Golf in Bangladesh is a game totally for the privileged quarter but stardom of Siddikur Rahman, the first professional golfer of Bangladesh to win the Asian Tour, can only be termed as a fairy tale. Proving him as is not just a one-match wonder, Siddiqur recieved received a purse $48,600 as prize money, almost certainly the biggest as an individual in Bangladesh sports history.   
Coming off a very poor background, Siddikur started working as ball boy in 1994 at the Kurmitola Golf Club when he was in primary school to help his father Shafiqur Rahman, an auto-rickshaw driver, support his family that lived in a slum at Manikdi. Four years later, the club allowed him to use the facilities to play the game with other employees, and he finished high school while still working as a ball boy.
Siddiqur was the only golfer who won all the amateur circuit in the region as an amateur golfer and he also won four major tournaments in the India circuit in 2008 but his performance in the qualifying phase of the last year’s Asian tour was ordinary.
He became a professional golfer in April 2008 after playing the qualifying phase in India in February of the same year.
“It is very exciting. I’m the first Bangladeshi to play on the Asian Tour and in the two years that I’m on Tour, I have finally won a tournament,” said the new champion after winning the Open.
It can indeed be termed as a fairytale that a boy from Madaripur, despite all the adversity, took up the challenge to make his mark in the golfing map Siddikur’s achievement also opened the door for the next generation of golfers, who will surely be inspired by his achievement.

Bangladesh to host World Cup Cricket warm ups
Bangladesh is warming up to host the World Cup Cricket 2011 with a lot of actions going around. Meanwhile The ICC’s declaration of the warm up matches at Bangladesh boosted the cricket arena further.  Pakistan meets Bangladesh and England in Dhaka. it means Bangladesh will taste the top rivalry even before the World Cup statrs.
The WC warm up matches in Bangladesh
12 February – Bangladesh v Canada, Chittagong
15 February – Bangladesh v Pakistan, Dhaka
16 February – England v Canada, Dhaka
18 February – England v Pakistan, Dhaka

Julien Fountain takes Tiger’s fielding responsibilities
The newly-appointed fielding coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team Julien Fountain urged the cricketers to put the maximum efforts in order to elevate their performances.
‘I will give you blood, sweat and tears and in return you give performance,’ said Fountain who got himself introduced to the members of the preliminary squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand during a meeting at the Cricket Academy Building at Mirpur on Saturday. he new fielding coach doesn’t have enough knowledge of the young Bangladesh side.
“I watched a few matches in TV and read about them but I don’t have in-depth knowledge about the team. I’m looking forward to joining the team and working with them,” confessed Fountain, who has previously worked as a fielding coach for the West Indies, Pakistan and England.
Replying to a question, he said that he has yet to set any specific plan for the Tigers ahead of the World Cup.
“One has to have the agility, athleticism and speed to become a good fielder. This is a young side and I hope it will be a great experience for me to work with them. However I didn’t set any specific plan or target,” he said.

Tamim in top Bracket
Cracking Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal’s aspiration of winning an ICC Award took a step ahead after he was nominated among sixteen top international cricketers for the Test Player of the Year category in the top cricketing awards.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the different nominations for the annual honour for the best players and performances in the world for the past year. The awards ceremony will be held in Bangalore on October 6.
“I always dreamt of winning an ICC Award,” said Tamim, he first expressed his aspiration after making  a scintillating 85 in the first session of the Dhaka Test, narrowly missing a century in the first session against England..
“Now I have got my first nomination and even if I don’t win this time, I will try to win it next time hoped  the attacking left-hander.
Tamim has had a splendid year, between August 24, 2009 and August 10 this year, scoring 837 runs at an average that is touching 60 (59.78), with three centuries. His favourite opposition has been England during this period, scoring two of his hundreds against them including a breathtaking effort at Lord’s in June.

FULL LIST OF TEAMS AT 2010 WORLD CUP
HOSTS: South Africa
AFRICA QUALIFYING: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
ASIA QUALIFYING: Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
EUROPE QUALIFYING: Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland
SOUTH AMERICA QUALIFYING: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA AND QUALIFYING: Honduras, Mexico, United States
ASIA/OCEANIA PLAY-OFF New Zealand

Bangladesh’s falter but prevail in Asian Games Hockey qualifiers
Hosts Bangladesh displayed their brilliance late beating newly crowned champions Oman by 4-1 goals in the last league match of Asian Games Qualifying.
Despite the day’s first defeat Oman smartly reached the final round of the Asian Games Hockey as the champions of qualifying round securing 11 points from all the six matches.

