Former National cricketer ASM Faruque breathed his last in Dhaka today following a cardiac arrest, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said. Faruque, a former BCB Board Member and councillor, was 75 at the time of his death.

One of the cricketers of the Bangladesh side that played against the visiting MCC team in 1976, the first tour by a foreign team to independent Bangladesh, Faruque had performed various roles with the BCB as an administrator.

He was team manager at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa and at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016. He had been BCB's Game Development Committee Chairman in 2007 as well as a member of the Technical Committee.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board officially announced today that Kazi Anik, a 21-year-old pacer on the domestic circuit who represented Bangladesh in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, tested positive for a prohibited substance in November 2018 and accepted a two-year suspension for his first doping offence.

The player tested positive for Methamphetamine (d-) during an in-competition test conducted on 06 November, 2018 in Cox's Bazar. He admitted the offence and accepted a two-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation involving his use of prohibited substance, the release said.

The substance is included as a stimulant, prohibited under section S6a of the 2018 ICC Prohibited list and consequently prohibited under the BCB Anti-Doping code 2.1, which has adapted the ICC Anti-Doping code.

According to the code, it is athlete's personal duty to ensure that prohibited substances enter his or her body. Furthermore, each athlete is responsible for any prohibited substances found in their bodily specimen, regardless of how it entered their body.

According to the press release, taking into account Articles 10.10.1, 10.10.2, 10.10.3 of the BCB Anti-Doping Code, and the fact that this is the player's first anti-doping rule violation, the two-year period of ineligibility commenced on February 8 last year -- the day of formal notification of the player's adverse analytical finding and the day upon which he accepted a provisional suspension

"He will therefore be re-eligible to participate in cricket and cricket activities at midnight on 07 February 2021," the release said. "According to the BCB Anti-Doping Code (Article 9 and 10.8), all individual results of the athlete obtained from 6th November, 2018, day of sample collection, shall be disqualified. This includes the forfeit of any medals, points and prizes."

Onik, a left-arm pace bowler, has played four first-class matches, 26 List A games and nine T20s – including in the Bangladesh Premier League -- since his debut as a professional cricketer in April 2017.

Half-centuries from Lokesh Rahul and Shreyas Iyer led India to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the opening Twenty20 match in Auckland Friday with the winning runs coming with an over to spare.

Talk of possible travel fatigue after only arriving in New Zealand three days ago, did not eventuate as Virat Kohli's men hauled in New Zealand's 203 for five with Rahul making 56 and Iyer unbeaten on 58.

New Zealand did not help their chances by bowling 10 wides and missing wicket opportunities with sloppy fielding.

Kohli won the first play of the day when he called correctly at the toss and elected to bowl.

Half centuries by Colin Munro (59), Kane Williamson (51) and Ross Taylor (54 not out) paved the way for New Zealand to pass the 200 mark, but with Eden Park's short boundaries -- there were 20 sixes in the match -- it was not enough against one of the best sides in the world.

When India started their run chase, New Zealand took the bold option of throwing the new ball to spinner Mitchell Santner for the second over and after conceding 12 off his first three deliveries the left-armer claimed the wicket of Rohit Sharma for seven.

But it was merely a momentary blip as Kohli joined Rahul to pound the New Zealand attack.

At 59 for one in the sixth over New Zealand butchered a double chance to remove Rahul on 27 when he was slow away on a quick single.

Southee missed the first shy at the stumps and the mid-wicket fielder missed the return throw with Rahul still short of the crease.

Kohli on 33 skied a Blair Tickner delivery in the ninth over which Ish Sodhi had plenty of time to get under, but he missed the ball completely.

But when the pair had put on 99 off 50 deliveries New Zealand briefly fought back as the catches stuck.

Tim Southee caught Rahul and Shivam Dube in the deep and a diving Martin Guptill accounted for Kohli (45) as India slumped from one for 99 to four for 142 in the 14th over.

But Iyer and Manish Pandey recovered the momentum for the tourists and knocked off the remaining 62 runs needed for victory in 34 balls with the match finishing on Iyer's third six.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes says he was flattered to be nominated for New Zealander of the Year but the country's beaten World Cup cricket captain Kane Williamson should win it.

Stokes, 28, was born in New Zealand but moved to England at the age of 12 when his father Gerard took a rugby league coaching job.

A man-of-the-match performance in England's dramatic super over victory against New Zealand in this month's World Cup final earned Stokes some early nominations for New Zealander of the Year, according to the nation's media.

In a statement issued through his management on Tuesday, Stokes said that while he was proud of his New Zealand and Maori heritage the nomination "would not sit right".

"I feel the whole country should align their support to New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. He should be revered as a Kiwi legend. He led his team in this World Cup with distinction and honour," Stokes said.

"He was the player of the tournament and an inspirational leader of men. He shows humility and empathy to every situation and is an all-round good bloke. He typifies what it is to be a New Zealander.

