Abdullah Al Mehdi

An undeniable need to restore club cricket’s charm

A rivalry is many things but, most crucially, from a sporting sense, it sets off the sparks that gets the attention, pulls in the crowds and becomes a topic of discourse.

3w ago

‘When I started weaving that dream, I got a shock to the system’

Loneliness during bad patches in top-level cricket often does not come into the spotlight. It is an issue Virat Kohli had spoken about recently.

A huge undertaking to draw the ‘big picture’

Bangla Tigers is like an incubator for hatching not just cricketers who have surpassed the High Performance level, but also for those struggling for form or requiring preparation for an upcoming series.

The signs of growing T20I mentality

Is this really a new Bangladesh?

Hasan’s first underlines pacers’ new statement

Firsts are always special. Most bowlers come on to the international stage having already bagged five wickets in a domestic game, but that was not the case for Hasan Mahmud. The 23-year-old bagged his first fifer, not just on the international stage, but overall, in the third ODI against Ireland.

Tamim looks to get in the groove

Rain was in the offing at Sylhet and it rendered any outfield activities impossible yesterday for the Tigers who perhaps thankfully took the opportunity to take in the relaxing day from the team hotel.

'I lost my interest in cricket after being defrauded'

Towhid Hridoy was shaped by unfortunate long before his first international appearance for Bangladesh national team. In 2013, a ‘fake’ cricket academy in Banasree embezzled money from him deceitfully. His family suffered as they had to mortgage land for a young Hridoy to join that academy but his career faced early setback. Batting with the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim yesterday, Towhid showcased his own talent. He talked to The Daily Star’s Abdullah Al Mehdi on facing deceit when pursuing cricket, and support of his family through difficult times. He also talked about batting with Mushfiqur Rahim yesterday and gave his opinion on Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s comment during the BPL regarding his national team call up.

Focus on character and ‘game within game’

In overcast conditions mimicking the ‘English weather’, the Tigers went about their practice session at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday with individuals looking to build on the confidence from the England series as they geared up for the ODI series against Ireland, slated to begin today.

‘We will build the team to do well like in ODIs’

The way Bangladesh’s bowlers thwarted England from getting a big score was commendable, but how did the Tigers’ chase go? It was a complete chase, done with a coolness that displayed the exuberance of youth, with left-handed Najmul Hossain Shanto leading from the front.

Tigers show authority in win over England

Bangladesh put in a massive effort with the ball to come back into the game after being put under the cosh before batters showed an approach that signaled the coming of a new Bangladesh in the T20I format,

T20 series first step in journey towards 2024 WC

England were looking forward to a challenge but for newly-arrived Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, it will be the first step on a journey to the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.

Professionalism in the backdrop of distress

“Shakib! Shakib,” Tamim Iqbal called out. “Who? Me?” Shakib Al Hasan gestured after someone brought it to his attention. Soon the ace all-rounder converged on the centre wickets to speak to Tamim and coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

Who included Shamim?

Things happened as if in a frenzy yesterday evening

Tamim’s tricky road ahead

It was a picture of a happy dressing room, Bangladesh players taking pride in their new-found strength from the depths of defeat after all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz’s heroics, with only Mustafizur Rahman for company, helped clinch the first ODI against India in Mirpur. Shakib Al Hasan himself was one of those lending a shoulder on the occasion as Miraz was hoisted in the air.

‘My use of wrist all comes from squash’

Ryan Burl has come leaps and bounds since his early days, with his rise perfectly coinciding with the new-found ambition coming through in Zimbabwe cricket. The 28-year-old spoke about growing up with cricket and other sports and his view on the current generation of Zimbabwe players during an interview with The Daily Star’s Abdullah Al Mehdi. The excerpts are below:

‘The game dictates how I coach the players’

Julian Wood is known as somewhat of a pioneer in coaching T20 power-hitting. This time, he is enjoying a stint with Chattogram Challengers as head coach.

