Khalid Hossain

Sports and politics had long been interlocked in such a way that the intention to view sports from an apolitical lens becomes, like it or not, a political stance.

“Fantastic atmosphere, great goals, incredible excitement, surprises, small teams beating big teams,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said yesterday. 56 of the 64 matches have so far played out but, prior to it,

A football World Cup offers a spectrum of gifts -- superstars lighting up the centre stage, rising stars becoming household names, nerve-wracking encounters between powerhouses, stunning upsets,

If one match in the 2022 World Cup so far had to be nominated to represent what football offers in the present era, Sunday night’s encounter between Spain and Germany stands out as the obvious candidate despite yielding just a draw.

Based on the first of three rounds of group-stage games, it is fair to conclude that football fans have been treated to a variety of scrumptious dishes -- a platter that is expected from the Greatest Show on Earth.

If we could only extrapolate what transpired in the Qatar World Cup till date, it would appear that we are definitely in for an unprecedented rollercoaster ride.    

The way Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan handled questions related to tactics in the pre-match press conference today -- ahead of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup opener against the Netherlands tomorrow -- became a testament to the notion that the Tigers have miles to go before they become a formidable side in T20s.

The much-awaited Women’s Asia Cup, played in the 20-over format since 2012, returns with its eighth edition in Sylhet as the curtain-raiser sees defending champions Bangladesh take on Thailand at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium Ground 2 (SICS Outer) today from Bangladesh Standard Time 9:00 am.

A common scene preceding a friendly neighbourhood football match is random players gathering and two seniors-turn-captains taking turns in picking the players. Usually, the top strikers are recruited first, followed by playmakers, wingers, and so on. 

Before emerging as champions of the just-concluded 2022 SAFF Women's Championship, the women in red and green had played a final once before – during the regional competition's 2016 edition. But as the in-form Sabina Khatun, Sanjida Akhtar, Maria Manda and company prepared to encounter hosts Nepal, the Bangladesh head coach Golam Rabbani Choton deemed his charges as favourites -- not based on the track records against the four-time champions but on their current form.

As the five-time Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka are set to battle it out against two-time winners Pakistan in the final of the continental tournament’s 15th edition in Dubai tonight at 8:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time, the task of picking the favourites on paper becomes virtually impossible.

Elon Musk yesterday took to social media to post the following after the top billionaire and notorious bluff master lost a small fraction of his wealth, worth billions of dollars, to Twitter. 

The Asia Cup encounter between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka yesterday in Dubai became an Asia Cup classic as the game lived up to its billing, triggered by a war of words and mind games from the two sides leading into the do-or-die fixture with the winner promised a place in the Super 4.

Bangladesh have a stern test in their Asia Cup opener on Tuesday against Afghanistan and that they have to grab the proverbial bull by the horn right from the onset for success, reckons veteran coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim.    

The Asia Cup is just a day away from making the much-awaited comeback after a four-year interval -- the longest since the 2008 edition -- with some of the world’s top teams prepared to lock horns in the United Arab Emirates, where its maiden edition commenced in 1983.

The most prolific money-making superstar of cricket, Becash All Hashi, has decided to no longer apologise to his fans after extending his own world record for most official apologies made by a professional athlete in any sport. 

The best of players are known to crave the pressure of performing against the wind, when chips are down. On Friday, Sikandar Raza made audiences witness once again that pressure makes diamonds as his gem of a knock, a 109-ball 135, entered into Zimbabwe cricket folklore.  

Like every other decision from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the appointment of Nurul Hasan Sohan as the T20 captain of Bangladesh team for the tour of Zimbabwe caused surprise among the cricket fraternity in the country. However, this particular decision from the management might end up being one of the few rational ones in recent memory.

“Our bowlers should have stuck to their lines,” Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad said after his side suffered a five-wicket defeat over West Indies in the third and final T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday.

For the cricket fans in general, it was surprising to see a formidable Test side like New Zealand suffer a batting collapse in the manner they did against England in the Lord’s Test yesterday, and that too after having elected to bat first. However, when it came to the Bangladeshi audiences, one incident during the end of the visitors’ innings perhaps had warranted a higher element of surprise.