"He would be a worthy recipient of this accolade. New Zealand, fully support him. He deserves it and gets my vote."

Nominations for the award opened on July 1 and close on Sept. 15. A shortlist is confirmed in December, with the winner named next February.

The last sportsman to win the award was former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in 2016 after he led the side to their second successive Rugby World Cup title in late 2015.

Jos Buttler, the England wicketkeeper-batsman, revealed he was struggling with fear of failure before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 final against New Zealand last week.

While England went on to win the tournament and lift their maiden men’s World Cup, Buttler, who scored 59 runs and affected a match-winning run-out, needed counsel from team psychologist David Young before the game.

“I had played in eight finals before Sunday and lost seven of them,” Buttler told the Daily Mail. “I’d played in lots with Somerset, the Champions Trophy with England and when we lost the [World] T20 [final] in Kolkata. I knew how much it hurt watching the other team lift the trophy. I didn’t want to feel that pain and that regret again.”

Since crashing out in the group stage of the 2015 World Cup, England underwent an ODI revolution with the sole aim of lifting the trophy at Lord’s four years later. They rose to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Rankings and were one of the favourites to win the tournament. With the dream final before a home crowd turning into reality, Buttler found himself overawed by the historic occasion.

“What was scaring me was if we lost, I didn’t know how I’d play cricket again,” he explained. “This was such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a World Cup final at Lord’s. It felt like destiny and I was thinking: ‘If it doesn’t happen, I will have no motivation to pick up a cricket bat for a very long time.’

“When I was talking to David, I knew the answers. I knew all I could look after was the stuff I could look after, and I needed to get into my zone, which allows me to perform the best I can. But what happens if it goes wrong?”

Buttler had similar worries in the group stage as well, when England had needed to win at least two of their last three games to ensure qualification into the knockouts. Defeats to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia had put them in a difficult position.

The umpire who awarded England six runs from a freak overthrow in the last over of the World Cup final has admitted he made an “error” and should have given one run fewer, a report said Sunday.

A throw to the stumps deflected off the bat of a diving Ben Stokes as he tried to complete a second run and raced to the boundary, with Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena awarding six.

Three balls later the scores at 50 overs were tied as England reached 241 all out replying to New Zealand’s 241-8.

It took the nail-biting final to a Super Over which again was tied but England lifted the trophy by virtue of having scored more boundaries

Critics, including former leading umpire Simon Taufel, said England should have been awarded five runs, not six, as the batsmen had not crossed for the second run at the moment the ball was thrown.

Former Sri Lankan Test player Dharmasena told the Sunday Times he did not have the benefit of television replays which showed the batsmen had not crossed.

“I agree that there was an error of judgement when I see it on TV replays now,” Dharmasena, who was umpiring the final with South Africa’s Marais Erasmus, told the local Sunday Times.

“But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I do not regret the decision I made.”

Dharmasena said he signalled six after consulting the other match officials. “So, I did consult the leg umpire (Erasmus) through the communication system which is heard by all other umpires and the match referee,” he told the newspaper.

“While they cannot check TV replays, they all confirmed that the batsmen have completed the second run. This is when I made my decision.”

Taufel had told Fox Sports Australia the umpires made a “clear mistake” as the batsmen had not crossed for their second run.

But the Australian also defended the match umpires, who he said had to make a complicated judgement, and said it would be “unfair” to say the decision altered the outcome of the tournament as it was impossible to now what would have happened in the final balls had five been awarded. 

After ripping the heart out of New Zealand's bleary-eyed cricket fans on Sunday with a man-of-the-match performance in the Cricket World Cup final, England all-rounder Ben Stokes has now been nominated for the New Zealander of the Year award.

The 28-year-old Stokes was born in New Zealand but grew up in England when his father Gerard moved there to take a rugby league coaching job.

Stokes remained in England when his parents returned home and carved out a successful cricketing career, scoring 84 not out in the final that helped his side to their maiden 50-over World Cup title at Lord's on Sunday.

His exploits in the final earned some early nominations for the awards, as did New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, local media reported on Friday.

"The way he (Williamson) conducted himself, not only in the face of such devastating disappointment at Lord's but throughout the tournament, resonated powerfully with Kiwis from all walks of life," the award's chief judge Cameron Bennett told the New Zealand Herald on Friday.

"Interesting to see some character having a bob each way: we also received nominations for England's ... Ben Stokes.

"He might not have been playing for the Black Caps but, having been born in Christchurch, where his parents now live, and with Maori ancestry, there's clearly a few Kiwis about who think we can still claim him."

There was no immediate response from the awards organisers when contacted by Reuters.

Nominations for the award only opened on July 1 and close on Sept. 15. A shortlist is confirmed in December with the winner named next February.

The award is typically given to prominent members of the community with comedian Mike King, who has become a mental health and suicide prevention advocate, the most recent to receive the award.

The last sportsman to win it was former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in 2016 after he led the side to their second successive Rugby World Cup title in late 2015.