Ashfaq-Ul-Alam

As the dust settles on Bangladesh’s 2-0 humiliation in the home Test series against Sri Lanka, the state of the country’s domestic red-ball cricket has once again become a hot topic.

Bangladesh team’s assistant coach Nic Pothas yesterday said the Test team’s batting unit is going through a rebuilding stage and everyone needs to remain patient, a statement that contradicts what other important figures of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had said in the days prior.

When the Bangladesh team began their two-day training ahead of the first Test in Sylhet, pacer Shoriful Islam was in Dhaka, with the physicians trying to determine whether he was fit enough to play the match.

In the Sylhet Test, Sri Lanka didn’t outplay Bangladesh because they had more experience, instead they outdid the hosts because of their superior mindset.

The ability to evolve has saved Test cricket from the doom people have been envisioning for over a century.

This rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could be called vain, superficial or even ridiculous as it’s not based on some deep-rooted animosity between the two countries

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics,” is a famous quote from American author and humourist Mark Twain that alludes to the concealing nature of statistics.

‘You couldn’t hit one boundary!’. In the 2022 BPL final, Towhid Hridoy of the Fortune Barishal was on strike against Comilla Victorians pacer Shohidul Islam for the last three balls of the match with his side seven runs away from victory.

For years, there have been murmurs about the selection panel not having complete freedom to choose the players that they want.

Ideally, sports and politics should never mix, but inevitably, sports and politics always mix.

When did Test cricket first start dying?

“You are starting a tournament that if you open your mind and then think big, [it could] probably [be] the best tournament in the world. Every cricketer [will say], ‘Listen, between February and March, I want to play in the BPL.”

For a good few years in the last decade, two young players were regarded as the next big things in Bangladesh cricket's white-ball formats: Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman.

Going by the collective outcry of the cricket fraternity around the world, led by former Australia captain Steve Waugh, it seems that the people running the game in South Africa have just landed the final blow in the gruesome murder of Test cricket.

Which of these two countries are more successful in age-level cricket, India or Bangladesh?

The year 2023 has been a ‘colourful’ one for Bangladesh, in the most literal sense, as they have spent most of their time playing in the red-and-green jersey and have donned the all-white one on only four occasions.

2023 has been Bangladesh's busiest ever year in ODIs. They have played 32 matches as part of six bilateral series – four at home and two away– and taken part in the Asia Cup in August-September and the ICC World Cup in October-November.

For the past five years, New Zealand have been Bangladesh's most gracious hosts in international cricket.

"Bangladesh teams for the last 15 years were used to having Shakib. We are finding it hard to make a combination [without him]."

When Shakib Al Hasan got ruled out of Bangladesh's home Test series against New Zealand due to injury, the hosts suffered a double blow as they lost their leader and their best all-rounder at the same time.