Ekush Tapader

Bangladesh's fast-bowling department has been a revelation, with the Tigers enjoying the luxury of an extended crop of promising pacers that have started to win games for Bangladesh at home and, most noticeably, in foreign conditions. Overseeing the pace-bowling brigade is legendary South Africa pacer Allan Donald, who spoke with The Daily Star's Ekush Tapader about the changes he has seen in the pacers' skillset as well as mindset while giving inside into what had done the trick for over the past 12 months. The excerpts are below:

Jake Lintott has been instrumental for Mohammedan Sporting Club in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League. The English left-arm wrist spinner played a pivotal role in the Black and Whites qualifying for the Super League stage following a lousy start -- that included four defeats in first five outings.

English couple Nige Swinbank and Helen Swinbank’s latest cricketing journey has brought them to Bangladesh just days after they witnessed England’s one-run defeat against New Zealand in Wellington.

Bangladesh opener Rony Talukdar's stellar run in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League for the Rangpur Riders earned him a comeback to the Tigers T20I squad gearing up to face England in the three-match series next week.

Back when the inaugural season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) rolled out in 2012, the idea of a franchise-based T20 league was not yet conceived by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and they did have the means to turn it into reality due to various reasons.

English cricketer Robin Das caught the attention of fans worldwide when he, a then 19-year-old, came onto the field as a substitute fielder in place of Matthew Potts in the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s in June last year.

Aspiring stars, gearing up to take Bangladesh women’s football forward in future, could not wait to embrace their beloved elder sisters at the BFF Bhaban yesterday as the 2022 SAFF Women’s Championship-winning team were on their way to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) headquarters in Motijheel yesterday.

Since debuting on the international stage in 2013 through an ODI against Bangladesh in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza has demonstrated his fighting prowess, on and off the field, time and again. The 36-year-old, who is enjoying a phenomenal run of form of late, keeps scaling greater heights with each passing game at an age when most good quality cricketers go into decline. Raza shared his views about his and side's game, also how he views the current Bangladesh team and more, in an interview with The Daily Star's Ekush Tapader, the excerpts of which are as follows:

A school tournament won with college-going players. While such incidents are not unheard of in local tournaments, interestingly, this time, allegations were made that it happened in the National School Cricket Tournament, organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

The disastrous Test series against South Africa saw Bangladesh’s ability to face spinners called into question and while former left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr. emphasised the need to balance things out with more spin-friendly wickets at the domestic level, Nazmul Abedin Fahim, a mentor to many leading cricketers, shone a spotlight on the batters’ inability to face spinners on the international stage.

Bangladesh achieved a historic away Test win against New Zealand earlier this year with a relatively inexperienced squad under Mominul Haque’s leadership.

Known for his fearless batting approach, Munim Shahriar boasts a staggering 167.50 strike rate in the four matches he played for Fortune Barishal in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.

Pace, swing and bounce. At the age of 18, Ripon Mondol already has all the qualities required to be a star in the future.

The news of Ottis Gibson no longer extending his contract as the pace bowling coach of Bangladesh was confirmed on Thursday. However, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, the Caribbean coach said that he was eager to continue his work here, but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not show interest.

Ebadot Hossain’s unbelievable spell led to something Bangladesh had never achieved in the past in New Zealand, bringing a historic milestone as the Tigers defeated the Black Caps in a Test match for the first time.

Pacer Ebadot Hossain surprisingly arrived as the leading character in Bangladesh’s emphatic Test triumph over New Zealand in their own backyard, after which The Daily Star’s Ekush Tapader caught up with a certain Sri Lankan who had a significant role behind Ebadot’s development.

Noted Indian filmmaker Srijit Mukherji was seen at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, watching Bangladesh’s match, earlier today. The director wishes to make a biopic on Shakib Al Hasan.

Bangladesh national team cricketers were granted a three-week leave at the conclusion of a five-match T20I series against New Zealand earlier this month. But despite the lack of scheduled practice sessions ahead of the Tigers’ departure to Oman next month for the T20 World Cup, left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed had already started work on his bowling.

The Daily Star (DS): Bangladesh won the series against Australia and New Zealand comfortably but the batsmen struggled to score runs.  Do you think there are concerns in the batting department going into the T20 World Cup?

The Daily Star (TDS): We have witnessed a huge change in you since the lockdown last year. How did you manage to do that? What are the areas you worked on?