sports
Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2022 Squad: Who’s in, who’s out?
There was a strong chance of a few adjustments in the final Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2022 squad when the selectors made the announcement last month. As expected, Soumya Sarkar and Shoriful Islam have been included in the team in place of Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin. Let’s have a look at how strong the Tigers' twenty20 setup is for the main event.
Why has the BCB included Soumya and Shoriful in the World Cup squad?
All-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin and hard-hitter Sabbir Rahman were excluded from the Bangladesh squad to make way for opener Soumya Sarkar and pacer Shoriful Islam.In light of Saifuddin and Sabbir's recent series performances, is dropping them justified? There are no noteworthy performances that support any of the players.
Read: T20 World Cup 2022: Where to watch live in Bangladesh via TV, OTT, and apps
Saifuddin has the lowest economy rate (10.51) in the last two international series in the UAE and New Zealand. Sabbir Rahman, on the other hand, has the lowest strike rate (86.66) among batters. Therefore, leaving them out of the final squad was the right move.
What about Soumya Sarkar and Shoriful Islam? Do they deserve to be in the squad? Soumya played only two matches and scored 27 runs with a strike rate of 128.57, while Shoriful Islam picked up five wickets in four innings with an economy rate of 8.45 in the most recent two Twenty20 International series. Clearly, the latter has a more solid reason and has proved that he is among the best pacers in Bangladesh at the moment.
Soumya’s case is a bit different. The selectors always wanted a left-handed batter in the lineup. But Soumya’s constant failure on the international stage had forced the think tanks to keep him among the standby players.
Someone from the initial main squad had to play badly to make way for Soumya. Unfortunately, that cricketer was Sabbir Rahman, who once again failed to impress the selectors with the bat. But why was Soumya picked despite showing virtually nothing in the two matches he played in the tri-nation series? One valid reason is his track record on fast, bouncy pitches.
Soumya’s bat usually shines when playing on hard pitches. His 153.98 strike rate in T20Is on New Zealand wickets is the best among the Bangladesh players. He is the second-most run scorer (174) in the Twenty20 format among the Bangladesh players in New Zealand. It’s not unknown that Australian conditions will be quite similar to New Zealand's.
Read: ICC T20 World Cup begins Sunday
The selectors' expectation of Soumya is that he will show his true potential in the top-order during the T20 World Cup 2022. Can Soumya fulfill the expectations? That will soon be revealed, but no one can deny the fact that the BCB has a clear reason to pick him up for the squad.
Bangladesh’s twenty20 World Cup 2022 squad at a glance
Apart from making two chances, the rest of the squad remains the same for Bangladesh. The Tigers have five genuine batters, four all-rounders, and six bowlers in the squad. Shakib Al Hasan will lead the Bangladesh team during the World Cup and wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan Sohan will act as his deputy.
The most in-form batter is Litton Das, who has 180 runs in the past 6 innings with a strike rate of 140.62. Afif Hossain is in second position with 159 runs in 6 innings, followed by Shakib Al Hasan with 154 runs in 3 innings with a magnificent strike rate of 150.98.
Among the bowlers, pacer Shoriful Islam bagged the most wickets with five in the last two international series. Hasan Mahmud, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, and Ebadot Hossain all had decent outings in the previous two series with satisfactory economy rates.
Bangladesh will play their first Super 12 match against the runner-up of Group A on October 24. Three days later, on October 27, they will face South Africa. Bangladesh’s third match will be against the Group B winner on October 30. After that, the Tigers will take on India on November 2 and finish their group stage fixtures with a match against Pakistan on November 6.
Read: Bangladesh add Soumya, Shoriful to T20 World Cup squad
Bangladesh's 15-man Twenty20 World Cup 2022 squad
Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam
Way Forward
Despite Bangladesh's lackluster recent T20 international record, the selectors made an effort to assemble the strongest team for the T20 World Cup 2022. Captain Shakib Al Hasan has to work on boosting the players' confidence so they can give it their all on the field. Bangladesh can have a decent success if the players are able to meet the expectations during the tournament.
Read: T20 World Cup 2022: What's the best possible line-up for Bangladesh?
India reclaim Women's Asia Cup crown
India lifted the title of the Women's Asia Cup 2022 after hammering Sri Lanka in the final by eight wickets in Sylhet Saturday.
