Sports
U-19 cricket series between Bangladesh and Pakistan postponed
Due to the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, the Under-19 cricket series between Bangladesh and Pakistan has been postponed indefinitely, confirmed Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury.
In this tour, Pakistan U-19 was scheduled to play a four-day and five one-day matches against their Bangladeshi counterparts.
Also read: BCB eyes long-term plan to prepare U-19 cricketers for future
“We have been in continuous communication with the Pakistan board. We will host the series at a convenient time in the coming months,” he told the reporters on Saturday.
“It’ll possible when we get a situation to host an international team, and we obviously try to host them as early as possible,” he further added.
Also read: World champion U-19 cricketers to get Tk1 lakh each per month
A weeklong lockdown to curb the transmission of Covid-19 was imposed in Bangladesh on April 5 which will come to an end on Sunday. But it apparently is proved to be ineffective as it was unplanned as according to the expert. The government had to backtrack some decisions during the lockdown.
Now, the authority has announced that a stricter lockdown will be enforced from April 14 when except for some emergency services, everything will remain closed.
How European football is badly affected by the pandemic covid-19?
Watching football matches in European stadiums is always a joyful experience. But the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in significant changes in people's daily lives for the last year. All football leagues in Europe are being held behind closed doors after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus an epidemic in March 2020. According to a study, the combined loss of Europe's major football clubs due to covid-19 is more than 1 billion euros. This shows the extent of the pandemic's impact on European football! This article discusses how European football is badly affected by the pandemic covid-19.
The brunt of covid-19 on European football
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Since then the major football leagues in Europe are being played in empty stadiums.
Initially, any limitations on sporting events were ruled out by the British government. But after large outbreaks at Arsenal and Chelsea, the Premier League ultimately agreed to take a 100-day break.
Read: Football Transfers 2021: The hot favorites to replace Sergio Aguero at Man City
The domestic leagues in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany were postponed following government directives and the rest of Europe's top leagues took long breaks as well.
Euro 2020 was suspended for one year, while Europe's most prestigious club football competition champions league 2020 completed in the month of August.
Fans were allowed to return to the stadium at the beginning of the year but the plan halted after the second wave of the covid-19 virus and the spread of new variants caused new lockdowns across Europe.
There was a concern that teams will go bankrupt due to the stop of ticket sales, but thankfully clubs have managed to recover some initial losses. We can expect fans will return to the field soon following the start of mass vaccination programs across Europe.
Read: Summer Window 2021: Five Potential Big Football Transfers
The financial effects on European football due to covid-19
The loss of matchday and commercial revenue as a result of the scheduling delays has had a substantial effect on European football.
The finances of 43 European clubs were investigated by KPMG, an accounting firm, and it was discovered that net profits dropped 1.2 billion euros last season.
Barcelona, Juventus, and Arsenal are among the top clubs trying to convince their star-studded players to take salary cuts as a result of the covid-19.
Among Europe's elite clubs, Barcelona are in a real crisis. Their current debt is in excess of $1 billion. While, according to the reports, the Premier League clubs are losing nearly $150 million every month because of the ongoing pandemic situation.
Read: Lionel Messi: The Argentine Football Star’s Most Unbreakable Records
Because of the epidemic, clubs are unable to spend as much as they used to at transfer windows.In the January transfer window, just $327 million was traded, less than half of what was invested in the previous transfer window.
Besides that, the European Football Association suffered a significant financial loss after the cancellation of Euro 2020. To compensate for the deficit, they want at least half of the stadium's overall capacity to be filled during the forthcoming tournament. Only time will tell if this is even possible especially in the midst of the second wave covid-19 across Europe.
The epidemic has resulted in significant financial losses in sponsor and broadcasting deals.However, it is anticipated that the damage predicted at the beginning of the lockdown did not happen.
