Nabid Yeasin

Four years back, the country’s top all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, was engulfed by the type of pressure that all athletes feel at least once in their careers: the pressure of not performing on the field. 

Having gone into the Asia Cup with lofty dreams, as it so often is the case with Bangladesh despite no history of success in major tournaments, skipper Shakib Al Hasan has already put it in the rearview mirror.

Rubel Hossain’s yorker going through the bat and pads of James Anderson at the Adelaide Oval in the 2015 World Cup will forever remain one of the most iconic moments in Bangladesh cricket.

Links of Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid, rumours of Neymar returning to Barcelona have been the commonalities of the transfer market over the past few years. This summer, however, in addition to the aforementioned sagas, the emergence of one major entity -- the Saudi Pro League -- has taken the transfer market by storm.

From a statistical vantage point, the winning streaks of then and now might seem similar – or some might keep the streak of 2021 ahead as it involved the Aussies and the Kiwis, two giants of the game -- but in reality there lies a stark difference.

Depicted on the wall of Manchester City’s treatment room, ‘Our Goal’ is written over a picture of the Champions League trophy -- a silverware that has eluded the blue half of Manchester despite billions of dollars splurged into shaping up their squad over the years.

Chandika Hathurusingha’s reappointment as Bangladesh’s coach for a second stint could not have come at a more agreeable time.

After having the media analyse and scrutinise the now-confirmed ‘strained relationship’ between Tamim and Shakib that had gone on to ‘stale the dressing room environment’, Hassan performed a stunning U-turn on his words on Monday, just a day after Tamim denied any ‘unhealthy environment for the past 15 years in the dressing room’ in a pre-series presser in Mirpur.

The recent success stories of the country’s women’s sides across different sports -- Bangladesh’s triumph in the SAFF Women’s Championship last year still very fresh in memory -- have not only resulted in a boost in viewership but also raised the bar of expectation from the girls representing the nation at any level in any sport.

Ever since Liton Das made his international debut in a Test against India back in 2015, the common sentiment, especially from within the team management, has been that he is a player with a ton of potential to flourish.

France’s Kylian Mbappe is set to meet his good friend Achraf Hakimi once again at this World Cup. But this rendezvous is definitely going to be very different than their first meet-up which was at the team hotel of Morocco in downtown Doha where the France forward paid his Paris Saint-Germain teammate a visit just about a week ago.

When Cristiano Ronaldo walked down the tunnel in tears at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday, it must have felt surreal for millions of his and Portugal fans around the globe.

This World Cup was promised to be the ‘best-ever’ by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and that sentiment was echoed by different quarters, with the chief reason behind the assumption being all the innovation that this edition of the showpiece event in Qatar was set to offer.

For over 15 years, the footballing world has been split in two. It had become almost impossible to not compare the genius of two players christened by each’s fanbase as the greatest of all time, fondly abbreviated to ‘GOATS’: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Bangladesh team management is probably experiencing a very rare phase as of late. There is no doubting its claim that the Tigers have enjoyed their ‘best-ever T20 World Cup campaign’ in Australia this year.

Unpredictable -- it is the one word that could historically define Pakistan when it comes to cricket.

Bangladesh went to the UAE for the Asia Cup following a lot of chaos and drama and with a number of unresolved issues.

“They won everything except the Cup! Beware world, Bangladesh is the new terror!” The great Brian Lara had thusly cautioned the world through Facebook after Bangladesh’s agonising two-run defeat against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup final.

Despite abysmal recent form, turmoil in the leadership and the fact that Bangladesh need to 'start taking baby steps in T20s' as skipper Shakib Al Hasan admitted, the Tigers are still one of the contenders going into the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE.

When it comes purely to cricket, the star all-rounder has dominated almost every side he has played against over the years. But off the field, Shakib's favourite opposition to have a go at is apparently the very organisation that signs his paycheck, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).