The women in blue won a record-extending seventh Asia Cup title after losing it to Bangladesh in 2018.
In the final, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. But they managed to score 65-9 in 20 overs. Six of their first batters failed to reach a double-digit.
Inoka Ranaweera, Sri Lanka's No. 10, was the top run (18) scorer for the islanders.
Read: Women’s Asia Cup: Bangladesh endure shocking defeat to Sri Lanka
For India, Renuka Singh bagged three wickets, Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad scalped two each.
It took the women in blue only 8.3 overs to win the match. Smriti Mandhana scored 51.
"We should give credit to the bowlers. And the fielding unit was very good today from ball one," Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match. "We didn't want to give them easy runs as every ball is important, proud of the way we performed today."
Renuka won the player of the final award and Deepti Sharma player of the tournament trophy.
"Tough day as a team, not a good batting display in the final; I'm really upset today," Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu said. "Next we have the T20 World Cup, and we learned a lot from this tournament. And as a batting unit, we have to stick to our plans."
In the last edition of the Women's Asia Cup, Bangladesh beat India in the final to lift their maiden title. But this year, Bangladesh failed to qualify for the semis.
ICC T20 World Cup begins Sunday
The wait is finally over— the ICC T20 World Cup is all set to begin on Sunday with the match between Sri Lanka and Namibia at 10 am (Bangladesh time).
A total of 16 teams are participating in the T20 World Cup. In the first phase, eight teams will lock horns. The top four of them will qualify for the Super 12s round of the event. Bangladesh will directly take part in the Super 12s.
The Tigers will start their World Cup by taking on the runners-up of Group A of the first round on October 24 in Hobart.
Bangladesh team has already reached Australia after their horrible campaign in the Tri-Series in New Zealand where it lost all four matches against the hosts and Pakistan.
Ahead of the event, the captains of all the participating teams have a media session in Melbourne where they had a great meeting with each other. Captains took part in photo sessions and answered the questions of the media representatives.
While replying to a question, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said they are hopeful of doing well in Australia. He also said this is the first time when Bangladesh are going to play T20I matches in Australia— the fact that made many surprised.
T20 cricket became an international format back in 2006, and after 16 years, Bangladesh are going to play their first T20I in Australia— of course, a surprising fact!
Bangladesh made two changes to their original T20 World Cup squad— adding Soumya Sarkar and Shoriful Islam overlooking underperforming batter Sabbir Rahman and allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin.
Ahead of the main event, Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan and South Africa in two warm-up matches on October 17 and 19. Both matches will be played at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
India, Pakistan, England and Australia are among the favourites to win this year’s T20 World Cup, according to the analyst.
T20 World Cup 2022: Where to watch live in Bangladesh via TV, OTT, and apps
The eighth edition of the Twenty20 World Cup is all set to kick off on Sunday (October 16) with a match between Sri Lanka and Namibia. There is no shortage of interest regarding the tournament, and fans are keen to know all the possible platforms to watch the live matches. Let’s take a look at major TV, OTT, and app platforms where Bangladesh and global cricket lovers will watch the T20 World Cup 2022 live action.
Who are the major broadcasters of the T20 World Cup 2022?
The sixteen-nation tournament will be held from October 16 to November 13 in Australia. Eight teams have already sealed their place in the Super 12 and four more will join them from the first round.
Read: Bangladesh add Soumya, Shoriful to T20 World Cup squad
The Super 12 Phase will start on October 22 with a match between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney and will finish on November 6. The semifinals will be held on November 9 and 10 respectively, and the final will take place at the MCG in Melbourne on November 13.
There will be some exciting matches to watch in the group phases before the knockout round. The matches between India and Pakistan on October 23 and Australia and England on October 28 are the most in-demand games from the Super 12 round.
Avid cricket lovers don’t want to miss these fixtures, and they don’t have to as Star Network, Sky Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, PTV, and Times Internet are among the major broadcasters of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia.
The Star network will televise the tournament in most parts of the subcontinent, which includes India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Maldives. PTV and ARY Digital Network will telecast live in Pakistan, while GTV and Rabbithole will telecast and live stream matches in Bangladesh.