Read: Memorable Match Winning Knocks in Tests
Bottom Line
European football leagues are among the most popular sporting events in the world.Billions of euros are spent on the clubs every season.But European football is badly affected by the covid-19. Football leagues in Europe were suspended due to lockdown between March and May 2020.The spectator is a major source of revenue for the clubs.
However, since the games are played behind closed doors, the clubs have missed out on millions of dollars in ticket revenue. Furthermore, due to the economic downturn affected by the pandemic, players are not being traded significantly during the transfer window.Clubs are now more relying on their own academies to form first-team squads. The recession is expected to last much longer unless the coronavirus outbreak is contained.
Read: The Best ODI Batsmen of the 21st Century
BCB announces preliminary Test squad with three new faces
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday announced a 21-member preliminary squad for Sri Lanka Tests, including three new faces.
The final squad for this two-match Test series will be announced once the preliminary team arrives in Sri Lanka and plays an intra-squad practice game starting on April 17.
The series will begin on April 21 with the first Test, and the second and final Test will start on April 29. Both the matches will be played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy.
BCB included uncapped pace-bowlers Shohidul Islam, Shoriful Islam and Mukidul Islam Mugdho for this series while Shuvagata made a surprise comeback in the Test set-up after a four-year gap.
Also read: Bangladesh Emerging Women seal series against South Africa
Due to the Covid-19 situation, Bangladesh will have to play a practice match themselves. And this is why, BCB announced a 21-member squad for now, and the whole team will travel to Sri Lanka.
“We’ve decided to take the preliminary squad to Sri Lanka as it would help us in our preparation and also give exposure to a number of players who are in our thinking for the longer version going forward,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said in a statement.
“They (pace-bowlers) have been in our HP set-up and have impressed in whatever version they have played in. Mukidul and Shohidul in particular, have caught the eye in domestic First-class this season and are future Test prospects. They all have age on their side and are talented,” he added.
In the two rounds of the National Cricket League (NCL), which is currently on hold due to Covid-19 surge, Mukidul bagged 13 wickets with two five-wicket hauls while Shohidul took six wickets. Shoriful missed the NCL’s first two rounds as he was in New Zealand with the national team.
Also read: Tigers return home after disastrous New Zealand tour
“Shuvagata is coming back after a while but he has been a consistent performer in First-class cricket. We’ve considered him as a batting all-rounder but his off-break bowling is pretty handy also and gives us an option in the spin department,” he said about the inclusion of Shuvagata.
In the NCL, Shuvagata bagged seven wickets and scored 163 runs with a century.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan also made a comeback in the Bangladesh Test set-up. He played his last Test in 2018 during Bangladesh’s West Indies tour.
21-member preliminary Test teamMominul Haque, Litton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed Rahi, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Shuvagata Hom, Shohidul Islam and Nurul Hasan Sohan.
NFL player Phillip Adams killed 5, then himself
Former NFL player Phillip Adams fatally shot five people, including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren before killing himself early Thursday.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson told a news conference that investigators had not yet determined a motive for Wednesday’s mass shooting.
“There’s nothing right now that makes sense to any of us,” Tolson said.
Also read:10 ex-NFL players charged with defrauding healthcare program
Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara, 69, were pronounced dead in their home in Rock Hill along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the York County coroner’s office said.
A man who had been working at the Lesslie home, James Lewis, 38, from Gaston, was found shot to death outside. A sixth victim, Robert Shook, 38, of Cherryville, North Carolina, was flown to a Charlotte hospital, where he was in critical condition “fighting hard for his life,” said a cousin, Heather Smith Thompson.
At Thursday’s news conference, Tolson played audio of two 911 calls, the first from an HVAC company that employed Lewis and Shook. One of the men, the caller said, had called him “screaming” and saying that he had been shot, and that his coworker was shot and “unresponsive.”
“I think there’s been a bad shooting,” a different man said in a second 911 call, saying he was outside cutting his grass and heard “about 20” shots fired at the Lesslie home before seeing someone leave the house.
