in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto’s captaincy situation.
Bangladesh’s all-format captain Najmul Hossain Shanto expressed a wish to step down from captaincy after the ongoing South Africa Test series, the first match of which the Tigers lost by seven wickets in Mirpur last week and the final game to be played in Chattogram from tomorrow.
Batting debacles are a regularity in Bangladesh cricket and they appear to be happening more frequently in recent times.
Miraz has been involved in all three latest fightbacks with the bat in Tests after a top-order collapse.
The third T20I between Bangladesh and India on Saturday in Hyderabad was a dead rubber, with the hosts already up by 2-0 in the series. From a Bangladeshi perspective, the main point of interest in the match was whether the Tigers could put on an improved showing, especially on the batting front.
On Friday, on a visit to the First Lancer Ground in Hyderabad’s Syed Nagar area, the hub for cricket in the locality, this correspondent came across Jayed Khan, a young fast bowler with dreams of making it big as a cricketer.
It rained in Hyderabad yesterday afternoon, a day before the third and final T20I between Bangladesh and India, but soon it ebbed away giving way to sunshine, although not for very long.
Bangladesh’s ‘shock’ defeat at the hands of Scotland in their opening Group B fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers, which came on the back of two losses in the preparation matches against Sri Lanka and Ireland, had created a rupture in the wall of confidence they seemed to have had following series wins against Australia and New Zealand at home.
A proper monsoon drencher welcomed those who made their way to the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday for the announcement of Bangladesh’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Just a few hours before the first T20I between Bangladesh and New Zealand began yesterday, Tamim Iqbal, who had been missing in action from the T20I line-up for the past 17 months, went live from his Facebook page and announced that he will not be available for the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE.
Bangladesh gear up for another T20I series without star batsman Tamim Iqbal but there is the air of him being there regardless, largely due to the fact that the that left-hander is battling injury issues ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in two months’ time.
A fascinating but by no means unproblematic trend in Bangladesh cricket, one that has existed for some time, is how players make their back into the national side because others have performed badly. As in a game of musical chairs, players circle back into the team, but the problem in terms of team selection is how many players return without having performed in order to stake a claim.
The historic 4-1 series win against Australia was the Tigers’ most significant series win in the T20 format, considered to be Bangladesh’s Achilles heel.
Bangladesh ended the series as they began, dominating proceedings with the ball as they condemned Australia to their lowest-ever T20I score of 62 all out to clinch the five-match series 4-1 with Shakib Al Hasan cleaning up the tail.
Even amidst the most bizarre realities in football, it just does not get any more bizarre than this. With the world watching, the press conference that transpired at the Camp Nou yesterday, was about to puncture hopes -- the last shred of it anyway -- and leave Barcelona fans with a gaping vacuum with nowhere to escape.
Pacer Mustafizur Rahman was the saviour yesterday, helping Bangladesh complete a remarkable turnaround from a trying situation as they trumped Australia by 10 runs in the third T20I, in the process clinching their first ever series win over the men from down under.
“Man, he is a difficult customer. He is really good,” Ashton Agar said while wearing a smile that recognised that his side had its work cut out in dealing with Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters. Even for a spinner like Agar, it was something different.