Shakib Al Hasan loses his top position to Jason Holder

Bangladeshi cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has lost his top position to West Indies captain Jason Holder in the ICC Rankings for the Test All-Rounders 2019. Among all three formats, Shakib Al Hasan maintained his dominance in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings. 

Following his all-round performance in the recently concluded first Test match against England at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Jason Holder has risen to the top position of the Test all-rounders’ rankings with 440 rating points. He scored an unbeaten double century and claimed two wickets, and because of his effort, the home team could beat the England cricket team by 381 runs. He has become the first Caribbean player after Sir Garry Sobers to achieve the number one spot in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings. He has also become the third player to score a Test double-hundred batting at No. 8 or lower.

Jason Holder is followed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, India’s Ravindra Jadeja, England’s Ben Stokes and South Africa’s Vernon Philander respectively in the second, third, fourth and fifth positions with 415, 387, 344 and 341 points accordingly.

The year 2018 was not good for Shakib Al Hasan. He sustained finger injury, which forced him to stay outside of the field for a long time. For this reason, he has lost his throne to other players and is now taking the second position in the all-rounder rankings of the Test, ODI and T20 formats. As a supporter of Bangladesh cricket team, I hope that he will regain his lost dominance in all three positions very soon. 

Mustafizur Rahman takes fifth place in the ICC ODI bowlers’ rankings

Mustafizur Rahman has perhaps become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to make his place among the top five players in the latest ICC ODI bowlers’ rankings. His good performance in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against West Indies has helped him to move five places up to fifth position with 695 rating points, his career best rank in ODIs ever. The southpaw, who claimed five wickets in three matches, is followed by Jasprit Bumrah (India), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Kuldeep Yadav (India) and Kagiso Rabada (South Africa).

Off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz has jumped 19 places to reach his career best ODI ranking of 28th after bagging six wickets against the Caribbean team. Bangladesh’s ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortazahas climbed 10 places up to 23rd. He also took the same number of wickets and along with Miraz shared the spot as the highest wicket taker in the series, which Bangladesh won 2-1 at home. However, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is ranked 26th in the ODI bowlers’ rankings.

Now, let us look at the position of the Bangladeshi batsmen in the ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen. The wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is enjoying his career-best 15th spot in the list with 712 rating points. Left-handed opening batsman Soumya Sarkar is ranked 42nd while his right-handed opening pair Liton Das is positioned 98th after rising four places. 

Source:

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/944893

Mustafizur Rahman is selected in the ICC ODI Team of the Year

Mustafizur Rahman became the only cricketer from Bangladesh to make his inclusion in the ICC ODI Team of the Year announced on January 22 (Tuesday). His good performance in the last year helped him to get this prestigious place. Playing 18 ODI matches, he took 29 wickets at an average of 21.72, with the best bowling figure of four for 43 against Pakistan in Asia Cup. He played an important role to beat Pakistan and take his team to the final of the tournament where their opponent team was India. 

Mustafizur Rahman along with Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and India’s Kuldeep Yadav jointly became the highest wicket taker in the 2018 Asia Cup. The left-arm pacer claimed 10 wickets at an average of 18.50. Because of his performance in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies, the lanky bowler became the fifth best bowler in the ICC ODI bowlers’ rankings, his career-best rank in ODIs so far.

The ICC ODI Team of the Year is dominated by the players of India and England as both countries have four players each. The remaining three players have been picked up from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand. Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was named as the captain of the team. However, players from Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies could not make their place in the squad.

ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018:Rohit Sharma (India), Jonny Bairstow (England), Virat Kohli (India) (capt), Joe Root (England), Ross Taylor (New Zealand),  Jos Buttler (England) (wk), Ben Stokes (England), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Kuldeep Yadav(India), Jasprit Bumrah (India).

Source-

https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/bangladesh-cricket/mustafizur-rahman-in-icc-odi-team-of-the-year-2018-1691242

Cricketers who hit six sixes in the same over

Cricket is a game of record. There are many records in this game. Every day many new records are being created. Old records are being broken and replaced by new ones. Some records have been created as a team effort while the others have been made as individual performance. Of these, hitting six sixes in a single over is perhaps the most difficult one. This trend has been set by Sir Garfield Sobers and till now, it has been carried forward by a selected number of cricketers. 

Sir Garfield Sobers: 

West Indies all-rounder, Sir Garfield Sobers, was the first cricketer to do this impossible task in the history of the cricket game. On August 31, 1968, the Caribbean hard-hitter astonished the cricket world by hitting six successive sixes in an over bowled by Malcolm Nash who despite being a genuine pace bowler tried his arm at spin bowling. The bowler had to pay the price for his wrong choice of bowling action.

This record took place in a first-class county cricket match where Garry Sobers led Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan at St. Helen’s in Swansea. Of these six sixes, five were massive while the sixth one was caught by Roger Davis, but it was unfortunately carried over the boundary rope. Scoring 36 runs in the same over, he broke the record for the most runs, 34, in a single over, a record held by Ted Alletson for 57 years. 