Tolson said evidence at the scene led authorities to Adams as a suspect. He said they went to Adams’ parents’ home, evacuated them and then tried to talk Adams out of the house. Eventually, they found him dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
Tolson said both a .45-caliber and 9mm weapon were used in Wednesday’s shooting.
A person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press earlier Thursday that Adams had been treated by Lesslie, who lived near his parents’ home. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
However, Tolson would not confirm that Adams had been the doctor’s patient.
Lesslie worked for decades as an emergency room doctor, board-certified in both emergency medicine and occupational medicine and serving as emergency department medical director for nearly 15 years at Rock Hill General Hospital, according to his website.
He and his wife had four children and nine grandchildren, and were actively involved with their church, as well as with Camp Joy, which works with children with disabilities and where Lesslie served as camp physician for a week each summer. On Thursday, Tolson said the family had asked that any memorials be made to the camp.
Also read:NFL Pro Bowl returns to Orlando for 4th straight year
Adams, 32, played in 78 NFL games over six seasons for six teams. He joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, and though he rarely started, he went on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland and the New York Jets before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
As a rookie, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury and never played for the 49ers again. Later, with the Raiders, he had two concussions over three games in 2012.
Whether he suffered long-lasting concussion-related injuries wasn’t immediately clear. Adams would not have been eligible for testing as part of a broad settlement between the league and former players over such injuries, because he hadn’t retired by 2014.
Adams’ father told a Charlotte television station he blamed football for his son’s problems, which might have led him to commit Wednesday’s violence.
“I can say he’s a good kid — he was a good kid, and I think the football messed him up,” Alonzo Adams told WCNC-TV.
Deputies were called around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday to the Lesslies’ home, and evacuated the neighbors as they searched for hours for a suspect.
Allison Hope, who lives across from Adams’ parents’ home, about a mile from the Lesslies, said police allowed her to return home around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Moments later, a vehicle pulled into the Adams’ driveway and law enforcement quickly surrounded the property.
She said they spent hours negotiating with Phillip Adams, using a loudspeaker and sending in a robot to scan the house. She said authorities repeatedly asked Adams to come out, and promised to get his disabled mother out safely, before Adams shot himself.
“This is something I can’t grasp yet. I can’t put it all together and I’m trying to,” Hope said.
Adams often isolated himself, even as a player, his agent, Scott Casterline, told the AP. Casterline said he spoke regularly with Adams’ father, who left him a voicemail Wednesday morning.
“This is so unlike him. He had to not be in his right mind, obviously,” Casterline said, adding that Adams struggled away from the game.
“He had an injury his rookie year. Some teams wrote him off and he had that stigma of a guy who was hurt,” Casterline said. “It was hard for him to walk away from the game, especially a guy as dedicated as he was.”
“We encouraged him to explore all of his disability options and he wouldn’t do it,” Casterline added. “I knew he was hurting and missing football but he wouldn’t take health tips offered to him. He said he would but he wouldn’t.”
“I felt he was lost without football, somewhat depressed.”
Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith, who trained Adams, said the former NFL player had opened a shop selling smoothies before COVID-19 hit. Both he and Casterline emphasized Adams didn’t drink or do drugs.
Lesslie founded two urgent care centers and had traveled the country giving lectures to an emergency nurses’ group, his website said. He wrote a weekly medical column for The Charlotte Observer and became a prolific author, writing several volumes with advice on how to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and lose weight.
The physician also penned a number of collections of what he termed “inspiring true stories” from his work.
“I know without a doubt that life is fragile,” Lesslie wrote in one of those books, “Angels in the ER.”
“I am convinced we need to take the time to say the things we deeply feel to the people we deeply care about.”
A statement from the Lesslie family said they were “in the midst of the unimaginable” but felt assured by faith that their “hearts are bent toward forgiveness and peace.”