BPL gets the Shakib it deserves

Before the Bangladesh Premier League’s ninth edition had rolled on to the field, Bangladesh Test and T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan was scathing in his criticism of the tournament’s organisation. As the tournament has begun, Shakib’s attitude towards it has only caused further uproar about its standards.

Heart, confidence and failure converge in Hridoy’s turnaround

Sylhet Strikers and Towhid Hridoy are seemingly turning a page. The batting order has stability with Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hridoy at the top along with the power of Zakir Hasan in the middle while Thisara Perera can still punch a hole at the death with the bat.

Shakib ‘quietly’ immersed as BPL swings in

Ace all-rounder and Fortune Barishal skipper Shakib Al Hasan may have taken centre-stage ahead of the start of the tournament with his scathing criticism of the BPL organisers on Wednesday, but by the time the tournament began yesterday, he was fully immersed in cricketing rituals.

Messi the Dios of happiness

How should one remember December 18? It may as well be known as the GOAT day. The coronation of the King, who completed football. The story, with a fairytale ending for one of the greatest to play the game and what had come to pass before and the joy thereafter, makes it one of sport’s greatest. For France, it was 120 minutes in the Lionel Messi territory and some more. For Argentina, they had to do it under the spirited gaze of Kylian Mbappe, always on the hunt. That only made Messi’s coronation that much sweeter in the end.

Pitch leaves curious impression on opening day

Day one of the first Test between Bangladesh and India was a seesaw affair for the most part despite the game remaining in balance at the close of play yesterday.

Mehedi, Shakib lead Tigers to thrilling win

It was edge-of-the-seat stuff at the end and it came against the backdrop of a low-scoring encounter as Bangladesh put their ODI mettle to use to seize victory from the jaws of defeat with a thrilling one-wicket win over India in the first of the three-match ODI series at Mirpur yesterday.

Desert fest: Argentina get their mojo back

Clenched teeth, head lowered. That is how Lionel Messi returned to the dressing room after his first-half penalty was saved by Wojciech Szczesny. If that is how things had ended, it could have been Messi’s last World Cup game. But his team had other ideas.

Burden now as big as Messi’s gifts

Lionel Messi dropped off from Mexico’s midfield marker and just stood there for an instance, standing quite a few metres from the top of the box, as he usually does. Only a nuanced eye would know that he is waiting for Julian Alvarez to push the centre-backs just a little bit more before he almost willed Angel Di Maria pass onto his feet. This is the nearest distance to goal that his countrymen could find him with a pass and with Argentina’s World Cup hanging on the line, Messi did the impossible.

'Bounce and movement? Is this Mirpur?'

“Is that extra bounce in Mirpur?”

The Shakib-Liton batting order conundrum

Bangladesh’s batting order and their overall batting plan in the T20I format continue to flummox, with Liton Das and skipper Shakib Al Hasan’s batting positions an area which negates Bangladesh’s advantage as a batting unit heading into the T20I World Cup in Australia.

Finishers’ impact grows as final beckons

When it comes to death-over bowling, the 2022 Asia Cup has seen pretty sub-par performances from a few bowlers. Pakistan’s Harris Rauf and India’s Arshdeep Singh have been the most reliable names in the tournament, but in general, runs have been leaked and the biggest boost it has given is to batters who played the role of finisher in the T20 event.

Modern T20s a thorn on off-spinners’ side?

The recent pattern of the T20 game has seen wrist spinners gain more ground but the dearth of off-spinners in the shortest format has seen their roles come into question, whereas in ODIs the off-spinners are called to stem the flow of runs and also to lull batters to take chances against them, resulting in their dismissals.

Tigers exit Asia Cup with heavy hearts

It was heartbreak for Bangladesh as they exited the Asia Cup, unable to grab the bull by the horns, on Thursday following an agonising two-wicket defeat in Dubai.

