Pakistan provided strong evidence on Sunday during their first group match against New Zealand why they were considered top favourites in the ICC World Twenty20. First, Pakistan’s top order dominated New Zealand’s bowling under sunny skies in Pallekele and then their variety of bowling led by leading T20I wicket-taker Saeed Ajmal, who claimed four wickets ... Read more
Sports
Saqlain blames pitch for Tigers debacle
Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq held the pitch responsible for the poor show of his charges against New Zealand, who faced very little problem in tackling them in their ICC World Twenty20 opener in Kandy on Friday. New Zealand took 117 runs in 13 overs against four spinners that Bangladesh used which
Question of strength
The Tigers are dejected but not completely shattered by the 59-run defeat against New Zealand on Friday. True, Bangladesh had focussed all their energy on this particular match before the start of the tournament but the team now realises that there is a huge difference in strength between them and the other top teams in ... Read more
Fingers crossed for NZ
Hope never dies. The 59-run defeat against New Zealand might have faded the Tigers’ chance of reaching the Super Eights stage of the ICC World Twenty20 but the Tigers, as well as 160 million people at home, will definitely be praying for a Kiwi victory against Pakistan in today’s Group D match at the
We had no answer to McCullum
When Brendan Mc Cullum plays to his best, there are hardly any teams in the world who can come up with an answer and Bangladesh could not be any exception in their first match in the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday. The Tigers had no clue how to stop McCullum, the top-ranked player in
Siddikur misses the cut again
Siddikur Rahman’s season is going pear-shaped as the flag-bearer of Bangladesh golf failed to make the cut for the second time this season and in space of three weeks. The 27-year old golfer racked up a sorry score of 4-over-par (146) at the end of the second round of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open yesterday to ... Read more
Tigers intent on team effort
The focus will be on champion all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan when Bangladesh play their first match in the ICC World Twenty20 against New Zealand at the Pallekele International Stadium today. While it is true that the team effort will be key for Bangladesh to realise their ambition of qualifying for the Super Eight stage, Shakib ... Read more
A better unit if not best
In a career blighted by series of injuries, Mashrafee bin Murtaza has had many regrets as he missed the 2011 World Cup at home, lost the glory of becoming the first Test captain to win a Test series overseas. If Mashrafee makes a shortlist of his injury-toll, he will probably find the Bangladesh-New Zealand one-day series ... Read more
Pace & pitch cause concern for Tigers
To both Mushfiqur Rahim and Ross Taylor there was a common question – if they see any similarity between Pallekele International Stadium and Queenstown Events Park in New Zealand? The questioner was so obsessed with the so called beauty of Pallekele that he was looking for a certificate from the captains that it is indeed ... Read more
Entertaining draw for Bangladesh
The Bangladesh national football team had to be satisfied with a tense 1-1 draw in their first international friendly match in a year against hosts Nepal at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu yesterday. After the cancellation of the first of the two international friendly matches due to heavy rain on Tuesday, there was also concern of ... Read more
BCB to float fresh tender
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to float a fresh tender for its worldwide media rights after the failure of negotiations with local media conglomerate Virgo Media Limited. The media company, which owns TV’s Channel 9, was asked to raise its original bidding value, worth 6 million dollars, in order to match the offer ... Read more
MSC form strong squad
Mohammedan Sporting Club expect a better performance this time as the Dhaka giants on Thursday registered 24 players for the upcoming football season, including 10 new names from other Bangladesh Premier League clubs. The Motijheel-based club retained their last-season skipper Motiur Rahman Munna who
Terrible start for Siddikur
Siddikur Rahman continued his recent sorry form at the Panasonic Open in the Japanese city of Hyogo yesterday, finishing the first round in joint 101st position with a distressingly ordinary round of two-over-par 73. The severity of Siddikur’s bad day was highlighted by the fact that leader Yuta Ikeda of
Players’ absence makes it a drab prize giving ceremony
The prize giving ceremony of Bangladesh Hockey Federation was held at the Falcon Hall at Tejgaon on Thursday with the absence of players making it a drab show, commented some guests. The BHF organised the programme to hand over the trophies of last three seasons of Premier Division Hockey leagues but they did not invite ... Read more
‘This is Tigers’ best T20 side’
Like Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who spoke on the subject the other day, chief selector Akram Khan also thinks that the current team is Bangladesh’s best T20 side. Most importantly, the former Bangladesh skipper believes that this team has started to figure out the nuances of cricket’s newest format. “It was not long ago that the ... Read more
Tigers out to dictate terms in death group
The International Cricket Council ticket booth at the City Centre in Kandy has put the complete fixture of World Twenty20 Super Eight phase on display with Bangladesh’s name nowhere on the board. From Group-D it predicted Pakistan and New Zealand would progress and the ICC tried to lure the fans to buy tickets for the ... Read more
‘Batting issues mental’
In Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim’s view Pakistan and West Indies are the favourites in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20. The logic behind his position is that the two sides have more match-winners than other teams in the competition and this is a special strength which will help the teams to win matches in
This team has a more settled look, says Mashrafee
Bangladesh paceman Masrafee bin Murtaza looks ahead to the first match of the ICC WT20 against New Zealand: The strengths and weaknesses of the first match opposition It is difficult to say exactly. They seem to be evenly balanced in bowling and batting. Maybe there are areas in individual techniques that
‘The defeat will shake us up’
The five-run defeat against Ireland in the last warm-up match before the ICC World Twenty20 will be a wake-up call for the side, said Bangladesh all-rounder Sakib al Hasan on Monday. Chasing 165 runs for victory win, Sakib’s blistering 28-ball 52 made Bangladesh the favourites until the last 10 overs of the game but lack ... Read more
Ireland down Tigers in last T20 warm-up
Bangladesh failed to sign off their preparations with a win as they went down by five runs to Ireland in their thrilling last warm-up match before the ICC World Twenty20 on Monday. It was a sweet revenge for the Irish side, who lost all their three T20 matches at home against Bangladesh in July, after ... Read more