Women shine in a forgettable year for Bangladesh cricket

DHAKA - The first year of this decade was eventful for Bangladesh cricket, partly for a glorious achievement but vastly for the
off the field issues and perpetual defeat that marred the game's progress
significantly.

     The women's cricket generally draws less attention but they created the
history by qualifying to the Women's World Cup for the first time. But men's
cricket which always hogs the limelight failed miserably, making the year a
forgettable one.

     The men's cricket had successes specially in ODI cricket and also they
found them winning the series against Australia and New Zealand for the first
time in T20 format but there were some defeats in all format, which put a
shed on those successes.

     In fact each story of defeat turned into an epic failure at the end of
the year. And the situation further got worsened due to the spat and ego
issues amongst the senior players. There was miscommunication between BCB top
brash and players and sometimes the relationship seemed to have stained.

     While the year passed like a nightmare of despair, those off the field
issues have exacerbated the pain and agony. Bangladesh cricket perhaps would
not like to remember the year of 2021. The BSS sports department is bringing
back various memories of the eventful year.

     A quick stat

     Bangladesh played seven Test matches in this year, winning just one
against Zimbabwe. They lost five matches and drew one.

     The Tigers played 12 ODIs this year and the success rate was excellent
as usually in this format. They won eight matches, the highest amongst the
Test nations in an another Covid-19-affected year when most of the teams
played less number of matches.

     Bangladesh played 27 T20 matches, the most number of matches they played
in a calendar year. They lost 16 and won 11, eight of those came against
Australia and New Zealand at home soil ahead of the T20 World Cup.

     Shakib's comeback series and Mayers storm

     The 2021 started with the return of Shakib Al Hasan in the International
cricket after serving an ICC-imposed ban. He showed that the absence from the
cricket couldn't rust his ability. He indeed returned with bang and was
adjudged man of the series as Bangladesh whitewashed West Indies in three-
match ODI series. Shakib scored 113 runs and took six wickets. But morning
doesn't show the day always. Bangladesh was expected to win the two-match
Test series against a severely depleted West Indies also but a little known
Kyle Mayers hogged the limelight in an impeccable show. He became the first
cricketer in the history to hit a double century on debut in the fourth
innings of a Test as West Indies pulled off a miracle to win the first Test
by three wickets, chasing 395 runs. That created such a mental breakdown that
Bangladesh also lost the second Test.

     Bangladesh vs IPL

     Before the end of the West Indies series, Shakib Al Hasan made headlines
again as he showed his desire to play IPL, skipping Sri Lanka Tests. His
logic was to prepare him for T20 World Cup by playing IPL even though
Bangladesh had already hit lowest ebb by being whitewashed in Test series
against a literally third ranked West Indies side. So his statement however
was not received augur well. The BCB president said, "I will not force anyone
to play. At this time of difficulties he should support the team and help
them get back to winning way but he is going to play another franchise
tournament."

     Bangladesh's New Zealand nightmare

     In search of their first victory in New Zealand in any format of the
cricket, Bangladesh went to New Zealand in March to play three ODIs and three
T20s but as usually they returned with empty-handed. The only outcome of the
tour was the performance of fast bowler Taskin Ahmed. His raw pace,
impeccable line and length and enthusiasm gave Bangladesh a fast bowler they
have been missing for many years.

     Finally a point in WTC

     Bangladesh played two Tests in Dambulla in Sri Lanka due to quarantine
and bio-bubble complications. The first one is drawn but they lost the second
one. In the first Test, Tamim missed his century by 10 runs but Najmul
Hossain Shanto struck a glorious 163 and captain Mominul hit his first Test
century outside of Bangladesh. The Tigers could have saved the second match
too but they lacked skill and penetration. Bangladesh got six points after
drawing the first Test in Dambulla and that was the only achievement of
Bangladesh in the first World Test Championship (WTC). If they failed to draw
the Test, they would have finished the first edition of WTC without any
points.

         An ODI win against Sri Lanka

    Bangladesh took revenge of the Test loss, beating Sri Lanka in three-
match ODI series at home. The three matches were the part of ICC ODI Super
League. Bangladesh won that series by 2-1, thanks to a terrific batting
performance of Mushfiqur Rahim. However Shakib was out-of-sort and jaded in
this series. He took just three wickets and scored 19 runs in three matches.
Mushfiqur's great achievement

     Mushfiqur Rahim became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to receive the
ICC Player of the Month Award. He was voted the best by former cricketers,
commentators and senior sports journalists and fans for his outstanding
performance in May, 2021. Mushfiqur was named in the list for 236 ODI runs at
an average of 69 against Sri Lanka. He scored 125 runs in the second ODI and
played a unique role in winning the series against the country for the first
time. His opponents were Hasan Ali of Pakistan and Praveen Jayawickrama of
Sri Lanka.