Sky Sports will broadcast live and streamed games in the UK. Live broadcasts of Fox Sports, Channel Nine, and Kayo will be available in Australia. North American viewers can see the Twenty20 World Cup 2022 live on Willow TV and ESPN+. The rest of the world can watch the live matches of this ICC big event through YuppTV.
Read: T20 World Cup 2022: What's the best possible line-up for Bangladesh?
Bangladesh add Soumya, Shoriful to T20 World Cup squad
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made two changes to the Bangladesh squad for the ICC T20 World Cup starting on Sunday in Australia.
The board axed batter Sabbir Rahman and allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin to pave the way for left-handed batter Soumya Sarkar and left-arm bowler Shoriful Islam.
The newly-added players were on the standby list for the World Cup.
October 14 was the final cut-off date to finalize the squad for all the teams. BCB made the change at the last moment.
Sabbir and Saifuddin will now return home from New Zealand where the Bangladesh team played a tri-nation series with the hosts and Pakistan.
After making a surprising comeback with the last Asia Cup, Sabbir played four T20Is and failed to prove his mettle in international cricket. In the last four innings, his best was 14.
Saifuddin, in his last five T20Is, bagged only three wickets. In the match against Pakistan in the recently-concluded Tri-Series, he conceded more than 50 runs and failed to grab any wickets. This performance prompted the team management to not include him in the World Cup squad.
Meanwhile, The Bangladesh T20 World Cup side will head to Brisbane on Saturday where they will play two warm-up games against Afghanistan and South Africa on October 17 and 19 respectively before starting their campaign in Hobart on 24 October. This year, Bangladesh are playing the Super 12s round of the World Cup directly.
Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Nurul Hasan Sohan (WK/Vice Captain), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain
Tri-Series: A great team effort helps Pakistan lift the trophy!
From the beginning itself, they were the clear favourites to win the Tri-Series. And now, they have emerged as the champions -- beating the hosts in a tricky chase.
Pakistan lifted the Tri-Series trophy, winning against New Zealand by five wickets with three balls win in hand on Friday in Christchurch. Pakistan lost only once in this series to New Zealand, but in the final, they kept their nerve strong till the end.
Read: Tri-Series: Bangladesh lose to Pakistan by 7 wickets
Pakistan needed to score 164 to win the series. They scored 29 in the opening partnership — a relatively slow start from them. But they were firm against the New Zealand bowling attack.
Babar Azam fell as the first wicket scoring 15 off 14 balls, while Mohammad Rizwan posted 34. Both of them had hit a fifty each while chasing 173 against Bangladesh before the final.
Haider Ali’s 15-ball 31 helped accelerate the scoring when they needed it the most. In the fourth wicket stand, Nawaz and Haider added 56 runs off just 26 balls — this partnership effectively pushed the match Pakistan’s way.
On the sixth wicket, Nawaz and Iftikhar Ahmed added 36 off 20 balls and that finished the match. Iftikhar scored 25 off 14 balls with a winning shot, a six, off Blair Tickner in the third ball of the last over.
None of the Pakistani batters scored a fifty or a 40, but they demonstrated a team effort while chasing a big total.
For New Zealand, Michael Bracewell, who was outstanding throughout the event, bagged two wickets in the final, but his effort was not enough for the Blackcaps to avoid a defeat.
Earlier, Pakistan bowled first in this match after winning the toss. New Zealand scored 163 runs for seven wickets with the captain, Kane Williamson, leading the way, hitting 59 off 38 balls.
Read: Tri-Series: As Bangladesh suffer another defeat, New Zealand march to final
New Zealand lost Finn Allen, the opener, in the last ball of the first over. Before falling prey to Naseem Shah, he hit three fours and scored 12 off just six balls. Devon Conway, the other opener, also couldn't go big in the final.
For Pakistan, Naseem and Haris Rauf bagged two wickets each.
This win will surely boost the confidence of the Asian giant ahead of their T20 World Cup campaign starting this month in Australia.
T20 World Cup 2022: What's the best possible line-up for Bangladesh?
Bangladesh competed in two international Twenty20 series as preparation for the World Cup. Given the players' overall performances, the team tigers' preparation didn't go as planned. The team must concentrate on their areas of strength in order to line up the best Bangladesh playing XI for the T20 World Cup 2022.
