At noon when the media bus started its trip from the Singhalese Sports Club, the headquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket, towards R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, the city streets were almost deserted as Sunday is the weekly holiday in the country. And that was why it took only ten minutes to reach the destination, which ... Read more
icc world twenty20
Indo-Pak battle today
The fixity of purpose is often not good enough when India and Pakistan lock horns in any format of the game because it requires more than that. There will likely be no exception to that general rule when the two perennial rivals meet in a crucial Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 at ... Read more
Take a long view
Bangladesh cricket is in a strange place now. The Tigers’ winless exit from the ICC World Twenty20 should not be cause for outrage, neither can it be said that it was expected. If the emotions of a cricket-crazed nation can be pushed aside for a moment, the impression that emerges is that Bangladesh’s World Twenty20 ... Read more
Super-Eights begin today
Bangladesh may have bowed out with a heart-breaking loss to Pakistan on Tuesday, but the World Twenty 20 shifts into a higher gear today as the Super Eights round kicks-off an intense battle for the semifinal berths. The preliminary league, which ended on Tuesday, separated the men from the boys as Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and ... Read more
Shakib show in vain
It was an outstanding knock from an outstanding player. But Shakib Al Hasan’s masterful 84-run innings was still not good enough for Bangladesh as they crashed out of the ICC World Twenty20 after defeat to Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium last night. In the end, Pakistan chased down the Tigers’ challenging total of ... Read more
‘We failed to back up Shakib’
Praising Shakib Al Hasan’s innings highly, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim held the conditions responsible for their failure in the ICC World Twenty20 yesterday. The wicketkeeper-batsman in the post-match briefing said that his team lost the game, against Pakistan by eight wickets, despite putting up a challenging total on the board mainly because of their
Backfiring bouncers
There has been much talk of executing plans in the lead-up to Bangladesh’s ICC World Twenty20 encounter with Pakistan and if those plans were being executed when the Tigers took the field to defend an admirable total of 175 after a Shakib Al Hasan special, then there is cause for concern. The first three overs ... Read more
Disappointed, but hopeful
Over the past few weeks in Bangladesh, a lot of hype has surrounded the Tigers’ participation in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20. Expectations were really high this time as the team management and players had talked up their chances of reaching the Super Eights stage as well as putting in a good show in the ... Read more
Do or die for Tigers
Bangladesh will take on 2009 champions Pakistan in their last Group match of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium today needing to win the match by an unlikely margin if they are to qualify for the Super Eights stage. The match will start at 4pm Bangladesh Standard
‘Nothing to lose’
Bangladesh have to play their best T20 match if they want to turn the tables against mighty Pakistan in their second and final group match and qualify for the Super Eights of the ICC World Twenty20. A win will not be good enough for the Tigers; they have to win the match by a margin ... Read more
Fitness scare for Tigers
Bangladesh got a little jolt yesterday ahead of today’s do-or-die clash against Pakistan as pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza suffered an injury during practice and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan skipped training as he was not feeling good. National team physio Vibhav Singh however said that the setbacks suffered by the two
NZ through despite defeat
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
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
McCullum crushes Tigers
Brendon McCullum was dismissed on the very last ball of the innings; but in the twenty overs prior, the bombastic Kiwi right-hander severely punished Bangladesh and led his team to a comfortable 59 run win in their Group D opener of the ICC World T20 at the Pallekele International Stadium
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
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