Ashfaq-Ul-Alam

Interestingly, however, a Test career that ends with universal applause had begun in a very different manner, with many questioning whether Kohli even belonged in the format.

At the launching event of the newly-formed platform Bangladesh District and Divisional Sports Organisers Association (BDDSOA) yesterday in Dhaka, former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal made a request to the councillors who will cast their votes in the next Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) election.

Only by losing the first Test in Sylhet could Bangladesh have fans, and everyone else, turn their focus towards themselves for a series that nearly experienced a media blackout, forcing the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to get state-run BTV as the broadcast partner.

Bangladesh’s two-Test series against Zimbabwe is set to commence in Sylhet on Sunday at a time when fan interest on any sort of cricketing engagement between these two sides is arguably at an all-time low.

The Saudis are not just trying to enter the cricket market, they want to establish a new T20 circuit of cricket with them at the helm of it.

“I have decided to quit cricket as a mark of protest against a group of people in the Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] who do not want to see me in the squad.”

Yesterday, another modern-day Australian great called time on his ODI career a day after he top-scored for his side but could not deliver what was expected off of him.

But the thousands that were present at the Gaddafi Stadium and the millions who tuned in from around the globe to watch the Group B encounter between Afghanistan and England on Thursday, witnessed an absolute cricketing ‘tamasha’ in the truest sense.

Bangladesh losing convincingly to India and New Zealand and being out of contention for a spot in the semi-final in the ICC Champions Trophy may seem like the worst thing about the team’s ongoing campaign in Pakistan and the UAE, but it’s not.

After getting dismissed as the last Bangladesh batter in their ICC Champions Trophy opener against India in Dubai yesterday, centurion Towhid Hridoy limped back to the dressing room, with shoulders slumped and a pained expression etched across his face -- a wounded soldier who knew his resilience and determination were not enough to lift Bangladesh out of trouble.

Bangladesh’s relationship with the ICC Champions Trophy has been paradoxical from the get-go.

“Though the Bangladeshi team was not allowed to take part, the population reacted with enormous enthusiasm to the biggest sporting event -- some said the most positive event of any kind--in the country’s short, fraught, history.”

How many people are watching the ongoing 11th Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is a difficult question to answer.

The Marylebone Cricket Club's (MCC) status as the most famous and influential cricket club in the world is one of the few undisputed facts in the game's storied history.

Tamim had a chance to rewrite the ending by taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy, starting next month, but eventually chose not to.

“I only get Tk 3000 as allowance per month apart from accommodation and food in the national camp. They are giving me an additional Tk 2000 as house rent since I got married… There is no future playing for the national team,” Bangladesh’s star archer Ruman Sana said to The Daily Star in March last year, explaining why he no longer wants to play for the national team.

As for the year that is winding down, it was neither an overarching triumph nor a debilitating failure. The stench of mediocrity was present, but so was vivacious tenacity. Above all, it was an interesting year in cricket for Bangladesh -- one that fans would not forget soon.

The chaotic results column is overall a good sign for Test cricket.

Chances of Taskin Ahmed waking up super early in St Kitts, take time out of his preparation for the first ODI against West Indies to watch the final of the Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE yesterday are quite slim.

One of Aesop's renowned fables, 'The goose that laid the golden egg', imparts a timeless lesson: too much greed can ruin one's fortune. It also highlights the value of patience -- a virtue the Bangladesh Cricket Board could embrace to nurture the immense potential of one of their brightest prospects, Nahid Rana.