The best Bangladesh playing XI for the 2022 World Twenty20 Cup
Places for a few of the players in Bangladesh's team are practically guaranteed. They are the automatic choices for the tigers’ playing XI. But there are a few slots that are up for grabs. The Australian surfaces will be beneficial for the faster bowlers. Therefore, picking the right pace bowling unit will be a tough decision to make for captain Shakib Al Hasan and the team management. Besides, how many spinners it would be ideal to have in the team is another area of concern they need to solve. But the most important one is to pick the opening pair who will be responsible for giving Bangladesh a solid start. Let’s get an idea of what should be the preferred playing XI for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Read:T20 World Cup 2022: How prepared is Bangladesh?
Top-Order
There are at least five options based on the players who have opened the innings for Bangladesh in the last two international series. In the main squad, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Sabbir Rahman are in. On the other hand, Soumya Sarkar is among the standby players.
Based on the last two T20I series performances, Litton Das is the front-runner to be one of the openers for Bangladesh. He has by far the best record of any of the others. Litton has 180 runs in 6 innings with a strike rate of 140.62. His place on the team as an opener is all but assured.
Now the big talking point is who has the best chance to be Litton’s opening partner. For four matches, the team's management experimented with off-spinner all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz. But sending Miraz to the top of the order didn’t work out as expected. Mehidy made 73 runs in 4 innings with a strike rate of 108.95. Miraz was never a conventional opener, so picking him for the role was a mistake.
Among the other three batters, Sabbir Rahman has the lowest strike rate at 86.66 and has only 26 runs in 3 innings. Soumya Sarkar has a 128.57 strike rate and Najmul Hossain Sahnto has exactly 100. Considering Soumya’s ability to play strokes on the fast and bouncy surface, he could be an ideal player to open the innings with Litton Das during the Twenty20 World Cup 2022. Because both Najmul Hossain and Sabbir Rahman have shown a lack of confidence in the middle.
The team management first has to incorporate Soumya Sarkar into the main world cup squad from the standby players to be eligible for the opening slot. Besides, captain Shakib Al Hasan is likely to bat at No. 3 in the World Cup fixtures.
Read:T20 World Cup 2022: Five potential candidates for most sixes
Middle-Order
Bangladesh’s middle-order is quite settled despite the majority of them having struggled to show their true potential. Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, and Mohammad Saifuddin are likely to take the no.4 to no.8 slots.
Afif Hossain has the best record in recent matches in comparison to others. The left-handed, aggressive-minded batter has made 159 runs with a strike rate of 124.21. Nurul Hasan and Yasir Ali have shown some promise in the lower middle-order. Both the hard-hitters have 130 plus strike rates. However, they need to take their strike rate to 150 given that both the batters come at the crease at the no.6 and no.7 positions.
Mosaddek Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin have the ability to play big shots and are currently favourites to take a spot in the playing XI in the initial matches. If one of these five players fails to impress the Bangladesh team think tanks, Sabbir Rahman can find a place in the middle-order.
Lower-Order
Bangladesh are likely to include three pacers in the playing XI given that Australian surfaces will assist the quicker bowlers. If Saifuddin finds a place in the team, two more fast bowlers are likely to be picked for the playing XI. Taskin Ahmed has been the most economical bowler from the pace bowling unit. The right-hand pacer has picked up 3 wickets in his previous 4 matches with an economy rate of 7.06. His position in the team is almost confirmed.
Mustafizur Rahman has been struggling with his accuracy and has been pretty expensive. The left-hand pacer may not be seen in the initial matches against the tigers. Two promising young pacers, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam, are likely to compete against each other for the final spot. Hasan Mahmud is already in the World Cup squad, but Shoriful Islam is on the standby list.
The BCB has to incorporate Shoriful into the main squad first to be eligible to take part in the T20 World Cup 2022 matches. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nasum Ahmed are the two spinning options for Captain Shakib. He has to pick one and Miraz is the early favourite to find a place in the playing XI. But for some matches, Nasum should be a better choice.