Ravi Shastri:

This trend pioneered by Sir Garry Sobers could have been achieved by very few cricketers till now. Of them, Indian all-rounder, Ravi Shastri, became the second player to include his name in this elite club 16 years after the West Indian legend set this record. On January 10, 1985, he made this record while playing for Bombay against Baroda in Ranji Trophy. He smashed six deliveries for gigantic sixes off the left-arm spinner, Tilak Raj. In the same match, he scored a 123-ball double century that required him only 113 minutes, which became the fastest ever double century in first-class cricket history. Despite his brilliant performance, the match finished without any result. 

Herschelle Gibbs:

South African opening batsman, Herschelle Gibbs, became the third cricketer to repeat this history, but his one deserves more appreciation because he achieved this feat in international cricket, unlike the previous two players who did this in domestic cricket. On March 16, 2007, he equaled the record after bludgeoning the Dutch leg-spinner Daan van Bunge hitting for maximum on all six deliveries in an over in a match between South Africa and the Netherlands at the 2007 World Cup at St. Kitts in Basseterre. He remains the only batsman to hit six sixes off an over in ODI cricket format. He dispatched sixes around the park. 

Yuvraj Singh:

Indian all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh, entered his name in the record book with his aggressive display of batting against England. He achieved this feat in a match at the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa. The unlucky bowler was Stuart Broad. The flamboyant cricketer sent all balls off an over cleanly outside of the boundary. Before this performance, he had a heated argument with Andrew Flintoff and that might prompt him to punish the English pace bowler Stuart Broad. The interesting thing is that when Yuvraj was in action at the field, Ravi Shastri was on the microphone to call the action, and who could be better than him who has done the same thing 22 years ago. He played some brilliant innings that helped India win the trophy that year. 

Ross Whiteley:

English all-rounder, Ross Whiteley, became the second cricketer in the T20 format and the fifth overall to reproduce this record. On July 23, 2017, he took 37 runs, including six over boundaries and one wide, off Karl Carver in a match between Worcestershire Rapids and Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley. Despite his heroic effort, his club Worcestershire Rapids could not win the match in the T20 Blast.

Hazratullah Zazai:

Afghanistan's left-handed batsman, Hazratullah Zazai, included his name on the record book as the sixth cricketer to hit six sixes in the same over. On October 14, 2018, he reached the feat in the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) while playing for Kabul Zwanan against Balkh Legends. He smashed six sixes off Abdullah Mazari. He also became the third player to share this record with Yuvraj Singh and Ross Whiteley in T20 cricket format. Despite scoring 62 runs off 17 balls, his franchise could not win the match.

Kieron Pollard:

The Caribbean all-rounder, Kieron Pollard, added his name to the record book by hitting six consecutive sixes in an over against Akila Dananjaya of Sri Lanka. On March 3, 2021, he earned this feat in the first of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. After Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh, he became the third cricketer to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket.  

Naeem Islam:

Very few cricket lovers are aware of his achievement. Even his name cannot be found in any record list. It might be because he is a Bangladeshi player and he made this record in a domestic cricket match. On November 13, 2009, Naeem Islam struck six sixes while batting for Gazi Tanks against Mohammedan at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in a Dhaka Premier League match. The bowler was Marshall Ayub who gave 36 runs in the 49th over of the innings. Till now, no Bangladeshi player could touch this record either in domestic or international cricket.

This record list might be extended by many more players in the years to come. Let’s see who can be a part of this record.  

Sources:-

https://sportsinquiry.blogspot.com/2018/10/hazratullah-zazai-becomes-sixth-player.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_(cricket)#Sixes

https://www.quora.com/How-many-cricketers-have-hit-six-sixes-in-an-over

https://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/six-players-who-have-hit-6-sixes-in-an-over

https://news.williamhill.com/cricket/six-sixes-cricket-over/

http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-west-indies-2012/content/story/591514.html?fbclid=IwAR14kByY0GDHkuWuR6H6IhqR3ukDg8QyUjYWVr55hXztTI9fDx6XpoIBO18

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/sobers-hit-records-six-2161120

Tiger Jalil: A Bangladeshi wrestler who beats many legendary wrestlers

Though he was born on March 27, 1947, he became Tiger Jalil in 1982. On August 5, he created a stir beating Indian wrestlers one after another in a freestyle wrestling held at the Dhaka stadium. He gained recognition after his match with last Indian Satyanarayan Khanna. After that, the government gave him the title “Tiger”. 

From 1973 to 1981, he was the National Wrestling Champion of Bangladesh. Alongside wrestling, he earned reputation as a weightlifter. From 1975 to 1982, he won gold medal every year in his weight category. In 1967, he joined the police service. Later in 1971, he plundered the armory in Khalishpur and joined the freedom war. After the independence of the country, he came to Dhaka and started practicing wrestling in a full swing and became ‘Tiger Jalil.’ But on his death anniversary, the Wrestling Federation does not even commemorate his illustrious achievement for once. 

This legendary sportsman died of cardiac arrest in Khulna on September 9, 1999.