Singapore finished runners-up in the seven-nation qualifying meet to reach the final round of Asian Games Hockey.
Bangladesh, which earlier eyed the top slot in the 7-nation meet, finished 5th with eight points – their ever-worst result in Asian qualifying hockey. But, with a sigh of relief, Bangladesh got a chance to play in the final round as per the latest decision of Asian Hockey Federation.
The Asian Hockey Federation recently decided that 12 teams instead of eight – with six teams from qualifying round – will play in the final round of Asian Games Hockey to be held in China in November this year.
Pre-tournament favorite Bangladesh made a good start in the qualifying meet beating lowly Thailand 8-1 and also completed their qualifying round engagements with a comfortable 4-1 victory over
formidable Oman.
The outcome of Bangladesh’s other four matches were nothing but a sorry tale of sorrow and frustration.
Bangladesh conceded a frustrating 5-7 goals defeat against Chinese Taipei in the 2nd match, split points with Hong Kong in a 2-2 draw in the 3rd match, played to a 3-3 draw against Sri Lanka in the 4th match and shattered their hope losing to Singapore 0-1 in the 5th match.

Abahani out of the AFC Presidents Cup
Two-time champions Dordoi Biskek of Kyrgyzstan moved into the semi-finals of the AFC Presidents Cup after playing out a goalless draw with hosts Dhaka Abahani at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday.
In the other match of the day, New Road Team of Nepal beat Hasus NTCPE 4-3.
Abahani needed a victory in the game while their Kyrgyz counterparts needed a draw to win Group A.
They did it with a professional approach never taking any risk.
Although Abahani earned five points they failed to make the final four as the best runners-up as they fell behind Group C runners-up ITTU of Turkmenistan on goal difference. Abahani’s draw against NTCPE was not counted as per bye-laws of the tournament. The sky-blue outfit had missed out on the semi-final spot of the last edition after playing a goalless draw with Ashgabat of Tajikistan.
Bangladesh cricket team is in England
The first Test match between England and Bangladesh will be played at the Lord’s in London from the 27th of May. England will go into the Tests with supreme confidence given their performances leading up to the games. They have just won the T20 World Cup, and to add to that, they have also beaten Bangladesh in every game on their tour of Bangladesh.
Coach Jamie Siddons is under no illusions as to the task confronting his Bangladesh side in their Test series against England after watching them struggle on day two against Essex. “We face a massive job but at least our preparations are going quite well,” Siddons said. Shahadat Hossain can be a frustrating bowler and sometimes struggles to get two successive deliveries in the right place,” he admitted.
“He is the fastest bowler we have and we certainly need him to be more consistent because when he gets it right he can be a handful.
“The most encouraging feature has been the way Robiul Islam has been performing. He’s been swinging the ball and that always gives us a little bit of hope.
“But I’m the first to admit there is still plenty of room for improvement. All the bowlers have been guilty of sending down too many loose deliveries, particularly down the leg side, and that is something that desperately needs to be addressed.”
On the previous tour of Bangladesh, England had played two Tests and three ODIs, and won all five games rather comfortably, which means that the side has had a better of the Bangladeshis even in conditions that have been very alien to them. How does the Bangladeshi side adjust to the English conditions will be an interesting point to ponder and with the Lord’s ground making things difficult for most touring sides, it cannot get worse for an under-confident Bangladesh side.

Laugh out loud. Just anticipating a happy, funny event can raise levels of endorphins and other pleasure-inducing hormones and lower production of stress hormones.

Go to sleep. Taking a daily nap or getting into bed at 8 p.m. one night with a good book — and turning the light out an hour later — can do more for your mood and outlook on life than any number of bubble baths or massages.

Hum along. Music soothes more than the savage beast. Studies find music activates parts of the brain that produce happiness — the same parts activated by food. It’s also relaxing. But be careful about closing it.

Declutter. It’s nearly impossible to meditate, breathe deeply, or simply relax when every surface is covered with papers and bills and magazines, your cabinets bulge, and you haven’t balanced your checkbook in six months. Plus, the repetitive nature of certain cleaning tasks — such as sweeping, wiping, and scrubbing — can be meditative in and of itself if you focus on what you’re doing.

