Knowledge Corner

Birth of a Test Playing Nation: Bangladesh
A new era began for Bangladesh cricket on 10 November 2000 when the national team played their first test match against India at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. Bangladesh became the 10th member of the elite family of test playing nations in the world. Being a test playing nation was not as easy as it was thought to be. Bangladesh's cricketers had to face many obstacles on their way to achieving test status. Bangladesh's first official foray into international cricket came at the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, leaving the tournament with 2 wins and 2 defeats. Seven years later, on 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played in its first ODI match against Pakistan in the 1986 Asia Cup. Although football was the most popular game here for a long time, cricket gained momentum and soon surpassed football, especially after Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia in 1997. The year 1999 was a historic year for Bangladesh as it played its first World Cup in England. Bangladesh created an enormous upset by beating Pakistan by 62 runs during the 1999 Cricket World Cup in the group match at Northampton. Bangladesh managed 223/9 from 50 overs; in reply Pakistan could only manage 161 due to a few run-outs by wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and some tight bowling by Khaled Mahmud, who took 3/31 from 10 overs. He was later judged man of the match. Bangladesh also beat Scotland in that tournament, although they did not qualify for the Super Six round due to defeats in three of their five matches. However, the win over Pakistan, who went on to become eventual runners-up to Australia in that World Cup, gave Bangladesh a head start in their quest to become a test playing country.
In 1997, Bangladesh became a regular ICC member with the right to play one-day internationals. But this was not the ultimate goal. After the success in the 1999 World Cup, the authorities of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) started their diplomatic offensive to gain Test status. Though countries like Australia, New Zeeland and England strongly opposed this proposal, with the support of Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka and other countries, Bangladesh attained the status of a Test playing country on 26 June 2000.
In 2000, Bangladesh made their debut Test appearance, talking on India in Dhaka on November 10-13. Though they lost by nine wickets they put up a great fight and thus proved their worth. Veteran batsman Aminul Islam Bulbul scored 145 in the first innings of the match. Naimur Rahman captained Bangladesh in the first test match. Thus a new test playing nation was born.

The Great Expeditions
The ever-longing thirst among people of conquering the world has always produced explorers who undertook daunting expeditions to learn and conquer. In the Early Age one such name was Hiuen Tsang. He was born in China in 602 AD in the Tang period and became a Chinese monk at the age of 13. He is famous for his seventeen year overland journey to India where he studied many original scriptures of Buddhism.
Marco Polo (1254-1324) was another great explorer from Venice, Italy who, with his father and uncle, participated in an epic journey to China. He returned to Venice 24 years later and documented the details in his famous book “II Milione”. In China he met Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan and became his ambassador. The pioneering journey was the source of inspiration for many other explorers, including Christopher Columbus.
If there was someone more epical in appeal than Marco Polo, it was Ibn Battuta. This Muslim explorer travelled for 30 years in the fourteenth century over most of the Islamic Countries, North and West Africa, South and East Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, India and China. The distance he travelled surpassed all other records in his times. Born in Morocco, Ibn Battuta is considered one of the greatest travellers ever.
The Europeans did not have to wait long to find the sea route to India. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama became the first sailor to reach India by sea. He reached the city of Calicut in India in 1498 via the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The last continent (except Antarctica) to be discovered by the civilized world was Australia. A member of the British Royal Navy, Captain James Cook, reached the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770 to complete the last significant expedition in the “Age of Discovery”.

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