Who is the youngest centurion in Test cricket?

Mohammad Ashraful has been away from international cricket for quite a long time, and there is no guarantee that he can make his return to the national squad in the near future, but the former Bangladeshi cricketer is still alive in the hearts of his fans and followers. The right-handed batsman earned his place in the record book by scoring a century on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka. When he scored the maiden hundred in the oldest format of the cricket game, he was just 17 years and 61 days old. This made him the youngest centurion in the history of Test cricket. This record took place in the second innings of the second Test of the 2001 Asian Test Championship. He scored 114 off 212 balls, which included 16 fours. He batted against legendary bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. Despite his brilliant performance, the Bangladesh cricket team could not avoid defeat. Sri Lanka won that match by an innings and 137 runs. 

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Earlier, this record was held by the former Pakistani cricketer, Mushtaq Mohammad. This veteran player made this record when he scored 101 against India in the second Test of the series in 1961. At that time, he was 17 years and 78 days old. For almost four decades, he held the record for the youngest century in Test cricket.

The names of other players who scored a Test century at a young age include Sachin Tendulkar (17 years and 107 days), Hamilton Masakadza (17 years and 352 days) and Imran Nazir (18 years and 154 days). 

Manohar Aich: The first Indian to become Mr. Universe

On March 17, 1912, Manohar Aich was born at Dhamti, a remote village in Comilla district of undivided Bengal. From childhood, he had an infinite interest in wrestling and weightlifting. To strengthen his body, he joined Ruplal Byayam Samiti at a young age. Then, while staying in Dhaka, he showed acrobatic performance in shows titled Physique and Magic with P. C. Sorcar and became a quite well-known face among local people. This legendary bodybuilder breathed his last at the age of 104 on June 5, 2016. 

 

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Physical fitness was the sole passion of his life. He received a certificate of appreciation from the then British for his envious physique. But he never compromised when it comes to patriotism. Slapping a British officer, he was once imprisoned. But the English were surprised to see him doing exercise for hours in jail. Seeing his perseverance, they also arranged a special diet for him. 

In 1950, at the age of 37, he won the Mr. Hercules title. He was only 4 feet 11 inches tall. For this reason, he is also known as Pocket Hercules. Though he achieved second place in the Mr. Universe competition the following year, he did not have to wait long to get the top position. In 1952, he won the Mr. Universe title. Then in 1955 and 1960, in the Mr. Universe competition, he won third and fourth place respectively. He won three gold medals in the bodybuilding category at the Asian Games held in 1951 (New Delhi), in 1954 (Manila) and in 1958 (Tokyo). Since 1960, he had been attending various bodybuilding demonstration shows. His last exhibition was in 2003 at the age of 90.  

He had a very eventful career as a bodybuilder. Control over muscle, demonstration of his physical prowess traveling around the world, 300 KM squat- Manohar Aich, who is glorified with various achievements, participated in various bodybuilding exhibitions till his last breath. His fitness motivates the young generation. His death is a big blow to the sports lovers. Manohar Aich passed away, but the trend he started will not die away in the minds of his countrymen. We pay our last respect to pocket Hercules. 

Those who suffer from inferiority complex due to their short height can take inspiration from Manohar Aich. He is one of the few people who have shown that short height is not an obstacle to fulfill your dream. If you have firm determination and diligence, you will reach your goal sooner or later. I will tell you to come out of your depression and start working hard so that you can set an example for other people. 

Bangladeshi cricketers will donate BDT 25 lakh for fight against coronavirus

Players of the Bangladesh cricket team have come forward to help the government at this crisis moment. A total of 27 cricketers have decided to donate 50 percent of their one month’s salary so that government can use this money to fight against the deadly coronavirus. The amount of donation is likely to be around BDT 25 lakh after removing the tax. Tamim Iqbal, the recently appointed ODI captain, is the person from whom this idea has come. His initiative has become successful to bring a number of senior and new players under one roof. 

Donation provided by the cricketers might be very little in amount, but this effort will encourage others to extend their hand at this time of distress. We should not forget those lines of the poem titled “Little Things”. The lines are-

                    “Little drops of water,
                     Little grains of sand,
                     Make the mighty ocean
                     And the pleasant land.”

If our little contributions are brought together, it will be of great use to the treatment of Covid-19 infected people or to give relief to the day laborers who cannot go outside to buy their daily food amid lockdown. Following the philanthropic activity of the cricketers, if celebrities from other sectors come ahead to help the poor people then we can win this battle against coronavirus. 

Ottis Gibson is the new bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named Ottis Gibson as the new bowling coach of the national cricket team. The former West Indies fast bowler signed a two-year contract with the cricket board. The new bowling coach started doing his job by joining the team for the Pakistan tour in January this year. If everything goes accordingly then he will be seen training the local bowlers till 2022. Earlier, South Africa’s Charl Langeveldt was the bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. Since his resignation in December 2019, the position was vacant.