     A drama-filled Zimbabwe tour

     The exact problem of Bangladesh began from this tour. One of the senior
players of the Bangladesh team Mahmudullah Riyad was asked to rethink about
his Test future after his prolonged below par performance in the longer
version format. He was in fact was dropped from the Pakistan Test series but
was included in one-off Test against Zimbabwe since Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim
Iqbal failed to make their way due to their respective injury. Mahmudullah
scored 150 runs in this Test that helped Bangladesh win the game but the
drama unfolded when the teammates gave him guard of honour on the final day.

     It was learnt hours after scoring his Test best knock he told his
teammates in the dressing room that he would retire from the Test format. But
Riyad didn't disclose it officially as the BCB, specially the BCB president
Nazmul Hassan Papon showed his anger after sudden retirement. It is learnt
Riyad found it insulting when he was dropped from the Test team in Pakistan
tour.

     However amid the tension, Bangladesh played the three-match ODI series
and Tamim Iqbal returned to the side to lead the team. Bangladesh whitewashed
Zimbabwe in ODI series. Tamim then took rest from the three-match T20 series
while Mushfiqur Rahim had to return to country as his parents tested Covid-19
positive. Thanks to the brilliant performance of youngster Shamim Patwari,
Afif Hossain, Bangladesh won the series by 2-1. But the scar that was created
following the retirement issue of Mahmudullah, ensured Bangladesh cricket's
problem would take a huge nosedive in the coming days.

     Maiden T20 series victory against Aus and NZ

     131, 121, 127, 104 and 122. These are the scores of the teams in the
first innings of Bangladesh-Australia series. The consecutive replies came as
follows: 108, 123, 117, 105 and 62. The cricket world has never seen such a
low score in T20.

     Remember the number 62 separately. Australia were all out for that score
in the last match. In all, 1082 runs have been scored in the series which is
the lowest in the bilateral series of the Test playing nations. In such a
five-match series, Bangladesh won 4-1. Mahmudullah's team simply blew away
the opponent by making uneven, low, slow wickets at home. Shakib Al Hasan is
the best in the incredible series.

     Then came in New Zealand and the pitch was same. New Zealand was all out
for 60 in the first match and Bangladesh earned the distinction of bowling
the both Trans Tasman neighbours out for their lowest total in T20 in less
than a month. In that low scoring affair, Bangladesh won the series by 3-2.

     But their first ever victory against those two nations in this format
was severely questioned. Critics argued this result would backfire in T20
World Cup since the pitch will be entirely different. And the critics proved
preciously right. While beaten and bruised by Bangladesh, Australia and New
Zealand finally made it to the T20 World Cup final, Bangladesh cricket
plunged to new low in that global event.

     England tour postponed England was scheduled to play three ODIs and a
T20 series in Bangladesh in September-October. But the tour was postponed by
the England and Wales (ECB) Cricket Board. However, the series is not being
canceled. The English will come to Bangladesh in the first week of March
2023. The two teams will play three ODIs and as manyT20s. Six limited matches
will be played in two weeks in Dhaka and Chattogram. The series was postponed
mainly because the English players were keen to play IPL.

     'So called' Tamim vs Mahmudullah spat

     Just ahead of announcing the team for the T20 World Cup, Tamim withdrew
his name, citing the reason that those who played regularly in this format,
should be considered ahead of him. In a video message he said he talked to
BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon before skipping the global event. But later
it was discovered he had issues with T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad, which led
him to pull out. Tamim was irregular in this format and didn't play any match
since March 2019. So when Tamim's name was proposed during the discussion of
the team for the World Cup, Mahmudullah is believed to argue that the players
who played regularly in this format should be considered. When Tamim came to
know about team meeting and Mahmudullah's stance he didn't hesitate to opt
out the tournament. Later it was said the two senior players had issues
between them but both of them denied it and said they had good rapport,
contrary to what the others think.

