Bangladesh will aim for a rare slice of history when they take on Sri Lanka in the second and final Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo today, hoping to seal their first-ever Test series victory over the hosts.
Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar has voiced support for under-fire opener Anamul Haque Bijoy, suggesting that the team management should give the struggling batter "one more chance" despite a poor showing in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Come June 26, Bangladesh will be completing its 25 years in Test cricket.
Sri Lankan great Angelo Mathews received a warm reception from the Bangladesh team during his farewell Test in Galle, which ended in a draw yesterday. The visitors gave him a guard of honour during his first-innings walk to the crease and later greeted him warmly after the match.
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto defended his decision to declare late on the fifth day of the first Test in Galle, citing rain as a key factor that disrupted their plans for an earlier declaration.
Yet, despite the individual brilliance, murmurs of doubt persisted over Bangladesh’s approach, particularly their intent, or the lack thereof, in pursuing a win.
“As a leader, he’s shown great character, which will benefit the rest of the team.”
Unbeaten centuries from Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim on the opening day of the Galle Test yesterday brought welcome relief to Bangladesh cricket, who have been under scrutiny in recent months for both on- and off-field issues.
Bangladesh batter Mushfiqur Rahim has backed skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto to go on and convert his century into a double, after both reached three figures on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Tuesday.
Bangladesh are slated to play 16 T20Is against the UAE, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup. An additional six matches against the West Indies and Ireland will follow. With a packed T20 calendar and Shanto’s declining performances in the format, his inclusion in the squad becomes increasingly difficult to justify.
He is five Tests away from becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer to reach the 100-Test milestone — a landmark achievement. But milestones alone cannot justify selection if current form continues to deteriorate.
Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani stood tall and won the battle against the much-hyped pace unit of Bangladesh in the first Test in Sylhet.
As a set batter, Shanto’s role was vital to give Bangladesh a substantial lead following their second innings.
Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani remains confident that his side are ahead of Bangladesh despite the Tigers leading by 112 runs after a rain-affected Day 3 of the opening Test at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said Zimbabwe will realise how lethal Nahid Rana can be when they face him in the first Test at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium beginning on Sunday.
Bangladesh cricketers joined a camp in Sylhet today ahead of their two-Test home series against Zimbabwe, starting with the first game at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on April 20. The Tigers’ jovial mood on the first day of their camp was reflected through a post from pacer Hasan Mahmud on his official Facebook page. The post that included a picture of seven of the 10 players who joined the camp so far was captioned, ‘Ignore Nahid Rana’. Hasan was apparently poking fun at Nahid, who was the odd one out in the picture as the right-arm quick was the only one to be looking away from the camera.
The Abahani-Mohammedan game in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) has lost quite a bit of its lustre with hardly any fans turning up on the ground for the clash in the recent past.
Bangladesh and Abahani captain and Najmul Hossain Shanto’s poor form in red-ball and T20Is had seemingly carried over to the 50-over format as the batter was struggling to score runs in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League (DPL). But the batter seemingly turned a corner yesterday against Legends of Rupganj when he hit his first century in almost a year.
Bangladesh players Najmul Hossain Shanto and Taskin Ahmed experienced vastly contrasting days on Tuesday in the Dhaka Premier League.