Just say no. Eliminate activities that aren’t necessary and that you don’t enjoy. If there are enough people already to handle the bazaar and you’re feeling stressed by the thought of running the committee for yet another year, step down and let someone else handle things.

Make a list. There’s nothing like writing down your tasks to help you organize your thoughts and calm your anxiety. Checking off each item provides a great sense of fulfillment.

Do one thing at a time. Experts found that people who multitask are more likely to have high blood pressure. Take that finding to heart. Instead of talking on the phone while you fold laundry or clean the kitchen, sit down in a comfortable chair and turn your entire attention over to the conversation. This is similar to the concept of mindfulness.

Garden. Not only will the fresh air and exercise provide their own stress reduction and feeling of well-being, but the sense of accomplishment that comes from clearing a weedy patch, watching seeds turn into flowers, or pruning out dead wood will last for hours, if not days.

Tune out the news. For one week go without reading the newspaper, watching the news, or scanning the headlines online. Instead, take a vacation from the misery we’re exposed to every day via the media and use that time for a walk, a meditation session, or to write in your journal.

Visit a quiet place. Libraries, museums, gardens, and places of worship provide islands of peace and calm in today’s frantic world. Find a quiet place near your house and make it your secret getaway.

Volunteer. Helping others enables you to put your own problems into perspective and also provides social interaction. While happy people are more likely to help others, helping others increases your happiness.

Spend time alone. Although relationships are one of the best antidotes to stress, sometimes you need time alone to recharge and reflect. Take yourself out to lunch or to a movie, or simply spend an afternoon reading, browsing in a bookstore, or antiquing.

Give priority to close relationships. Who had a lot of supportive friends are much more likely to have healthier blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar metabolism, and stress hormone levels than those with two or fewer close friends. Women, and to a lesser extent men, also seemed to benefit from good relationships with their parents and spouses. Studies also find that people who feel lonely, depressed, and isolated are three to five times more likely to get sick and die prematurely than those who have feelings of love, connection, and community.

Take care of the soul. Actively religious people are happier and cope better with crises.  For many people faith provides a support community, a sense of life’s meaning, feelings of ultimate acceptance, a reason to focus beyond yourself, and a timeless perspective on life’s woes.

Count your blessings. People who pause each day to reflect on some positive aspect of their lives (their health, friends, family, freedom, education, etc.) experience a heightened sense of well-being.

In the University he clashed with the Dean Walcott. His argument was that doctors should get closer relationship with the patients that help much to the patients. But it was Dean who appreciated not to make any relationship other than doctor-patient relationship. Here a relationship is developed with two of his fellow students, Corin and Trueman, and they shared the Adams’ philosophy about doctor-patient relationship. With the help of Arthur Mendelson who was also a patient in that psychiatric ward, Adams established a medical clinic. Patch was very good at building warm relationships with the dying patients although it was not permitted for the junior students.

During the visit to a psychologically disturbed patient, Corin got murdered by him and this made Adams feeling guilty. He was dismissed from the school because of the administering of a private clinic without any license but he filed a grievance with the state medical board and explained his reasons behind them. The Jury accepted Adams’ medical methods and he completed graduation successfully.

The film is quite enjoyable although the critic’s responses are low. Directed by Tom Shadyac, Patch Adams was nominated for the best picture for the Golden Globe awards. You may find similarities between Patch Adams and Munna Bhai MBBS starred by Sanjay Dutt of Bollywood. Both stories are based on the same theme and perhaps Patch Adams is more enjoyable. In real life, Patch Adams built his hospital that is free for the patients for the treatments and its working well.