     Tragic T20 World Cup

     Repeatedly, winning the matches, specially against Australia and New
Zealand, playing on a slow wicket at home is building fake confidence. At
that time none of the concerned people raised their heads. And the result:
Bangladesh is Super Flop in the World Cup. The Bangladesh team led by
Mahmudullah went to the World Cup where Mahmudullah, Shakib and Mushfiqur had
all the experience of playing in the T20 World Cup. But they stumbled in the
first match of the qualifying round, being beaten and bruised by Scotland who
were bold enough to announce that they would beat Bangladesh.

     After winning the match against the hosts Oman and Papua New Guinea,
Bangladesh qualified to Super 12s. Earlier, in tournament proper, Bangladesh
had won only one game against West Indies in 2007.This time the record has
not changed. They came agonizingly close to win the game against Sri Lanka
but once they lost it, their fate was sealed. Their performance took a huge
nosedive in the following matches and they lost all almost without any
resistance.

     Throughout the tournament, the batting and bowling of the team was
hapless. The fielding was extremely poor as they shelled as many as 10
catches.

     Mushfiqur's mirror

     Bangladesh played 244 dot balls in the five matches for T20 World Cup
Super 12s. On an average they played 49 dot balls in every match. The key to
success for T20 match is to play less number of dot balls. But when BCB
president Nazmul Hassan Papon criticized the players for playing excessive
dot balls, the cricketers found it tough pill to swallow.

     Indeed Papon could not accept the loss to Scotland. He questioned
player's commitment. In particular, he questioned the slow batting approach
of three seniors Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad. The
cricketers -specially the three senior cricketers smeared that criticism and
were busy retaliating.

     Shakib came to the press conference and gave a strong answer. Mushfiqur
asked critics to look in the mirror, a statement that got trolled in social
media vehemently. Mahmudullah said, "There must be criticism. It is
desirable. But healthy criticism is good for everyone". Mahmudullah's
captaincy in the aftermath of the World Cup, Domingo's coaching and the
overall team planning, goals and mentality of the players, also raised
questions. The performance of this year's World Cup has made it clear, 'Pain
everywhere, where to give medicine.' Final nail in the coffin

     And the disappointing year ended fittingly in disappointing fashion.
Pakistan came here for a first bilateral series after 2015-this time for two
Test and three-match T20 series. They comfortably whitewashed Bangladesh in
both formats to make the Tigers year of 2021 a forgettable one. Domestic
cricket

     The domestic cricket was run as per the calendar after the Covid-19
ruined most part of 2020. Dhaka Premier League (DPL), the most coveted List A
tournament of Bangladesh was held after a gap of one year and Abahani Limited
emerged as the champions. The National Cricket League (NCL) which was
postponed started a fresh and Dhaka became champions after eight seasons. As
they defeated Khulna Division by 179 runs in the last round, they became
champions in the country's first class tournament for the sixth time. The BCB
also geared up for eighth edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after
Covid-19 forced its postponement in the last year. Recently a player was held
for the BPL.

     And finally a news to savour

     Amid all the disappointing talks and results, what was to savour was the
news of Bangladesh Women's cricket being qualified to the Women's World Cup.
The Bangladesh team has progressed to the 2022 Women's World Cup in New
Zealand for the first time after the nine-team qualifying tournament in
Harare was called off. The International Cricket Council announced the
postponement of the tournament due to the introduction of travel restrictions
from a number of African countries, including the host country Zimbabwe,
following the breakout of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa.

     Bangladesh beat Pakistan by three wickets and crushed the USA by 270
runs before experiencing a shocking 16-run defeat to Thailand by DLS method.
Still Bangladesh topped the Group B.

     Along with Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies qualified for the
ICC Women's World Cup 2022 by virtue of their rankings. Player of the Year

     Bangladesh's performance was so disappointing that it was tough to pick
one particularly for the player of the year award. There was some individual
brilliance though with Mushfiqur playing some good innings in all three
formats of cricket. Najmul Hossain Shanto had a knock of 163 against Zimbabwe
in a one-off Test. Young players like Shamim Patwari, Afif Hossain also
showed promise. But it was fast bowler Taskin Ahmed's year. He started
International cricket with a bang but lost his way, mainly due to recurring
injury. But Taskin in this year came back strongly-he was fitter, he bowled
long spell in Test cricket without compromising his pace and more importantly
he was consistent. He was the bowler that Bangladesh have been missing for so
long. Even though there is someone like Mustafizur but if the pitch is not
slow enough, Mustafizur looks like an ordinary bowler. So Taskin is the
bowler who showed the promise this year to be Bangladesh's match winner at home and foreign soil simultaneously.BSS