Abahani completed a three-peat of the Dhaka Premier League with a commanding six-wicket victory over rivals Mohammedan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.
The weather, however, predicts bad news for Mohammedan, with forecasts of rain throughout the day potentially disrupting the match.
It's not just the board that's been caught napping. Hridoy’s own attitude throws up red flags about a wider issue.
Mohammedan Sporting Club captain Towhid Hridoy’s suspension saga took a new turn yesterday after he was handed one demerit point for showing dissent after being given out during their Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match against Gazi Group Cricketers in Mirpur.
The situation, both on and off the field, is disheartening. The national team’s struggles, coupled with ongoing match-fixing allegations and administrative chaos in the domestic arena, mirror the dysfunction of the previous regime Faruque promised to reform.
Nasum Ahmed’s unbeaten 13-ball 21 earned Mohammedan Sporting Club a thrilling four-wicket win over Gazi Group Cricketers in their penultimate Super League match in Mirpur on Saturday and also pushed the title race of the ongoing edition of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) to the final day.
While Bijoy's return may look like a one-off decision, it appears the selectors are willing to give this chapter a few more pages.
Hridoy’s suspension, and the confusion surrounding his premature return to the field after serving just one game of a two-match ban, has sparked controversy and raised questions about administrative irregularities within domestic cricket.
The Mohammedan captain was initially handed a one-match suspension and four demerit points for his first offence in altercating with on-field umpires. Later, his criticism of umpiring led to another sentence of three demerit points, which should equate to seven demerit points and two match suspensions.
Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB’s) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) launched an investigation on allegations of irregularities in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match between Gulshan Cricket Club and Shinepukur Cricket Club and summoned the two Shinepukur batters whose manner of dismissals caused the furor today.
It is evident that the domestic leagues are suffering similar woes of recent years.
The moment, captured on video and widely circulated, triggered widespread disbelief. But for Kayes, the incident symbolised a deeper crisis.
Fueling the fire, this incident unfolded on the same day that another DPL outfit Partex Sporting Club’s coach, Anwarul Mostakim, accused his own players of deliberately playing negative cricket. The coincidence only deepened public suspicion.
Players of Partex Sporting Club have boycotted practice due to not receiving their promised wages. They have even threatened to forfeit their match against Gazi Group Cricketers on Thursday.
All-rounder Nasir Hossain took part in his first domestic cricket match today in Mirpur after serving an ICC ban for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code and the 33-year-old said that he is still dreaming of making a comeback into the Bangladesh team while pointing fingers at the previous selection panel.
The 33-year-old was handed a two-year ban from all cricket in September 2023, with six months suspended, for breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code.
Emon reached his half-century in just 15 balls, eclipsing the previous record held by Shuvagata Hom, who struck a 16-ball fifty in the T20 edition of the DPL back in 2019.
The left-hander made fluent starts in both of Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy fixtures — scoring 25 and 24 at a run-a-ball against India and New Zealand respectively — but failed to convert those into bigger scores.
Captaining the star-studded Mohammedan Sporting Club in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League (DPL) was probably the last thing Towhid Hridoy expected to do this year.
