Rubel Hossain is known for blowing hot and cold in a career spanning over a decade. Prone to err in the death overs, the right-arm pacer with a slinging action perhaps bowled his best ten overs in the one-day international against India in the Asia Cup final on Friday. His figures of 10-2-26-2 was a demonstration of how well he bowled in Dubai. He had Ravindra Jadeja caught in the 48th over, which was his last over, to create that window for a late twist in a pulsating final that Bangladesh lost off the last ball of the game.
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Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza became the first ever active international cricketer to join parliament when he was elected from Narail-2 in the eleventh national election on Sunday.
Mashrafe, who was greeted by garlands from supporters after winning by a landslide, informed that although his new responsibilities will be quite demanding, his dedication to cricket will not be affected.
"I won't compromise anything when it comes to cricket till the World Cup. So I have the same cricketing mentality till then," said the charismatic captain.
Mashrafe has quite a busy schedule ahead as 2019 will begin with him leading defending champions Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) set to get underway on January 5. The right-arm pacer, who will return to Dhaka today, said that his focus will now shift to performing well in the BPL.
"The focus will be on that from tomorrow. However, as I always gave my best in my cricketing career, I will also try to replicate it while working here [Narail]."
ODI skipper Mashrafe will then travel to New Zealand for a three-ODI and three-match Test series against the hosts in February. The Tigers will then play an ODI tri-series against hosts Ireland and West Indies in May ahead of the World Cup in England from May 30.
In Bangladesh, cricket is not just a sport, but rather a spirit. It is something that connects every household, every community, and is a language every Bangladeshi knows how to speak. It is one thing that has the power to keep millions of viewers glued to their screens and feel the surge of adrenaline rush at the same time.
And with Bangladesh making waves in cricket and creating moments that will forever be etched in our hearts and memoires, here are the top five most memorable moments of Bangladesh cricket.
Qualifying for the 1999 World Cup and winning ICC Trophy 1997
Albeit having played their first international game in the 1980s, Bangladesh had to wait for their World Cup qualification for over a decade. After making it to the final of the ICC Trophy 1997, Bangladesh secured a spot in the 1999 World Cup. The semi-final against the Netherlands where Akram Khan's heroic performance left the entire nation in joyful tears.
It was a difficult match to watch as Bangladesh initially lost four wickets with only 14 runs, adding to this was a very unfavourable rainy weather. However, the situation took an impressive turn when, towards the final over, the target was achieved and Bangladesh won the match, qualifying themselves for the 1999 World Cup.
Beating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup
Another momentous glory was when Bangladesh beat Pakistan during the 1999 World Cup. That year, the Tigers were led by the legendary Akram Khan, where the team ended up beating Pakistan by 62 runs, vastly owing to the team effort by Shahriar Hossain and captain Akram Khan, eventually having the Pakistan Team all out by 161 runs.
It was an unbelievable sight to witness, when even before recapping the last wicket and making the final verdict, the crowd was on the ground cheering for Bangladesh! This victory felt like winning beyond cricket and gave Bangladeshis all over the country the true taste of joy.
The Banglawash
Who does not remember the unforgettable Banglawash in 2010? This series between Bangladesh and New Zealand will always be known and remembered among the Bangladesh cricket fraternity as "Banglawash" as it was a series where Bangladesh clean swept the opponent, winning all matches.
After winning the One Day International series, Bangladesh continued to win the rest of the matches, and this victory remains as one of the greatest achievements for Bangladesh cricket to this day. It was also the series where Rubel Hossain made a mark in the international scene and Bangladesh discovered a gem of a bowler.
Bangladesh women cricket win Asia Cup
Bangladesh cricket truly is an example of how cricket brings a nation together, undivided by gender. During the Asia Cup 2018, Bangladesh Women's Cricket Team celebrated massive victory as they defeated India in the final, enabling Bangladesh to achieve its maiden trophy in a multi-team tournament.
The match neared an intense end in the last over where nine runs were required, with Rumana Ahmed and Sanjida Islam batting. In an unprecedented turn of events, with fours and a wicket, the match ended with Jahanara Alam securing the final run. This was a massive and memorable win for the Bangladesh Women's Cricket Team.
Bangladesh losing to Pakistan in Asia Cup 2012
Not all memorable moments of cricket are associated with winning a match — sometimes the memory of a loss in the field, especially in our own land stays reserved within our hearts for years. Such was the case in Asia Cup 2012, when Bangladesh needed only 9 runs in the last over to win against Pakistan in the final round.
The match took an intense nail-biting finish by the time of the final delivery when Bangladesh was short of four runs. Being so close to claiming the cup and what seemed like an inevitable victory for Bangladesh throughout their batsmanship quickly turned into defeat as Pakistan ended up winning by two runs. Although Bangladesh did not win the match that time, the Tigers won the hearts of the nation.
The aim of any global sporting showpiece should be to provide a level playing field, and it was note-worthy that -- whether by chance or design -- Bangladesh’s Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Afghanistan’s Gulbadin Naib were the two captains sitting on either side of the World Cup trophy during yesterday’s official World Cup captains’ press conference in London. It would be easy to say that these are the two nations least likely to win the World Cup as in the general perception they are not yet contenders, but the first question Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was asked during the presser revealed that Bangladesh’s performances over the last four years -- since their march to the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals -- has caught the eye of people who assess the different teams’ chances.