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Ottis Gibson in his short career, which spanned almost four years from 1995 to 1999, played 2 Tests and 15 ODIs and claimed 3 and 34 wickets respectively. In 2007, he started his coaching career with the England cricket team. The Barbadian was the bowling coach of the England cricket team twice and the head coach of the West Indies. In the last edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), he worked as the head coach of the Cumilla Warriors, and as a result, he got the opportunity to observe Bangladesh cricket from close.

There is no doubt that the inclusion of Ottis Gibson will increase the strength of the coaching team. His experience will help improve the skills of the local bowlers. 

Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019

The seventh edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is all set to begin from December 11, 2019, and this one-month-long tournament will end on January 16, 2020. However, the opening ceremony of this cash-rich tournament will take place on December 8. The forthcoming season, which has been named ‘Bangabandhu BPL’, will be inaugurated by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The reason behind naming this competition after the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is to mark his 100^th birthday. On November 16, 2019, the logo of the Bangabandhu BPL, which is also known as BPL 7, was shown at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka. 

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The Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019 organized by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will feature seven teams- Dhaka Platoon, Chattogram Challengers, Cumilla Warriors, Khulna Tigers, Rajshahi Royals, Rangpur Rangers and Sylhet Thunder. Comilla Victorians is the defending champion and the franchise will also try to defend the title for the third time.

The sad thing is that Bangladesh’s Test and T20I skipper, Shakib Al Hasan, will not be able to take part in this special BPL edition. Because he failed to report three bookie approaches, he has been banned from all types of cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years, with one year of that suspended. 

Bangladesh beats India first time in T20I

Bangladesh cricket team took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 international series after defeating the host nation India by 7 wickets in the first match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday (November 3). The “Men in Red and Green” got their first T20 victory against India in their ninth meeting, and this also marked the 1000^th men's T20 international match. The second T20I match will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on November 7.

Bangladesh won the toss and invited India to bat first. The “Men in Blue” could collect 148 runs losing 6 wickets in 20 overs. Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan played a 41-run innings with three Fours and a Six. Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam claimed two wickets each while Afif Hossain got one wicket for Bangladesh.

However, the visitors chased down the target with 3 balls remaining at hand. Wicketkeeper-batsman, Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored an unbeaten 60 off 43 balls, played the most crucial role behind this triumph. Soumya Sarkar stuck 39 runs from 35 balls. In the last 10 balls of the match, Bangladesh required 20 runs to win. Hitting four consecutive fours off left-arm fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim made the task easier and captain Mahmudullah hit a six in the final over to secure the victory. They finished the match scoring 154-3 in 19.3 overs. Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal took one wicket each for India.

Mushfiqur Rahim was declared “Player of the Match” for his brilliant performance.

Shivam Dube of India and Mohammad Naim of Bangladesh made debut with this match for their respective teams. 

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/50283590

Bangladesh women has qualified for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Bangladesh women’s cricket team made a moment to cheer for their supporters after beating Thailand women’s cricket team by 70 runs in the final match of the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier that took place at the Forfarshire Cricket Club in Dundee, Scotland on Saturday (September 7, 2019). With this victory, the Tigresses bagged their second consecutive trophy in this recently concluded tournament. Their first major title was in the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup, which they won after beating India by three wickets in the final.

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However, reaching the final round of the tournament, both Bangladesh and Thailand already made sure their participation in the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to kick off in Australia from February 21. For being the tournament champion, Bangladesh was placed in Group A along with Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka whereas Thailand was put in Group B consisting of England, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan.

Batting first, Bangladesh made a competitive score of 130-5 in 20 overs. Opener Sanjida Islam played a crucial role in this match. She played an unbeaten innings of 71 from 60 balls and on her way to score maiden T20 half-century, she hit six fours and three sixes. She also made a 68-run partnership with Murshida Khatun in the opening stand. Murshida scored 33 off 34 balls before being bowled out by Suleeporn Laomi. Apart from them, neither of the batsmen could cross the double figure. Nattaya Boochatham alone took two wickets while Sornnarin Tippoch and Suleeporn Laomi took one wicket apiece.

However, coming to chase the target, the Thailand women’s cricket team ended up compiling 60 for 7 in their stipulated overs. Ratanaporn Padunglerd and Wongpaka Liengprasert respectively scored 15 and 11. Bangladeshi bowlers Nahida Akter and Shaila Sharmin took two wickets each while Salma Khatun and Khadija Tul Kubra shared two wickets.

Throughout the tournament, Bangladesh remained unbeaten. They made their way to the final after defeating Ireland by four wickets in the semi-final on Thursday before emerging as Group A topper winning all three matches. In the previous edition of the tournament in 2018 in Netherlands, they also became victorious, but finished as runners-up in the 2015 edition.

Scorecard- https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19451/scorecard/1197065/bangladesh-women-vs-thailand-women-final-icc-womens-t20-world-cup-qualifier-2019