Bangladesh Emerging Women seal series against South Africa
Bangladesh Emerging Women cricket team have won three matches in a row to seal the five-match ODI series against South Africa Emerging Women.
Bangladesh won the third match on Thursday by six wickets at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first, but they failed to put up a good batting display and were bundled out for 92 runs.
Also read: Tigresses awarded Test status
Ritu Mon, Nahida Akter and Rabeya of Bangladesh Emerging Women were fantastic with the ball, bagging three wickets each.
For South Africa, Anneke Bosch scored 30 runs while Andrie Steyn, Michaela Andrews scored 19 and 18.
In reply, Murshida Khatun scored the highest 46 runs for Bangladesh while Farjana Haque Pinky and Nigar Sultana Joty scored 13 and 16 to lead the team to a third consecutive win.
Also read: Emerging Women’s Cricket: South Africa whitewash Bangladesh 3-0
Earlier, Bangladesh won the first match of the series by 54 runs and the second one by seven wickets.
The fourth and fifth match of the series will take place on April 11 and 13 at the same venue.
Walton becomes title sponsor of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Test series
Bangladeshi tech-giant Walton has become the title sponsor of the upcoming Test series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The official name of the event will be ‘Walton Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Series’.
According to the schedule, Sri Lanka will host Bangladesh for a two-match Test series this time. Bangladesh will reach Sri Lanka on April 12. The first Test is scheduled to be played from April 21 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium near Kandy while the second game is set to start on April 29.
Also read: West Indies Test series a litmus test for Bangladesh cricket?
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Walton and ITW sports management, the owner of the series recently.
Executive Director of Walton Group Uday Hakim and head of ITW Consulting Bangladesh Private Limited Mohammad Sharik signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at Walton’s media office in Dhaka.
Also read: Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Test series in jeopardy
Walton’s Executive Director Firoj Alam and Senior Additional Director Rabiul Islam Milton were present at the ceremony.
Hakim says, “The whole world is passing through a tough time due to the coronavirus epidemic. But the good thing is that cricket has started to return to the field overcoming the fear of the virus.”
Read Daraz becomes sponsor of the national cricket team
The national cricket team have already returned home from New Zealand. They are now set to tour Sri Lanka to play the two-match Test series.
Hakim said Walton is proud to be associated with this event. It is expected that millions of cricket fans, players and all those associated with cricket will be inspired by this event. “Walton is with cricket and will always be,” he added.
Read Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Five Things Bangladesh Cricket Team Must Do To win the Test Series in Sri Lanka
T20 World Cup 2021: Five Things the Bangladesh Team Needs To Address Before the World T20 2021
India will host the seventh ICC T20 World Cup from October to November 2021. This tournament will feature a total of 16 nations. The top ten full members of the ICC will be automatically qualified for the tournament.
The remaining six teams will be selected from the qualifying round. As the World Cup is being held in the subcontinent, the Mahmudullah-led Bangladesh team is expecting to do well in this year’s event. But five things the Bangladesh team needs to address before the World T20 2021 if they want to achieve something great in the tournament. These issues are discussed in this article.
In which sectors, Bangladesh need to improve before the T20 World Cup 2021?
Bangladesh will participate in the 2021 T20 World Cup under Mahmudullah Riyad’s leadership. Senior cricketers are expected to play in the World Cup despite the fact that they sometimes remain absent in bilateral series. Bangladesh have the potential to surprise the cricketing world if they can improve their deficiencies and play with unwavering faith. Now let’s take a look at the issues that the Bangladesh team needs to improve.
Read Without senior players, what Bangladesh’s ODI Cricket team could look like?
1) Bringing Shakib Al Hasan back at no.3
Usually, the best batsman plays at the number three position. For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan has been batting in this position since 2018. Shakib had an excellent 2019 World Cup by batting at number three. But Shakib Al Hasan has been replaced by young Nazmul Hossain Shanto for the number three position since the Windies series in January. Afterward, Shanto and Soumya batted at number three for the next two series, but they failed to live up to the expectations. This indicates that Shakib Al Hasan is the only best option for this spot. So he should bat at number three in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Read Mustafiz's Rajasthan vs Shakib's Kolkata: Which team has the best chance to win the IPL 2021?