Ramon was physically unable to commit suicide. His family won’t help him kill himself and the government says it is illegal. Ramone fought for his right to an assisted suicide for 29 years, but it still was thought illegal. To Ramone, his one quote sums it up best, “I believe that living is a right, not an obligation.”
Julia, a lawyer, is taking on his case pro bono and representing him in the courts. She often visits him athis house to help him build his case. Together, she and Ramón build the case which argued that suicide was a right and that he was being denied that right. First they took it to the courts of Spain, but later, his case drew attention from across Spain and a significant following worldwide.
One would swear that the dashingly handsome, 35-year-old Bardem was a graying man in his mid-50s. This is not simply because of the effective aging done by British make-up artist Jo Allen (The Hours), but also through the subtlety of Bardem’s gestures, movements and speech. No other actor this year was called upon to do so much with so little.
Unfortunately however, Amenabar too often relies on cinematographic clichés to illustrate his characters. The movie is replete with unnecessary close ups, and especially in the first couple of scenes, the insipidness of the cinematography (i.e. to illustrate the difficulty of the paralysis, when the beautiful Julia arrives to speak with Ramon, a slo-mo pan is used going from Ramon’s face, down his body, arm to his hand, which lies helplessly two inches away from Julia’s) is blatant.
The Sea Inside’s opening voice-over—a Sampedro poem about color, texture, and light—calls justified attention to the gliding camera work of cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, who added grace to Almodóvar’s smooth Talk to Her. And indeed, when we’re not forcibly trained on Bardem or distracted by Dueñas, it’s the camera’s perspective that is most compelling. Ramón’s fantasies of mobility involve thrilling defenestration and flight across the countryside. In these moments, and during underwater flashbacks to the tragic ocean dive that snapped dashing young Ramón’s neck, we’re reminded of Aguirresarobe’s hand in achieving the otherworldly atmospherics of Amenábar’s The Other.
Obviously I have sympathy to such people struggling to survive with limitation physically or mentally, but if I were in such situation I would struggle till I had the opportunity to feel the golden rays of morning sun. I want to say them,
Do not become paralyzed and enchained by the set patterns which have been woven of old. No, build from your own youthful feeling, your own groping thought and your own flowering perception.”

Remember-“Visionary people face the same problems everyone else faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to finding a solution.

After ending the show the first impression that came to my mind and I think also to Ramón’s family members
“If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.”

This film makes me cry. Usually when I sit for seeing film I make 2 or more film seen, but on that day I was totally reluctant to see another film after this-as I did not want to overlap another impression on that. It probably will make you cry but it’s just a sign of how well this movie was done. So what are you looking for?

Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan and coach Jamie Siddons expressed their hopes of beating defending champions Pakistan in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup at the official press conference. ‘We are targeting Pakistan in the ICC Twenty 20 World Cup,’ Siddons told the press conference.
‘We have played a lot of  T20 cricket in the last few days and every player got the opportunity of having match practice and that would help them perform well at the World Cup,’ said Siddons.

Skipper Shakib al Hasan was also upbeat about winning the first match against Pakistan. ‘I think the preparation is quite satisfactory,’ said the skipper.The skipper said Pakistan are not going through a good time and we just want to capitalise on it.

The 3rd edition of the ICC World Twenty20 will begin on April 30.
Bangladesh, placed in group A with strong Pakistan and Australia, will play their opening group match against Pakistan on May 1 at the Beausejour stadium in St Lucia before facing Australia in the second game on May 5 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Tigers will also play two warm-up matches before their World Cup fixtures with game against Barbados on April 27 and the second against England on April 28, both at the Kensington Oval.

RAJSHAHI RANGERS LIFT NCLT20 TITLE
Suvagoto Hom and Kaiser Abbas shared a record partnership to help Rajshahi Rangers to lift the National Cricket League Twenty20 title outclassing Kings of Khulna by six wickets in the final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Hom and Abbas both struck half centuries as Rangers chased down Kings’ impressive 161 for six, reaching 163-4 with four balls to spare. Hom was out on 62 off 49 runs with seven runs away but Abbas went on to finish the game remaining unbeaten on 61 off 44 balls.
Hom and Abbas fetched 109 runs in their fourth wicket partnership, which was the highest for any wicket in the competition. Coming together on the fifth over after left-arm spinners Sakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak had left Rangers tottering at 46–3, they calmly took the game away from Kings’ grip.
BKSP student Hom, who first hogged the headlines with a 30-ball 91 against England in a warm-up match in March, led the way racing to his 50 in only 38 balls before Elias Sunny had him caught and bowled in the last but one over. His innings included two fours and as many sixes.
Pakistani cricketer Abbas, who earlier took two wickets and was adjudged man of the match, faced 44 balls for his innings clubbing nine fours and a six

INTER MILAN THUMP BARCELONA
Barcelona’s attempt to becoming European soccer’s first repeat champion in two decades was jeopardized with a 3-1 loss to Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals.

