United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh right-arm pacer Hasan Mahmud scalped three wickets in the first hour of the Chennai Test against India and riding on his bowling, Bangladesh secured an early advantage in the match.  Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladesh captain, said they hope to use the moisture in the wicket with their pace arsenal.  Hasan’s first victim was Rohit Sharma. It was an angled delivery to the Indian captain. He tried to touch the ball but only managed an edge to the slip cordon.  It was a full-length delivery that dismissed Shubman Gill. he nicked it to the wicketkeeper. Those two wickets pumped up Hasan, and he scalped the most-wanted wicket of Virat Kohli. He bowled outside off, and India's best batter tried to drive it but only managed a thick edge to the wicketkeeper.  Taking three wickets in the first hour of the match, Bangladesh went all over India.  At the end of the 14th over, India were at 50 for three wickets, and Hasan took all three.  Bangladesh’s decision to bowl first was a surprising one. It was the first time a team chose to bowl first in this venue in a Test after 1982. But Hasan’s superb bowling in the first hour proved Bangladesh right. 

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first Test of the two-match series against India on Thursday in Chennai.  Bangladesh’s decision to bowl first, winning the toss, came as a surprise. The last time when a team won the toss and chose to bowl first in in Chennai was in 1982.  Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said there is moisture on the wicket, and they want to use it in the first hour of the match.  The visitors fielded three pacers and two all-rounders. They opted for the same setup in the series against Pakistan, which they won.  The hosts, India, also fielded three seamers and added two spinners in their lineup.  Before this series, Bangladesh played 13 Tests against India but failed to win any of those matches. But this time, fresh from winning a historic series in Pakistan, Bangladesh are hopeful to offer India a strong challenge. Bangladesh playing XI:  Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Taskin Ahmed India playing XI: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj

FIFA made a high-profile signing from UEFA on Wednesday, hiring one of the most respected executives in European soccer. Kevin Lamour, currently UEFA's deputy general secretary, will join FIFA as chief operating officer on Nov. 1, soccer's world body told staff on Wednesday in an email seen by The Associated Press. The 44-year-old French official has worked at UEFA in two different spells since 2007 and gained a reputation as an advocate for good governance in soccer bodies. The move to FIFA reunites Lamour with its president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafström. They worked together for several years at UEFA and on Infantino's successful election campaign in 2016. Lamour declined the chance to work for FIFA then, and soon returned to UEFA which he had left in 2015 after his longtime boss Michel Platini was investigated in financial wrongdoing with then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Lamour was not implicated in that case and was back running the UEFA president's executive office for the new incumbent, Aleksander Čeferin. Though FIFA and UEFA have often had tense relations under Infantino and Čeferin, the FIFA message to staff Wednesday noted a “smooth and friendly transition while making Kevin available to us so quickly.”

Jyotirmoy Mondal of Dainik Jugantor emerged champions in the call bridge competition of the Walton-BSJA Sports Carnival for the 2nd consecutive time on Wednesday. Toriqul Islam Sajal of Kaler Kontha finished runner- up while Rakibul Islam of Independent Television became 3rd in the event held on the 2nd day of the week-long meet, organized by Bangladesh Sports  Journalists Association (BSJA). The swimming competition of the carnival will be held on Thursday (Sept 19) at the Ivy Rahman Swimming pool at the Bangabandhu National Stadium premises from 12 noon. Earlier on the first day (Tuesday), Fazle Rabbi Moon of Dhaka Tribune earned double crown in the table tennis competition winning both the singles and doubles titles at the same venue. Seven disciplines of sports---badminton, chess, shooting, swimming,  call bridge, carom (singles and doubles) and table tennis (singles and doubles) were included in the week long sports festival only for the BSJA members. Shooting will be held at the Hockey Stadium, Badminton at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium, Swimming at the ivy Rahman Swimming Pool while remaining two sports --- carom and chess  --will be held at the BSJA office at the Bangabandhu National Stadium premises.

Bangladesh Under-17 Football team reached Bhutan on Wednesday morning to participate in the six-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship 2024 beginning in Thimphu on Friday. After reaching the Bhutanese capital Thimphu, the Bangladesh team made a one and a half-hour long first training session at the Changiji training ground Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, Bangladesh put in strong Group A in the SAFF Junior meet with stronger India and the Maldives, while the Group B team consists of Nepal, Pakistan, and hosts Bhutan. Bangladesh will play their giant neighbour India in the opening match on Friday at 6 pm at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital. In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will face the Maldives on Sunday (September 22) at the same time and same venue. Group A champions will play Group B runners up in the first semifinal at 2:00 pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners up at 6 pm in the other semifinal, both on Sept 28. The final match will be held on September 30 at 6:00 pm.

