Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cricket before Liberation

Deep within the archives of cricket lies a season that has a lot of significance for Bangladesh. For any other country that has played the game, 1970-71 was nothing significant (except for the first-ever one-day international played in Australia), but it was a time that had the blood boiling for millions in this land, then known as East Pakistan.
Cricket should have been the last thing on everyone’s mind but the game was played on several occasions, a sum total of seven to be precise. This included three games each of the BCCP Trophy and National Under-19 Championship and a match between BCCP XI and an International XI. After Pakistan began playing domestic cricket as a separate entity in 1948, this was the most number of matches held in Dhaka (then known as Dacca). Though the first-ever home Test of Pakistan was played in the city, not more than three or four games were given per season. In the previous season to 1970-71, only a single game was held here, a Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand.
Roquibul Hassan, who is a former Bangladesh captain, was a rising star back then. A first-year student of Dacca University, he used to play in the various tournaments but never was given the scope to break through to the top, much like everyone else who was a Bangalee.
“It began when the English schoolboys came to play in the 1960s. I was made the 12th man and it happened again in 1969,” he told The Daily Star Sport. With the promise of breaking into the Pakistan Test fold, Roquibul played in the side game in Rawalpindi but was made to bat as a tail-ender despite having a confirmed place in the top-order.
“I was supposed to open with Aftab Gul after Sayeed Ahmed let go of his usual place in the opening slot. But I batted at No 8.
“These were just in the matches when I was a sufferer of deprivation. In the nets at the Railway ground in Rawalpindi, I never got to bat facing the new ball. It made me cry and I wanted to leave only for Wasim Hasan Raja to drag me back,” he added.
Roquibul ended up carrying the drinks in the third Test match against the Kiwis too, the game played in Dacca. “Everyone was thinking, will Roquibul score, will he keep his place? But I was made the 12th man,” he said.
It seemed that after the hypocrisy when it came to giving the Bangalees chances to play, the Pakistani authorities scheduled so many games in East Pakistan to either an olive branch after the previous two decades saw very few games each year.
It began on December 14, 1970 with the Under-19 tournament match between Dacca Under-19s and the Dacca Education Board Under-19s. Jahangir Shah Badshah, the most talented of all-rounders from that first generation of Bangladesh cricketers, scored 36 runs and took three wickets in the first innings.
In the final, the match is said to have been a draw between East Pakistan Sports Federation and Lahore Under-19s with such luminaries as Imran Khan, who scored 116 in the first innings though he was given two lives early in his innings, and Wasim Raja for the Punjabi side.
Between January 15 and 30, 1971, the matches of the BCCP Trophy were also held with many Pakistani top stars; and several of the local boys who went on to play for Bangladesh in the next few years took part.
Roquibul was also selected for the match between the Pakistani cricket board and an International XI. But there was a day of amazement for him in the BCCP Trophy games during that season.
“It was the first time I saw Hanif Mohammad bat. I was fielding at third slip and I noticed everything that he did beginning from his footwork while playing strokes. I am sure I would have dropped him if it came my way,” he said.
But on the first day of March, Pakistani president Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending National Assembly session. Two Quaid-e-Azam Trophy games were scheduled to be played in Dhaka but they were lost in the ensuing chaos and were given to the West Pakistani sides (PIA-B given points on both occasions). “I don’t remember any such matches but it could have been scheduled,” said Roquibul.
As if nothing was going wrong in the country, the tournament continued in West Pakistan with home side Punjab University taking on Lahore in a first-class that began on March 25.
It sounds cruel, but on this day 41 years ago the other part of the country was up in flames and the cricketers here were fending for their lives; the oppressors up in the West had to look normal, no matter how abnormal they were.

-With The Daily Star input

 

Related News

ICC bans Nasir for two years

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain has been for two years by the International Cricket Council after he accepted three charges of breaching the Emirates Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Code. The charges against Nasir were in relation to the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 League. Six months of his two-year ban is suspended, meaning the ... Read more

New Zealand win 3rd T20I to level series 1-1 with Bangladesh

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 17 runs (DLS method) in the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. The win made sure the hosts level the series 1-1 after losing the first match, and the second contest being called ... Read more

New Zealand-Bangladesh second T20I called off due to persistent rain

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com The second T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui has been called off due to persistent rain. New Zealand were 72-2 after 11 overs when the umpires decided the rain was too heavy to continue the proceedings. Shoriful Islam was impressive ... Read more

Shorna seals Tigresses’ historic first-ever T20I win against South Africa

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com All-rounder Shorna Akter stole the show in Benoni as she picked up five wickets to hand Bangladesh women’s national team their first-ever win on South African soil as they beat the Proteas by 13 runs in the first Twenty20 International of the three-match series on Sunday. This is Bangladesh’s first win ... Read more

