Raihan Mahmood
Bangladesh football hit a new low as the national team suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat against hosts Sri Lanka in their third and last group match of the AFC Challenge Cup final round at the Sughatadasa Stadium in Colombo. Bangladesh football captain Aminul Haque blamed the hectic international fixtures for his team’s downfall in the AFC Challenge Cup final round after his return.Bangladesh were flying high after a 2-1 win over Tajikistan in the opener and fought gallantly in a 2-1 defeat against Myanmar in the second. But they lost all the credentials when they went down 3-0 defeat to hosts Sri Lanka in the third match.
A frustrated Aminul had his own thoughts. ‘Everybody is criticising the players, but they are also human beings and not machines. Bangladesh team have had to play eight international matches in the span of 20 days, the result against Sri Lanka was a nightmare for the players, I don’t want to give any illogical causes for the failure, the heat at 3:00pm and the stress took the toll,’ said Aminul.
Tajikistan secured top spot in Group A with an impressive 3-0 win over fellow semi-finalists Myanmar in the other match of the group. Sri Lanka have never beaten Bangladesh by 3-0 margin since the rivalry began back in 1979.In the twelve matches played between the two countries Bangladesh have won eight and Sri Lanka three with the other game ending in a draw.
Sakib Riayd hits magnificent centuries
Bangladesh captain Sakib al Hasan and lower order Mahmudullah Riyadh hit spectacular centuries against New Zealand in the one off Test at the Seddon Park, Wellington.
Sakib al Hasan who scored exact 100 was pleased with his team’s performances on the tour, particularly the mettle they displayed in the final one-dayer in Christchurch, and in the one-off Test.
‘We improved ourselves during the tour. Every time we did something better,’ Sakib said. ‘We fought hard in this match and we don’t often take the match into the fifth day. Mahmudullah and the fast bowlers did their jobs well and I’m happy with the way the team is progressing.’
The Bangladesh captain was also relieved to finally have a maiden Test century in the bag after being dismissed for 87 in the first innings, but said there was nothing particularly motivating his brutal assault against Daniel Vettori’s bowling this (Friday) morning. He tore into his counterpart, smashing 18 off his first over before taking ten runs off the first three balls of his next over to bring up his fifty. ‘The ball was there to be hit and I backed myself to play those shots and it came off,’ Sakib said.
Looking forward to their upcoming home series against England, Sakib was optimistic, claiming, ‘We now have the belief that we can beat any team in our home conditions, so we are looking forward to it.’
Mahmudullah Riyad had cut a disappointed figure at missing out on a maiden Test century by four runs against India recently, but he only had to wait one more match to get to the coveted landmark.
After his 115 helped Bangladesh avert the follow-on on day three at Seddon Park, Mahmudullah’s ecstatic on-field celebrations were followed by a chirpy press conference after stumps.
‘I was happy that this time I got the century after missing out against India … this one might have been my best innings so far because I came into a difficult situation with us six down for around 200, and we batted well,’ he said.
Mahmudullah also commented on his record-breaking partnership with his captain Sakib al Hasan.
‘We had fun, it was a good partnership. We just tried to keep positive and go for the bad balls and were happy to make the runs.
‘If you look at the scorecard, everyone in the top order made a start but didn’t capitalise. So it was good, the way that Sakib and I batted well.’
England Cricket Team is now in Bangladesh
The England cricket team, led by Paul Collingwood is in Bangladesh for a month-long tour.
Their second full tour in Bangladesh will feature three ODIs and two-match Test series.
England are the lone team to keep up hundred percent success record against Bangladesh in both ODI and Test format. They played so far eight ODIs and four Tests against Bangladesh dating back to 2000 and yet to loss any game.
The English team will not attend any practice session before playing their first warm-up match with BCB XI led by Shahriar Nafess at the Fatullah Stadium on Tuesday.
They will play their second practice one-day game against the same opponents on February 25, also at Fatullah Stadium ahead of the first ODI which will begin on February 28 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS). The second ODI will be also held at SBNCS on March 1.
Both teams will then travel to Chittagong where the third ODI and first Test will be taken place at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS). The third and last ODI will be held on March 5 while the first Test will start from March 12. In between the English side will play a three-dayer warm up game against Bangladesh A Team which will begin from March 7 at ZACS.
They will travel back to Dhaka on March 16 to play their second and last Test which will start from March 20.
England ODI Squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper), Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Ryan Sidebottom, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Craig Kieswetter (Wicketkeeper)
England Test squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Michael Carberry, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper), Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.