Bangladesh Cricket History
Bangladesh, the nation was born in 1971 after a war with Pakistan. Later, in
1972, a cricket governing council was formed in Bangladesh. At that time the
condition of Bangladesh was not much enviable. Even the stadiums were in
shambles and they required some repair works. Football was more popular in
Bangladesh than cricket. Bangladesh National Cricket Team was formed in 1977.
They became an associate member of ICC in 1977.In 1977 Marylebone Cricket Club
team visited the nation. Srilankan national team toured Bangladesh in 1978 to
play three 3 day matches. The touring side won all the matches by an innings.
Bangladesh got the real international exposure when they participated in the
ICC Trophy in England held in 1979. Under the captaincy of Raquibul Hasan, they
won 2 matches but lost the same number of matches and couldn't make it to the
semifinals. In the first match they had defeated Fiji by 22 runs,thanks to 7
wicket haul from Ashraful Haque. In the second match they were defeated by
Canada. In the third match they defeated Malasiya.
Mohammed Rafique
In the fourth crucial match
they lost to Denmark by 10 runs.In 1982 Bangladesh managed to reach the
semifinals but they were defeated by Zimbabwe. In 1983-84 Bangladesh hosted an
important tournament for the first time in history. It was the South East Asian
tournament. Bangladesh defeated HongKong by 3 wickets in the final to win the
trophy. The nation played it's first international ODI match in 1986 against
Pakistan. Bangladesh led by Gazi Ashraf was bundled out for 94 runs and
Pakistan reached the target with 7 wicket to spare. Bangladesh had to wait for
12 long years for their first ODI victory. In the Coca Cola triangular series
of 1998, Bangladesh tasted their first ODI victory when they defeated Kenya by
6 wickets. Batting first Kenya had made 236 in 50 overs after the debutant Ravi
Shah made 52 and H S Modi contributed 40. In reply Bangladesh made 237
with the loss of 4 wickets and 2 overs to spare. Mohammed Rafique was the top
scorer with a well made 77. This was after his heroics with the ball in Kenyan
innings where he had taken 3 wickets for 56 runs. Bangladesh qualified
for 1999 World cup held in England. They failed to reach the super six stage
but they managed to defeat Pakistan in the tournament and it was a great
achievement for the minnows at that time. Bangladesh had made 223/9 and later
bowled out Pakistan for 161 in 44.3 overs.
Aminul Islam
Khaled Mahmud picked 3 wickets
conceding 31 runs. Bangladesh played their first test in 2000 against India at
Dhaka. Surprisingly Bangladesh had made a good score of 400 in the first
innings. Aminul Islam made 145.India were bowled out for 429. But in the second
innings Bangladeshi batsmen lost their way and could only make 91 runs. India
managed to make the required runs of 63 with 9 wickets in hand. Bangladesh
managed to give Pakistan a shiver when they came close to winning a test match
against them.Alok Kapali had taken a hat-trick for Bangladesh in that match.
But eventually Pakistan managed to hold their nerves and won the match by 1
wicket.
After 1999 Bangladesh had to wait till 2004 to register an ODI win.In 2004 they
defeated Zimbabwe. After that Bangladesh managed to defeat strong opponents
each year. They sprang up a few surprises. In 2004 they defeated India,2005
Australia, 2006 Srilanka and so on. Their victory against world champions
Australia was one of the greatest upsets in cricket history. Batting first
Australia made 249/5 after Damien Martyn(77) and Michael Clarke(54) contributed
with half centuries. In reply Bangladesh made 250/5 with 4 balls to spare.
Mohammed Ashraful contributed with a fluent century off 101 balls to take the
Bangla tigers to victory. So at least the fans were finding something to
cheer about and their expectations were rising. In 2007 World Cup held in the
Caribbean Islands Bangladesh defeated India in the league matches. They entered
the super eight stages. In super eight they defeated South Africa. Slowly
Bangladesh was trying to find their own space in the cricketing world.