Barcelona appeared fatigued as the game went on, perhaps from a 450-mile bus trip the team was forced to take. Flights were grounded across Europe following the volcanic eruption in Iceland, and Inter may have to take a similar trip for the second leg of the in Barcelona

Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito scored for Inter, seeking to become Europe’s champion for the first time since consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965. Inter frustrated FIFA player of the year Lionel Messi, whose four goals in the second leg of the quarterfinals eliminated Arsenal.

Pedro Rodriguez scored on a low shot in the 19th minute for Barcelona, but Sneijder tied the score off a pass from Milito in the 30th minute and Maicon put Inter ahead in the 48th on an overlapping run,l again from a Milito pass.

Milito scored the final goal on a header in the 61st after Samuel Eto’o broke down a wing and crossed to Sneijder, who nodded the ball back.

AC Milan was the last repeat champion, winning when the competition was known as the Champions Cup in 1989 and 1990.

BAYERN BEAT LYON
Arjen Robben scored a second-half winner as Bayern Munich beat Lyon 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, in which both sides finished with 10 men.

Robben found the net in the 69th minute with a shot that took a slight deflection off teammate Thomas Mueller.

Bayern winger Franck Ribery was sent off in the 37th minute for a challenge on Lisandro Lopez, and Lyon defender Jeremy Toulalan went off with his second yellow card in the 54th.

I never met a man having the title Islamic terrorist. I don’t know how their behavior is, how they act with their surrounding people or how they look like, but I experienced a man who help the helpless, say his prayer regularly, responsible to other religions and believe in God (who can rescue a man from any danger). Does all these characteristics match with a Islamic terrorist? But he was saying “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist.”
Yes you are right, I am talking about Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johor’s latest film “My name is Khan”. Karan and SRK made some blockbuster films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hay, Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gum, Kal Ho Na Ho, Kabhi Albida Na Kehna etc. But all these films have a common character – all are emotional romantic films. But this latest one is a little bit different from others. SRK tried to establish a character of a Muslim Autistic person who holds some extraordinary features.
The context of this film is nine-eleven when some terrorist attacked twin tower. The situation that arouse after this event in USA is exposed in this film. Muslims were identified as terrorists or associates of terrorists. All Muslims were seen in the eye of suspicion. Their Hijab, beard, name became a burden for them. They were bound to remove these feature, from then, even Muslims started to change their names. What are you thinking? Are these conditions matching with some of Hollywood films on 2nd World War where Jews were portrait as ‘good for nothing’ and all were destroyed by Hitler’s Nazi? Situation is seen worse than that in this film.
SRK and Kajol had to lose their only child – who was the life saving element for Kajol when his first husband left her. SRK as a Muslim had to be tortured as a terrorist when going to meet with US president, calling for Justice and punishment for his son’s murder.
Let’s analyze the film – Karan is obviously a good filmmaker. He has proved it in his earlier films. But the style of telling the story is not good enough I think. In a short duration a lot of circumstances are shown – that may be a reason. Music are too much imposing. A true and real emotion can be created even without any music (No country for old man is a perfect example) Music could be better. But I must say, some direction of photography was really good – especially the shots at beginning and the landscapes.
SRK can perform better than this – his behavior as a Autistic could be better. Close observations, and a long time to perceive and go through this character deeply was needed. Kajol – well done. Portraying George Bush was good but Barak Obama was not enough.
Now come to the point of choosing this film for the readers. This film represents what is going on around us. Situation turned us to experiences a massacre in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and now in Pakistan. How can you be sure that it can’t be happened in Bangladesh or other developing countries? May be the process will be like this – ban your Islamic channels, media, create misconceptions in people minds. How can you be sure that your sister or daughter will not face a trouble that SRK’s brother’s wife faced as she was wearing Hijab? All the solutions are given in the film. Explore and discover it. I think this will help you con conquer even your best enemy’s favor.

Raihan Mahmood

England won the first Test against Bangladesh by 181 runs but were made to work hard on the final day. Junaid Siddique and Mushfiqur Rahim survived unscathed until lunch, with the former bringing up his first Test century in an inspirational knock.England looked short of ideas but Graeme Swann removed the pair in quick succession after a 167-run stand.The spinner then wrapped up the win to finish with match figures of 10-217 as the hosts crumbled to 331 all out.The defeat means Bangladesh go 1-0 down in the two-match series but they can hold their heads high after a morale-boosting display that had England in trouble for periods.The scoreline was-England 599 for 6 dec and 209 for 7 dec beat Bangladesh  296 and 331 (Siddique 106, Rahim 95, Swann 5-127) by 181 runs

Junaed Siddiqui slammed his maiden hundred and most importantly played an ideal longer-version innings but it was wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim who hogged the spotlight after his back-to-back half-centuries in the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Mushfiqur Rahim’s  technique and temperament are simply outstanding. Consistency is a big issue in Bangladesh cricket and the recent batting performance of the Bogra lad show that he is going to set an example in this regard. Whenever he comes to bat he looked the most assured batsman in the middle.