2) Increasing all-rounders in the squad
Many teams now prioritize bringing in more all-rounders in the squad. Most of the all-rounders are aggressive batsmen who can score quickly when the team needs them. All-rounders are also valued for their ability to play an effective role with the ball. Bangladesh’s chances of performing well in the T20 World Cup will improve if more all-rounders are selected.
Read Key T20I Records between Bangladesh and New Zealand
3) Improving the efficiency of spinners
Spinners play an important role in India. Any decent quality spinner can become a nightmare for batsmen on Indian pitches. That is why more attention should be given to the inclusion of spinners in the squad than pacers. Apart from Shakib Al Hasan, there are several promising spinners in the Bangladesh team. However, there are doubts about their effectiveness against the world's premier batsmen. BCB should hire a qualified spin coach to help spinners improve their skills.
Read Mashrafe Mortaza drops a bombshell over his alleged T20 retirement in 2017
4) Mastering the batting technique in swinging conditions
Bangladesh's batsmen had to deal with a lot of swing from the pacers in their last series against New Zealand. They had struggled to cope with the extra pace, bounce, and awful swing deliveries of the Kiwi pacers in the whole tour. The vulnerabilities of Bangladesh batsmen on hard pitches were exposed once more in this series. Batsmen must have a clear understanding of how to bat aggressively in swinging conditions in the T20 format.
Read The Best ODI Batsmen of the 21st Century
5) Improving fielding performance
Bangladesh’s fielding performance has deteriorated noticeably. The ground fielding was terrible in the last two series, and the players missed a lot of catches. In any format, especially in T20, the chances of losing a match are high due to poor fielding. That’s why the Bangladesh team’;s overall fielding needs to be strengthened. The team’;s senior cricketers, especially captain Mahmudullah Riyad, will have to carry responsibility for motivating the players.
Read Memorable Match Winning Knocks in Tests
Bottom Line
After a disappointing performance in the recently concluded New Zealand series, it would be unreasonable to expect too much from Bangladesh’s present T20 side. Therefore five Things the Bangladesh team needs to address before the World T20 2021 in order to perform well during the tournament. One or two senior cricketers may retire from the T20 format after this tournament.
For that reason, no.1 all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, dashing opener Tamim Iqbal, Mr dependable Mushfiqur Rahim, and silent killer Mahmudullah Riyadh would all want to accomplish something significant in this competition together. No doubt, Bangladesh have an outside chance of winning this tournament if they play with full confidence.
Read Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Five Things Bangladesh Cricket Team Must Do To win the Test Series in Sri Lanka
Domingo’s role as head coach under scrutiny
Since Russell Domingo took over as head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team, the Tigers have been performing consistently - consistently poorly, that is. Under his coaching, Bangladesh lost a Test to Afghanistan and suffered a clean sweep in a two-match Test series against understrength West Indies as well. Now, his role is finally facing the scrutiny of the board.
The Tigers’ recent assignment was in New Zealand where they crashed to six defeats across two formats and their winless drought in New Zealand across all three reached 32. In this tour, Bangladesh lost every game without offering any sort of resistance. This failure prompted the influential board directors to hold a meeting to discuss Domingo’s future as Bangladesh’s head coach.
BCB parted ways with Steve Rhodes after the World Cup 2019, and right after that, they appointed Domingo as the head coach, though, the South African coach applied to BCB to work with the development group of the cricketers, instead of the national team. But the board had decided to award him the role of the head coach of the national team considering his long-term vision.
Also read: Domingo sees great opportunity to beat New Zealand
His so-called long-term vision was interrupted due to the Covid-19 outbreak throughout the globe last year. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, he coached the Tigers in at least three series but failed to produce a good result.