Bangladesh are all set to take on India in the first match of the two-match Test series on Thursday in Chennai. On the day before the match, the Bangladesh captain said the Tigers are determined to do well, and they are focussing more on their own game instead of thinking much about the opponent. In their last away series, Bangladesh beat Pakistan on their soil, recording their first-ever Test and Test series win over Pakistan. That win surely boosted the confidence of the Bangladesh team, who are now ready to challenge India. But Bangladesh captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, tried to make sure that they were not in the past, but are focused on another new series that requires them to play their best cricket. “We played very good cricket against Pakistan,” Shanto said in a pre-match press conference. “This is a new series. The dressing room believes we can play very good cricket here too. We are not thinking about the outcome. We want to follow the process.” Shanto also said they are not looking at the result even before starting the match. He said they will only think about the result in the last session of the match. Bangladesh played 13 Tests against India before this series and failed to win any of those matches. Ahead of another series, the Bangladesh captain acknowledged that India is one of the toughest opponents in cricket. He also added that the Bangladesh team is more focused on their own game. “It is more important to think about ourselves than to worry too much about the opponent. I believe our team has the ability to play good cricket here. It's a five-day match, and we are focused on how to play good cricket in those five days,” he said. But Shanto did not forget that they aim to win in India. He said winning is the first and final goal of every team in international cricket. But the Bangladesh team does not think much about the result even before the match takes place. Bangladesh got their Test status in 2000. Their first Test was against India at home. In the last 24 years, Bangladesh has faced India in only 13 Tests. Shanto said Bangladesh will get more matches against big teams like India only if they perform well. “If we do well in this kind of series, every team might want to play more and more matches with us. This is a great opportunity to show how well we can play cricket here. Hopefully, the way Bangladesh team is playing Test cricket now, I think all teams will be interested in playing with us,” the Bangladesh captain added. The conditions in India are much like those in Bangladesh, which makes it easy for Bangladesh to adapt to the conditions in this series. Shanto said they are not worried about the condition that they would get in the match. Bangladesh will keep an eye on their veteran performers Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Taijul Islam in this series, along with Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. All of them played well in the Pakistan series and led the team to a historic victory. The first Test of the India series will be played in Chennai from September 19, and the second Test will begin on September 27th in Kanpur. Bangladesh squad for India Tests: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Taijul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Nayeem Hasan, and Khaled Ahmed.

The Bangladesh U-20 football team will for Vietnam on Wednesday at 11:15 pm to participate in the Group A matches of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers beginning on Saturday at the Lach Tray Stadium in Hai Phong. Earlier, Bangladesh was placed in five-team Group A of the U-20 Asian Cup with Syria, hosts Vietnam, Bhutan, and Guam. Bangladesh will play the stronger Syria in the opening match on Saturday at 7 pm. In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Guam on Monday (September 23), hosts Vietnam on Friday (September 27), and Bhutan on Sunday (September 29).

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday, with Disha Biswas included. She is yet to get her first international cap. Rumana Ahmed, Rubya Haider, Shorifa Khatun, Sabikun Nahar, and Ishma Tanjim from the last squad were dropped. They have been replaced by Sobhana Mostary, Fahima Khatun, Taj Nehar, Shathi Rani, and Disha Biswas. Bangladesh women will kick off their World Cup campaign with a match against Scotland on October 3. The World Cup 2024 was scheduled to take place in Bangladesh. But due to the political instability in the country, the ICC has decided to move the World Cup to the UAE. However, the BCB still holds the hosting rights. Bangladesh squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: Nigar Sultana (captain), Nahida Akter, Murshida Khatun, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Sobhana Mostary, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Marufa Akter, Jahanara Alam, Dilara Akter, Taj Nehar, Shathi Rani, Disha Biswas.

New Zealand fast bowler William O’Rourke rocked Sri Lanka with two early wickets as the hosts took lunch at 88 for two on the first day of the first cricket test at Galle on Wednesday. A tall right-arm quick, O’Rourke was on the money and troubling the Sri Lankan batters. He had Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind with a sharp rising delivery and then two overs later cleaned up Pathum Nissanka with a yorker. After an opening spell of five overs that accounted for both the openers, O’Rourke returned for a second spell before lunch and troubled both Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews. Mathews was hit on the gloves by a sharp rising delivery and was forced to retire when on 12. The Sri Lankan team management confirmed that he is out of danger and will bat at the fall of the next wicket. Dinesh Chandimal, relieved of wicket-keeping duties and batting at No. 3 instead of his customary No. 5, was unbeaten on 30 but he had some nervous moments. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat. New Zealand had a warm-up test match last week against Afghanistan in India washed out after five days without a ball being bowled. Sri Lanka is coming off a three-match test series in England which the hosts won 2-1. The teams will play a second test beginning Sept. 26, also at Galle.

Bangladesh Under -17 Football team will fly for Bhutan Wednesday morning at 9 :10 am to participate in the six-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U-17 Championship'2024 beginning in Thimphu on Friday (Sept 20). Bangladesh put in strong Group A with India and the Maldives while Group B team consists of Nepal, Pakistan and hosts Bhutan. Bangladesh will play their giant neighbor India in the opening match on Friday at 6 pm at the Changlimithang Stadium in the Bhutanese capital. In the remaining group match, Bangladesh will face the Maldives on Sunday (Sept 22) at the same time and same venue. Group A champions will play Group B runners up in the first semifinal at 2 pm while Group B champions will face Group A runners up at 6 pm in the other semifinal, both on Sept 28. The final match will be held on Sept 30 at 6pm.