Abdullah Al Mehdi

For the first time, Bangladesh put a real meaning to the nickname ‘Tigers’ in red-ball cricket away from home and it was all thanks to a sudden uprising from the pace unit in favourable conditions.

Bangladesh eclipsed the peak of their cricketing excellence, going against the grain of their past efforts in New Zealand to clinch their very first win against the hosts by an eight-wicket margin.

For four days, Bangladesh have managed to stay on top of a New Zealand side known for their Test capabilities and a rare excitement coursed the side, unseen especially away from home in Test cricket.

Interest in youth level or age-level cricket in the country is casual at best but when an international trophy comes around, the expectations of a success-starved nation amplifies.

The recent tumult in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is not far removed from the usual. Despite not yet being assigned a department following the BCB elections, Akram Khan has revealed that he wants to step down from his previous role as cricket operations chairman.

There have been insinuations, remarks and opinions regarding all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s involvement in Test cricket from the media, cricket experts and even board officials.

Light to moderately heavy drizzles marred proceedings on the second day, with only 6.2 overs possible before play was called off at 3:00pm yesterday.

ICC’s new Test Championship cycle begins for Bangladesh today with the first Test against Pakistan at Chattogram and it also introduces the beginning of a jam-packed Test schedule through to the end of 2022 for the Tigers.

The body language of any sports team on the field is a good indicator of where the side stands mentally and from the beginning of the recently concluded World Cup, Bangladesh side have painted a picture of falling heads and dropping shoulders. Coming into the T20I series at home against Pakistan, the crisis appears to have deepened with captain Mahmudullah Riyad unable to facilitate the mental changes that are basic in the modern game.

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s attempt to restructure and reshape the T20 outfit following the World Cup debacle may appear a logical thing on surface, but a deeper look into the six changes made to the squad can only raise question marks over the whole process.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) revamp of the T20 side following the World Cup debacle in UAE involved quite a few changes, with the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim along with openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar making way for relatively new faces.

Bangladesh face South Africa today with the Tigers’ hopes all but gone following three straight losses to Sri Lanka, England and West Indies in the Super 12 stage.

When Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan spoke to media on Monday following the Tigers’ defeat against Scotland a day earlier, he cut a rather distraught figure, saying he could not quite grasp the reality of Bangladesh being defeated by an Associate nation in a prestigious tournament.

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.