Source:-

https://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/sports/sports31.htm

http://www.kalerkantho.com/print-edition/sports/2017/09/10/540918

Bangladesh seals the 3-match ODI series 2-1 against West Indies

Bangladesh cricket team’s ODI series victory against West Indies was perhaps the best gift for the entire nation in the month of victory. The host nation defeated the Caribbean team by eight wickets in the series decider third and final ODI match at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday (December 14). This victory helped the home team clinch the ODI series 2-1. With this victory, the Tigers also enhanced their tally of ODI series victory at home.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza invited the touring side to bat first. Due to Bangladesh bowlers’ tight bowling, West Indies could manage to score 198 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their stipulated overs. Shai Hope played an unbeaten knock of 131-ball 108, including nine fours and one six. His endeavor failed to put up a competitive total on the board as other West Indies batsmen performed miserably. The second best of their innings was Marlon Samuels’ 19.

With two back-to-back centuries:146 and 108 runs in the second and third ODIs respectively, Hope finished the three-match ODI series with a total of 297 runs, beating the previous record held by Australia’s Shane Watson who scored 294 runs against Bangladesh back in 2011.

Bangladesh off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz finished with a figure of 4 for 29 in 10 overs while Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza each claimed two wickets. Mohammad Saifuddin took one wicket.

However, after coming to chase, Bangladesh reached the target with 69 balls left at hand. The home team scored 202 runs losing only two wickets in 38.3 overs. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar made a 131-run partnership for the second wicket stand. Tamim remained not out on 81 while Soumya scored 80 runs, hitting five boundaries and as many sixes. After the dismissal of Soumya, Mushfiqur Rahim came to bat and played a 16-run innings decorated with two fours and one six. The right-handed opening batsman Liton Das made a good start, but once again became the victim of poor shot selection. For this reason, he could not extend his innings. Scoring 23 off 33 balls with 5 boundaries, he got caught out at mid-off by Rovman Powell off Keemo Paul.

Both wickets were taken by Keemo Paul conceding 38 runs. Apart from him, none of the bowlers could put any pressure on the Bangladesh batsmen.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh was declared “Player of the Match” while West Indies’ Shai Hope was awarded the “Player of the Series” title.

Scorecard-http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18783/scorecard/1153316/bangladesh-vs-west-indies-3rd-odi-wi-in-bangladesh-2018-19 

Bangladesh seals the two-Test series 2-0 over West Indies

Bangladesh cricket team is becoming indomitable on home ground day by day. The Tigers do not care who they are playing against or how strong their opponent team is. When they come to the playground, their only intention is to win the match at any cost. They are breaking old records to set the new one in all formats of the game. In the recently concluded two-match Test series, Bangladesh cricket team not only defeated their opponent but also beat some old records.

Winning the second and final Test match by an innings and 184 runs on Sunday at Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, the Bangladesh cricket team whitewashed West Indies in the recently concluded two-match Test series. Like the first Test match, the host team also wrapped up their opponent team within three days of the second Test match. This victory is so far considered Bangladesh’s biggest-margin victory in Test cricket. It is also their first ever Test match victory by an innings margin.

Luck favored the home team from the beginning of the series. If Shakib Al Hasan, captain of the Bangladesh Test cricket team, did not win the toss, result would have gone in favor of their opponent team. Winning the toss, Shakib Al Hasan decided to bat first, which later proved to be a right decision in a bowling friendly pitch. Batting first, the host nation put a mammoth total of 508 runs losing all wickets in their first innings. The debutant batsman Shadman Islam came under attention playing an inning of 199-ball 76. Shakib Al Hasan scored 80 runs. Mahmudullah scored 136 runs off 242 balls. It was his third Test century. He made a 111-run partnership with Shakib for the sixth wicket. Mahmudullah then made a 92-run seventh-wicket partnership with Liton Das who scored 54 runs from 62 balls. Liton Das was the only batsman to hit an over boundary in Bangladesh’s only innings in the match. 

For West Indies, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican, Devendra Bishoo and Kraigg Brathwaite took two wickets each while the other two wickets were shared by Shermon Lewis and Roston Chase. 

Coming to reply, West Indies was bowled out for just 111 runs in the first innings and was forced to follow on. Shimron Hetmyer and Shane Dowrich were top run scorers as they respectively scored 39 and 37 runs. However, their second innings ended on 213, with Shimron Hetmyer top scored with 93 off 92 balls. However, Kemar Roach, the nightwatchman, remained not out on 37. 

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the pick of the bowlers. He finished with 12 for 117. His figures: 7 for 58 and 5 for 59 in the first and second innings respectively helped Bangladesh wrap up the victory in three days. Shakib Al Hasan also played an important role with ball as he took 4 wickets in the match. In the first innings, all wickets were taken by only two spinners- Mehidy and Shakib. However, Taijul Islam claimed three wickets while Nayeem Hasan picked up a wicket in the second innings.

Earlier, in the first Test match, Bangladesh beat West Indies by 64 runs and took 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. 

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was declared “Player of the Match” while Shakib Al Hasan was named “Player of the Series”.

Now, both teams will take on each other in the 3-match ODI series, scheduled to be started from December 9, 2018 at 1:00 PM Bangladesh time.

Scorecard- http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18783/scorecard/1153312/bangladesh-vs-west-indies-2nd-test-wi-in-bangladesh-2018-19