Bangladesh’s Marufa and Rabeya included in women IPL auction list

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com The second edition of the Indian women’s franchise-based Women’s Premier League will take place next year. The auction for the tournament will be held on 9 December this year. Bangladesh cricketers Rabeya Khatun and Marufa Akter are placed in the draft of that auction. The base price of both of them ... Read more

Bangladesh wins historic Test match against New Zealand

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Taijul Islam picked up his second 10-wicket haul in Tests to take Bangladesh to a historic 150-run win over New Zealand on the final day of their first Test in Sylhet on Saturday. This is Bangladesh’s second-ever win over New Zealand and the first at home against them. This is also ... Read more

England brings down the Tigers

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh failed to maintain the momentum gained by beating Afghanistan in the opening match as they suffered a massive 137-run defeat against defending champions England in the second match of the ICC World Cup in Dharamsala on Tuesday. After being put into bat first by Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, England ... Read more

Emirates shares excitement with cricket lovers

The airline brand named ICC’s Cricket World Cup airline partner Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Emirates has announced it is the official airline partner of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Kicking off the 13th edition of the tournament, the airline brand shares its excitement for the game with a video featuring Indian batsman, Dinesh ... Read more

South Africa crush Sri Lanka by 102 runs in World Cup opener

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com South Africa came with a dominating performance as they defeat Sri Lanka by a big margin of of 102 runs in the fourth game of the World Cup on Saturday. The Proteas bowled the Lankan batters out for 326 runs in 44.5 overs while defending the mammoth total of 428 runs ... Read more

Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by 6 wickets in opener

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com A stunning all-round display from Mehidy Hasan Mirza, who notched up a half-century and claimed three wickets, powered Bangladesh to a comprehensive six-wicket win over Afghanistan in their first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Dharamsala on Saturday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bangladesh captain ... Read more

Nagad to gift BMW to Bangladesh cricketers if they win World Cup

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com If Bangladesh wins the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023, mobile banking service provider Nagad will gift BMW-branded cars to every cricketer in the team. This was announced by Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad, expressing his belief that winning the World Cup would be a significant ... Read more

Pakistan see off Netherlands and starts the World Cup successfully

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Pakistan opened their World Cup 2023 campaign with a comfortable 81-run win against the Netherlands on Friday at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. , quickly chipping away all the wickets despite a steady start by them. The Netherlands could not hold on to the momentum and kept on losing wickets at ... Read more

New Zealand thrashes England in Cricket World Cup opener

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com England’s World Cup defense began with a punishing nine-wicket defeat in Ahmedabad as New Zealand grabbed a measure of revenge after four years of preparation. Organizers were planning a repeat of the 2019 final to kick off this year’s tournament, but rather than a nail-biter as the excitement of the Lords ... Read more

England’s Stokes in doubt to start World Cup due to hip injury

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com There are doubts about injury risk for Ben Stokes in England’s opening World Cup match against New Zealand on Thursday (October 5) after a hip injury kept the all-rounder out of the teams’ pre-tournament warm-up matches. Stokes reversed his year-long retirement from one-day international cricket in order to help defend the ... Read more

Tigers ready for effective representations

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said on Wednesday that he believed that the team was ready for a good display in this edition of the ICC World Cup as they have prepared well for the tournament despite a below-par performance in the recent past. The Tigers are coming into the tournament ... Read more

Tigers find fresh air with warm-up win sans Shakib

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com After all the controversy that had been going on in the cricketing fraternity since the squad announcement for the World Cup 2023, Bangladesh finally found a fresh breath of air on Friday as they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their first warm-up game for the upcoming event. The biggest ... Read more

Shakib blames then-captain Tamim for Afghanistan series loss

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan blamed former captain Tamim Iqbal for the home ODI series loss to Afghanistan earlier this year. The all-rounder said in the second part of his interview with T Sports that for the first time in his life he had seen a captain announce his retirement after ... Read more

Tamim childish and not a team man, says Shakib

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that Tamim Iqbal, who was left out of Bangladesh’s 15-man squad for the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup, was not a team man because he was unwilling to obey the order. Tamim, after being left out, posted a video on his Facebook page on Wednesday, ... Read more

Tigers set off for World Cup mission

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh national cricket team left Dhaka for India on Wednesday to take part in the upcoming ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, scheduled to take place from October 5 to November 19. Bangladesh will begin their campaign for the tournament against Afghanistan on October 7 in Dharamshala. Before leaving the country, ... Read more

New Zealand crush Tigers to win first bilateral series in Bangladesh since 2008

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com New Zealand geared up for the World Cup as they whitewash Bangladesh in the three-match series 2-0, with a seven wickets win in the final one-day international in Dhaka on Tuesday. This is New Zealand’s first bilateral series victory over the Tigers in Bangladesh since 2008. Playing to avoid a series ... Read more