Moderator Mark Chapman asked about the nine ODI series Bangladesh have won between the two World Cups, all under the stewardship of Mashrafe. The Narail express answered on stage that they now have a good bunch of cricketers, with a nice mixture of experienced players and talented, exciting youngsters.
“Cricket is a game that on your day you can beat anybody. If you start well, you can hang in there. We are very much confident, but it depends on starting well,” he said on stage.
But on the sidelines, when talking to a few Bangladeshi journalists, Mashrafe appeared pleased with the attention that Bangladesh had gotten because of the results over the past four years.
“When we [captains] were talking among ourselves, they asked about us winning nine series since the last World Cup,” Mashrafe said after the event. “That they know about this, that our win percentage over the last two years is very good… these analyses, maybe once I didn’t even think that they thought about these things.
“That means that big teams think about these things about us; that they know means that they have discussed about these things. This is an improvement. I hope that if we keep performing like this, we will have the ability to get to the next level. I hope we are at the next level, now it is about doing well in this tournament. But it obviously feels good that they are respecting Bangladesh cricket.”
Bangladesh have a lot to be happy about heading into the official training camp in Cardiff from tomorrow, then the warm-up matches against Pakistan and India on May 26 and 28 respectively, before tak-ing on South Africa in their World Cup opener on June 2. They just won their first ODI multi-team trophy in Ireland a week ago, and while Mashrafe thought that oft-doubted players like Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Mosaddek Hossain firing made them as well prepared as ever, the Tigers would do well to put the euphoria of Ireland behind them.
“I have to say that it is hard to be better prepared than we are now. And of course it is a huge confidence boost to win our first trophy after so many disappointments, but we cannot be holding on to that for long. Instead of thinking of winning our first three or four games, we have to focus on the first game. I think the Ireland win was a great thing for us, but now the focus needs to shift to June 2.”
The long wait is over. Bangladesh won a multi-nation tournament after six abortive attempts when they beat West Indies by five wickets at The Village in Dublin in an extraordinary final where the pendulum swung from one end to the other after rain intervened.
The rasping drive for four through the covers that Mahmudullah hit for the winning runs was icing on a proverbial celebratory cake that the Tigers had been preparing over their six previous attempts since 2009, somehow spoiled each time by their opponents.
The bitter memories of those near misses, marked by famously hysterical sobs, collective brain-freeze moments and emotional breakdowns that led to national catastrophe, transformed into a rainbow after rain for the Tigers in Malahide on Friday.
The success in their seventh attempt across the short formats of the game was more of a statement than just winning a tri-series final. It was a statement of consistency over the course of four years, a statement of evolving as a team under a true leader, where X-factors are not a big issue and a growing statement of youthful exuberance under the tutelage of the Big Five.
The win also served as a perfect build-up going into the World Cup, which starts on May 30. Although the fans are dreaming big after the tri-series win, a reality check is the need of the hour and would auger well for the Tigers to freely play good, hard cricket.
The next objective for the Tigers will be to play well in their two warm-up games against Pakistan and India on May 26 and 28 respectively before their opening World Cup fixture against South Africa at The Oval on June 6.
The best-case scenario would be to take one game at a time in their nine league matches. The batting looks primed to take the challenge of consistently hitting the 300-plus run mark, which promises to be a par score, if not quite safe, this English summer.
Yet, the biggest concern for the Tigers is that their bowling unit still left a lot to be desired. The challenge for the bowlers will be to take wickets in the first ten overs of the Powerplay to stymie the run rate, and also bowl smartly in the last overs when runs are expected to surge.
Bangladesh do not have a leg-spinner in their kitty. The Tigers are also running the risk of carrying one qualified left-arm spinner in Shakib Al Hasan, who missed the tri-series final due to a muscle spasm in his back. This might be a wake-up call for the Tigers thinktank to opt for a back-up left-arm spinner in a long league format.
Bangladesh also do not possess an express quick. Most of them are containers rather than aggressors, save Rubel Hossain. But the biggest headache for Bangladesh in the pace department has so far been the indifferent performances from Mustafizur Rahman.
The left-arm pacer, already famous for his slow cutters, has been struggling to regain his pace since a shoulder operation. He has been designed to take crucial wickets in the middle as well as to stop the avalanche of runs in the death overs.
The Tigers will be desperately looking for Mustafizur to return to his usual self by the time they take on South Africa and ‘The Fizz’ in rhythm will certainly hold the key to the Tigers winning more games than they lose in the league phase.
If they can do that the fans can only dream big. But at the moment the Tigers need to firmly put their feet on the ground before heading off to England to renew their World Cup ambitions, which ended in a quarterfinal defeat four years ago in Australia.
There has been a lot of debate on social media and elsewhere regarding Liton Das's stumping by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Friday's Asia Cup final. The decision was very close, as multiple angles of the sequence showed, before the third umpire finally ruled in favour of India. Here is what Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had to say about this: "It is hard to tell. At one point we felt it was not out. I think the third umpire can say it better. Maybe it will be discussed later."
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