Swann, the off spin bowler, who picked up five for 127 to become the first England offspinner to claim 10 wickets or more in a Test since Tony Greig turned to off-breaks to take 13 against West Indies in Trinidad in 1974.

Real Madrid, AC Milan and Chelsea out of Champions league
Big-spending Real Madrid was knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon and Manchester United spoiled David Beckham’s return to Old Trafford with a 4-0 victory over AC Milan.

Madrid was held 1-1 at home by Lyon which meant it went out 2-1 on aggregate and failed to reach the last eight for the sixth season in a row. In Manchester, two more goals by Wayne Rooney – who also scored twice in the first leg in Milan and now has 30 league and cup goals this season – helped United triumph 7-2 overall and join Arsenal and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.

Nine-time European champion Madrid spent euro250 million ($340 million) on new players to try and win the trophy for the first time since 2002 and now will have to wait at least one more season.

Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League after losing 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

Mourinho made a triumphant return to Stamford Bridge  to dump his former club out of Europe’s elite competition and remind Roman Abramovich of the mistake he made by kicking him out of west London.

Inter, leading 2-1 from the opening leg of this last-16 tie in the San Siro, secured their place in the quarter-finals when Samuel Eto’o scored the winner at the Bridge in the 78th minute.

Chelsea’s campaign ended in more misery when Didier Drogba was sent off in the 87th minute for a crude moment of petulance, appearing to stamp on Thiago Motta.

Third Edition of IPL On
The Indian Premier League (often abbreviated as IPL), is a Twenty20  cricket  competition initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and supervised by BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi, Chairman & Commissioner for IPL. It includes 8 teams or “franchises” consisting of players from different countries. The first season of the Indian Premier League commenced on 18 April 2008.

The third season of IPL started in India on 12 March 2010 and is due to last over a period of 45 days. Five new venues, Cuttack, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala, have been added. Other changes include removal of icon players and granting permission to players who were involved in the Indian Cricket League to play in the tournament. Also, it will be the first sporting event ever to be broadcast live on the popular video sharing website Youtube.
The eight teams are Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab) will play in the third edition Indian Premier League cricket and the toureny officially began with the first match between the Deccan Chargers and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

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.

But when it is made, the film has scored three major nominations at Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Don Cheadle (Boogie Nights, Out Of Sight) who once again manages to find the emotional core of every scene he is in playing Rusesabegina. It is a demanding role but one this immensely talented actor is more than up for. And the rest of the cast are also uniformly excellent, including Sophie Okenedo (Dirty Pretty Things), Nick Nolte (Cape Fear) and Joaquin Phoenix (To Die For).
His epiphany after being told by Nick Nolte’s U.N. peacekeeper that the West views him and his people as “dirt, worthless,” and therefore won’t intercede in the slaughter, is crushing. The film contains many such zingers: snippets from a radio broadcast in which a Western political spokeswoman says that while there have been “acts of genocide,” they don’t meet the criteria for being declared genocide; the Tutsi man who gives the back story on the ethnic tensions and how they were created (“The Belgians used the Tutsi to run the country. Then when they left, they left the power to the Hutu. And, of course, the Hutu took their revenge on the Tutsi for years of repression”); Joaquin Phoenix’s well-intentioned photojournalist, listening to that same fellow explain how the Belgians managed their divide-and-conquer colonialist strategy: “According to Belgian colonists, the Tutsi were taller, more elegant. It was the Belgians who created the division. They [arbitrarily] picked those with thinner noses, lighter skin. They used to measure the width of people’s noses.” Phoenix shakes his head and remarks that two women friends sitting next to him at the hotel bar — one Hutu, the other Tutsi — could be twins, they look so much alike. Except they don’t, and the film brilliantly lets his statement hang there.
It’s no surprise that the movie, based on the real story of Rusesabagina, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and a similar prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It sweeps over you with blunt, unequivocal conviction.