High-scoring fixtures have been one of the highlights of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with the wickets in both Dhaka and Sylhet receiving applause from all corners for providing exciting contests so far in the meet.
Former BCB director Khaled Mahmud Sujon came down heavily on the pair of Faruque Ahmed and Nazmul Abedeen over perceived 'greed' related to cricket operations department. Faruque, as the BCB president is currently heading the department as no standing committees are yet to be announced with only few board directors available.
In previous years, star cricketers like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, and Imran Tahir, who are generally seen ruling the franchise tournaments across the world, featured for different BPL franchises but this year, none of these players will be playing in the country’s sole franchise-based T20 tournament.
In opening day’s fixtures, reigning champions Fortune Barishal will take on newcomers Durbar Rajshahi at 01:30pm while Rangpur Riders will face Dhaka Capitals in the second match at 06:30pm.
As for the year that is winding down, it was neither an overarching triumph nor a debilitating failure. The stench of mediocrity was present, but so was vivacious tenacity. Above all, it was an interesting year in cricket for Bangladesh -- one that fans would not forget soon.
Poor string of scores is nothing new for the 30-year-old as he has gone on a run of registering single-digit scores for three or more matches on the trot on four different phases in his 50-over career but this is the longest he has gone without reaching double digits.
The left-arm pacer, who opted out from West Indies ODIs citing family reasons, announced the news on social media.
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.
A field altercation between players from both teams prompted an investigation by the CCDM Technical Committee.
The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side hit new lows in T20I when they suffered a series defeat against lower-ranked USA with one match to spare, sparking huge criticism among the cricket fans back home.
Liton may not be an automatic starter but Bangladesh’s plans could change drastically after just one game at the upcoming main event.
It is not unknown to anyone that Bangladesh are still to come to terms with the T20 format -- a rudimentary assessment of the Tigers’ T20 calibre and a glance at how the Tigers fared in the previous editions of the T20 World Cup would be enough to realise that.
Sure, Saifuddin has dished out glimpses of his talents with bat and ball in domestic competitions but can those sparks of promise in lower-quality contests be used to solidify faith in the 27-year-old heading into the T20 World Cup in June?
The scepticism and queries over the team’s preparation were not at all surprising, considering how poorly the Tigers have fared in the last two T20 World Cups -- only winning over low-ranked Netherlands and Zimbabwe in 2022 while suffering a humiliating loss to Scotland the year before in the previous edition.
Shakib is currently sitting on 47 wickets in 36 matches in T20 World Cups and is the only active cricketer among the top five wicket-taker’s list in the competition.
The series will begin with the first Test in Antigua, starting on November 22 and followed by the second Test in Jamaica, commencing on November 30.
Zimbabwe need 166 runs to win.
Bangladesh need 139 runs to win.
While the Bangladesh team spent the gap day between the first and second Twenty20 Internationals against Zimbabwe at the team hotel, fast bowling coach Andre Adams and batting coach David Hemp spent a busy day yesterday, gearing up Soumya Sarkar for his return to action post-injury.