Read:ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022: Meet the 16 Captains
Bangladesh’s preferred playing XI for the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup
Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud
Way Forward
It could be challenging for players at first to adapt to unfamiliar Australian conditions. The team management must thus give top priority to creating an effective Bangladesh playing XI for the T20 World Cup 2022. The players should be prepared to give their best for the team Tigers in every game.
Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball expected to rake in $2.7m-$3.3m at auction
The ball used when Diego Maradona scored his “Hand of God” goal against England at the 1986 World Cup has been put up for auction by the Tunisian referee who was in charge of the game and missed soccer’s most famous handball.
Graham Budd Auctions said Thursday that they expect the 36-year-old Adidas ball, which referee Ali Bin Nasser owns, to fetch between $2.7 million and $3.3 million when it goes up for sale in Britain on Nov. 16, four days before the World Cup in Qatar kicks off.
The goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal against England in Mexico City has become part of World Cup legend. Maradona jumped as if to head the ball but instead punched it past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. England players protested to Nasser but the goal stood. Maradona quipped afterward that it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God,” leading to its iconic name.
Read: Maradona's stolen watch recovered in India
Maradona used the same ball, the only one used in the quarterfinal, for his brilliant second goal four minutes later. The Argentina great ran 68 meters from his own half and weaved his way past half the England team before slipping the ball past Shilton. That goal was voted the World Cup Goal of the Century in 2002.
Argentina won the game 2-1 and went on to lift the World Cup, and the tournament launched Maradona as one of the game’s greatest players. Maradona died in 2020 at the age of 60.
“This ball is part of international football history,” Nasser said in a statement from Graham Budd Auctions. “It feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world.”
The shirt worn by Maradona in that game against England was sold for $9.3 million at an auction in May, which was at the time the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of sports memorabilia. The record was beaten by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card, which sold for $12.6 million in August.
Nasser will also auction the referee shirt he wore for the quarterfinal, Graham Budd Auctions said, and another shirt that Maradona signed for his “eternal friend” at a reunion years after the game.
Sheikh Russell Cup Invitational Team Chess begins
The six-nation Sheikh Russell Cup Invitational Team Chess Championship 2022, began Thursday at the Bangladesh Chess Federation in Dhaka, marking Sheikh Russell Day.
All the six zone 3.2 countries of the World Chess Federation – Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh are taking part in the invitational team chess event.
Youth and Sports Secretary Mesbah Uddin officially inaugurated the six-nation meet as the chief guest.
Tarafder Md Ruhul Saif, director of the competition's sponsor Saif Powertec, Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, general secretary of the Bangladesh Chess Federation, and KM Shahidullah, vice-president of the federation, were also present.
Read: Sheikh Russel Cup Invitational Team Chess starts tomorrow in capital
All teams will participate in the round-robin league system. At the end of the first phase, the super league will be held with the top three teams. It will also be held in a round-robin league format.
A total of $10,000 will be awarded to the winners. The champion team will receive $ 4,000, the runners-up $3,000, the third-place finishers $2,000 and the fourth-place team $1,000.
In the day's first-round matches after the inauguration ceremony, Bangladesh played against Sri Lanka, Pakistan faced the Maldives, and Nepal played against Bhutan.
The second round matches will start at 3pm Friday at the same venue.
In the second round, Pakistan will play Bangladesh, Bhutan will face Sri Lanka and the Maldives will play Nepal.
Senior Div Football: Bangladesh Boys Club beat Victoria SC 1-0
Bangladesh Boys Club clinched 1-0 goal win over Victoria Sporting Club in the Bashundhara Group Senior Division Football League here on Thursday.
After barren first, Shohag Mia scored the match winning goal for Gopibagh outfit Bangladesh Boys in the 57th minute.
In the day's another league match, PWD Sporting Club beat Friends Social Welfare Organization by the same margin.
Ariful Islam netted the match winner for PWD SC in the 33rd minute.
In the day's another league match, Koshaituli Samaj Kallayan Parishad defeated East End Club by 2-0 goals.
Abid Hasan Abir and Pronab Augastin Hemrom scored for Koshaituli team, one in each half.
In the BFF U-18 Football League, Rahmatganj MFS outplayed Muktijoddha Sangsad KC by 3-0.
Sajjad struck twice and Nabidul netted one for the old Dhaka outfit Rahmatganj MFS.