Bangladesh found many useful consistent players in Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur
Rahim, Mashrafe Murtaza, Mustafisur Rahman,Shakib Al Hasan in this period and
this changed the performance graph of the team. In 2010 they won the one day
series 4-0 against a visiting Newzealand side.That was a rare scene of
whitewash from the Bangla tigers.In 2012 Asia cup they reached the final defeating
India and Srilanka but lost to Pakistan in the final match.They were not able
to score 9 runs off the last over and that was a huge heart break for the fans.
They reached the quarter final stage in 2015 World Cup held in Australia. In
quarterfinals they lost to their neighbours India. In 2015 they won ODI series
in India,Pakistan and South Africa.In 2016 they registered a test victory
against a visiting English side. Champions trophy held in England 2017 proved
to be a great outing for the Bangladesh team.In the tournament they lost the
first match against England and second match against Australia was washed out.
In the third match they got past NewZealand thanks to centuries from Shakib Al
Hassan and Mahamudullah. Bangladesh as a result reached the semifinal stage of
the tournament. Shakib Al Hasan was involved in some controversy regarding an
Indian bookie contacting him. However there was no evidence of any illegal
activities. But Shakib hasn't reported about the bookie's approach and resulted
in a one year ban. Earlier there was a match fixing controversy involving
Mohammed Ashraful. The stroke player batsman has admitted of match fixing
during Bangladesh Premiere League in 2013 and he was banned for 5
years.Ashraful is a former captain of the national side.
Alok Kapali
Records:
There has been a surge of quality players in the Bangladesh team of late. There
has been some quality all rounders in the form of Shakib Al Hasan,
Mahamadullah, Mehidy Hasan and so on. Tamim Iqbal has been a great opener for
the team. Mushfiqur Rahim in addition to his wicket keeping role plays an
important role of a senior batsman. Mustafisur Rahman has been a great find in
the department of pace bowling.
Shakib Al Hasan
Mashrafe Mortaza has led the bowling department
for some time with grace. Shakib Al Hasan can be considered as one of the best
all rounders of all time.Bangladesh once had a unworthy record of 23
consecutive losses from 1999 and 2002 which is the most by any ODI
team.Bangladesh also holds the record of most consecutive losses in test.They
have lost 21 matches in a row from 2001 to 2004.
Mohammed Ashraful
Mushfiqur Rahim has the highest runs scored by a Bangladeshi Batsman in test.
He has scored 4413 runs from 70 matches at an average of 36.77 with a highest
score of 219 not out.His 219 is the highest score for a Bangladeshi batsman in
tests.Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque has scored most number of centuries for
Bangladesh in tests. Both have scored 9 centuries apiece. Shakib Al Hasan with
a tally of 210 wickets from 56 matches at an average of 31.12 is the highest
wicket taker for Bangladesh in tests. Taijul Islam with 114 wickets is behind
Shakib. Alok Kapali is the first Bangladeshi bowler to pick a hatrick in
tests.He made the distinction in the test against Pakistan.At that time his age
was 19 years and 240 days and was the youngest of all time at that point. Later
the record was overtaken by the Pakistan pace bowler Naseem Shah.Sohag Gazi has
scored a century and taken a hat-trick in the same test. These records were
born in the test match against NewZealand in 2103.
Tamim Iqbal
In ODI Tamim Iqbal with 7202 runs in 207 matches at an average of 36.74 is the
highest run getter for Bangladesh.Shakib is behind him with a tally of 6323
runs.176 scored by Liton Das against Zimbabwe is the highest individual score
of a Bangladeshi batsman in ODI. The medium pacer Mashrafe Mortaza who has
picked 269 wickets from 218 matches is the highest wicket taker of the nation
in ODIs.He has a best bowling figure of 6/26 and an average of 32.65. Shakib Al
Hasan with 260 wickets ranks second in the list.
Mushfiqur Rahim
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