Al-Amin

Bangladesh lost their three-match ODI series 3-0 against New Zealand. The home team completed the series sweep with an 88-run thrashing of the Tigers in the final fixture at Dunedin on Wednesday.

The tragic death of a ninth-grade student of the city's Viqarunnisa Noon School & College on Monday appalled and enraged all and sundry.

A full-house turned up at the renovated Sheikh Kamal Stadium in Nilphamari yesterday to see a refreshingly different Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in what was the first big match experience for an otherwise tranquil city in the northern part of the country.

Bangladesh's away series have never been as remarkable as it was in the just-concluded West Indies tour that ended with a 2-1 T20I series triumph, thanks to a 19-run (D/L method) victory in the third and final game in Lauderhill, Florida yesterday.

Is the football World Cup all about winning the big prize? This may be the case for a few but for the majority of nations it is more about being a part of it. Mexico's coach Juan Carlos Osorio is a Colombian and he knows just how painful and devastating a defeat can be. After his side lost 2-0 against Brazil in the round of 16 on July 2, he made a very interesting observation.

When Luka Modric appeared at the press conference at the Luzhniki Stadium yesterday, his slight figure hardly reflected a story he has

A month ago, if someone had predicted that France and Croatia would play the World Cup final in Russia, most of us would have dumped it as an impossible option. But here we are with that spectacularly different reality -- the Les Bleus and the Blazers lining up for today's final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Can Croatia cross one final hurdle come Sunday night and become the ninth nation to win the World Cup? Standing in their way are France, whose sole ambition will be to claim that coveted piece of glory for the second time at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

Didier Drogba did not hide his allegiance ahead of tomorrow's World Cup final between France and Croatia. Speaking to reporters at the Moscow Press Centre the 40-year-old Ivorian, who is revered by the world as the best marksman Chelsea have produced, said that he would be rooting for Les Bleus at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

The World Cup in Russia is into its final leg. After so many twists and turns, dramas and upsets we are left with four European teams to fight for the ultimate glory.

The young brigade of Didier Deschamps took their World Cup dream closer to reality as they dispatched Belgium with a 1-0 win in the first semifinal at the Saint Petersburg Stadium yesterday.

Adaptability is a great virtue if you are in Russia to be part of the World Cup. We were desperate to get flight tickets from Kazan to Saint Petersburg so that we could cover today's first semifinal between France and Belgium. With no flights available, we decided to take a hired van instead of taking the hazardous route of going to Moscow first and then taking another train to Saint Petersburg.

If you discount World Cup pedigree, which has actually had little or no bearing in Russia 2018 so far, there is little to choose from between France and Belgium when the two European nations lock horns in the first semifinal at the Saint Petersburg Stadium today.

While we were crammed into a narrow corridor awaiting the elevator, one gentleman approached with a very important guest in tow.

Brazil coach Tite said that it was very painful for him to turn up and talk to reporters after that heart-stopping defeat against Belgium in the quarterfinal at Kazan Arena on Friday. But he refused to attribute the 2-1 loss to luck.

As we were leaving the Kazan Arena at around midnight on Friday, the volunteers at an exit point said: goodnight, thank you very

Belgium shot Brazil out of the World Cup with a 2-1 quarterfinal win yesterday to set up a semifinal clash with France on Tuesday.

The Bangladesh media contingent in Russia for the 2018 World Cup seems quite large when considering that the journalists hail from

When the battle to reach the last four in the World Cup starts today after a couple of days' break, both Brazil and France will desperately look for a semifinal collision course, something they would otherwise have tried to avoid before the final.