Nawaz differs with Shanaka

After being dealt a crushing blow by Afghanistan in the first match of the 2022 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka captain and all-rounder Dasun Shanaka opined that Afghanistan were a much more difficult hurdle than their Group B opponents Bangladesh.

Can Tigers overcome overwhelming odds?

Bangladesh appear to be the fifth-best among the top five teams heading into the Asia Cup tournament.

Mahmudullah Riyad practice in Edgbaston ahead Bangladesh vs India match

Mahmudullah hired for third T20I!

T20I skipper for just a series, Nurul Hasan Sohan's injury triggered chaos and exposed the lack of clarity in the decision-making of the Bangladesh national team's think tank once again.

Not just a lunch

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) arranged a get-together and lunch for cricketers at a city hotel today and, although members of the team management downplayed the significance of the ‘special’ lunch ahead of the Tigers’ tour of Zimbabwe, scraping past the surface the motive may have been to communicate some issues to the senior stars who might have been left a bit disappointed with the BCB’s refurbishment of the T20I line-up for the upcoming T20I series.

‘Must forego looking for immediate results’

Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram was in favour of scrapping the ODI format as Test and T20 cricket gain more ground across the world, fueling the flames of the ODI format’s uncertain future that came to the fore when England’s Ben Stokes recently chose to retire from the 50-over game.

Why ODIs are Tigers’ favoured format?

It has long been understood that Bangladesh find it easier to meet the challenges of the ODI format.

Will Riyad meet Mominul’s fate?

Following the T20 World Cup debacle in the UAE last year, there were talks in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) hierarchy about finding a new direction for the T20I team.

Lefty batters’ stern test in the Caribbean

The last time Bangladesh played a Test series in West Indies, Kemar Roach hobbled away to a fifer, conceding just eight runs in Antigua, the

‘Shakib can go a long way if he keeps fitness levels up’

Spin coach Rangana Herath is conducting a four-day spin camp with 32 spinners in order to strengthen the spin-bowling pipeline. It became apparent that there was a lack of spinners around the periphery of the national team when Bangladesh played the recent Dhaka Test against Sri Lanka with four front-line bowlers despite Shakib Al Hasan being there. Mosaddek Hossain came in as a batter who can bowl and the burden of majority of the overs fell on Taijul Islam and Shakib.

Confident, Compact, Composed

“He has a deeper understanding of his game and that is making the difference,” Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, a long-term mentor to Mushfiqur Rahim, said about one of his favourite students while talking to The Daily Star yesterday.

Neither team wanted to force a result

The first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ended in a draw, as expected due to the nature of the wicket, a flat surface which showed little wear and tear over the course of five days.

Tamim’s discipline sets the tone

Hometown hero Tamim Iqbal was a class apart at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday and the most remarkable aspect of his innings was the necessary poise and comfort he displayed during his 133 run-knock in the first Test against Sri Lanka.

Determination vaults Nayeem back into spotlight

“It’s always tough when you are injured but I tried to adapt,” Nayeem Hasan said with a smile that did not altogether conceal his boyish charm during the press conference in Chattogram yesterday.

Tigers focus to flip fortunes at home

Shakib Al Hasan and a few others raised a hand in the air directed towards the sky during the practice session yesterday, pointing out the rain clouds but by then the cloud of Shakib’s unavailability had left the side.

Future stars called up for HP’s training camp

Bangladesh Cricket Board's High Performance (HP) team's scheduled tour of Ireland had been pushed to next year due to the host board's international commitments, while the ongoing financial crisis in Sri Lanka had seen the SLC unable to host Bangladesh HP this year as well.

Taskin leaves for England as Shoriful, Ebadot overcome injuries

Bangladesh paceman Taskin Ahmed left for England today to get an assessment of the back injury he incurred during the series against South Africa. Taskin’s injury saw him sit out of the second Test in South Africa and he was subsequently ruled out for the upcoming Test series at home against Sri Lanka, slated to begin with the first Test at Chattogram from May 15.