The board is now set to evaluate his role as the head coach after the home series against Sri Lanka in May this year, said Akram Khan while talking to Cricbuzz recently.
“We are expected to sit for an evaluation meeting after the home series against Sri Lanka,” Akram said. “We’ll discuss everything about our coaches to know where we really stand now. And of course, we’ll discuss Domingo’s role as the head coach.”
Also read: Russell Domingo emphasises playing domestic cricket
After coming back from the disastrous New Zealand tour, Bangladesh will now travel to Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series. They are scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka on April 12.
This series came as an ordeal for Domingo who is currently on leave. He is expected to join the team before the Sri Lanka Tests.
During the Sri Lanka series, the Bangladesh team will be accompanied by Khaled Mahmud, the former captain, as the head of the delegation. It is understood that he will observe closely the way Domingo coaches the team.
Also read: ‘Always good to spread the leadership’: Russell Domingo
Mahmud believes that a coach is responsible to train the players and give them a good plan, and the rest is up to the players. While talking to the reporters in Dhaka, Mahmud said: “The players have to play well. A coach can give you a plan and train you well. I don’t know what happened to the team. I’ll try to find out that in the Sri Lanka tour and take steps accordingly.”
Weightlifter Mabia wins gold in Bangladesh Games
Country's celebrated weightlifter and SA Games gold medal-winning Mabia Akhter Simanta clinched gold with new record in her favourite 64 kgs weight category event of the Bangabandhu 9th Bangladesh Games held in Mymensingh District gymnasium on Wednesday.
Mabia, a lifter of Bangladesh Ansar, smartly clinched the event's gold medal with new national mark lifting total 181 kgs -- 80 kgs in snatch and 101 kgs in clean & jerk.
Read: 3-day Bangabandhu 44th National Athletics commences
The previous best record of Mabia was 179 kgs made in the Inter-Services Weightlifting Competition held in 2018.
Mila Akhter of Bangladesh Army won the event's silver lifting 132 kgs while Laboni Akhter of Shipahi Bagh JS took the bronze lifting 116 kgs.
Read 3 IU female students win medals in Bangladesh Games
Daraz becomes sponsor of national cricket team
The country’s leading e-commerce platform Daraz has become the new sponsor of the Bangladesh National Men's, Women's, A Team and Under-19 Cricket Team till November 30, 2023.
Daraz has been awarded the rights under which its logo will appear on the kits of the Bangladesh National Men’s and Women’s, Bangladesh A Team and the Bangladesh Under 19 Team.
Meanwhile, Hungrynaki, a sister concern of Daraz, will be the Team Kits Partner. The sponsorship is effective from April 7, 2021, and will run up to November 30, 2023.
Read: Tigers return home after disastrous New Zealand tour
BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury welcomed Daraz to Bangladesh cricket.
"Within a very short period, Daraz has become one of the leading e-commerce sites in Bangladesh and arguably the most popular. The way Daraz has provided customer service at the doorsteps of millions of people, especially during the challenging period of the Covid-19 pandemic, has been admirable," he said.
The BCB is delighted to form a partnership with an organisation of international repute and one that has a progressive and innovative outlook, the BCB CEO said.
Read Walton becomes title sponsor of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Test series
"I thank Daraz for coming forward and associating its brand with Bangladesh Cricket. I'm sure this will be a strong and durable relationship as we work towards the common goal of pursuing successes for Bangladesh cricket,” he added.
Daraz's Managing Director Syed Mostahidal Hoq said: “This's an auspicious moment for us because it always gives you immense pleasure to be able to do something for the country. By sponsoring our National Cricket Team we feel that we have become a part of the passion and glory associated with the game in Bangladesh and we look forward to celebrating many achievements in the years to come.”
Read: Tamim Iqbal wants to retire from one format