United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Asian Games campaign ended without a cricket medal after they lost the bronze-medal match to Sri Lanka by 63 runs on Saturday in Asian Games. Sent in to bat, Sri Lanka recovered from 21 for four to post 165 for nine in 20 overs, with Tharindu Ratnayake’s 65 off 32 balls providing the impetus. Bangladesh never recovered from a disastrous start to their chase and were bowled out for 102 in 17.3 overs. Ratnayake struck seven fours and five sixes in his aggressive innings. He shared a 40-run partnership with Sahan Arachchige, who made 33, as Sri Lanka turned a difficult position into a competitive total. Bangladesh had looked in control early on after Mehedi Hasan took two wickets and Alis Al Islam claimed another on his international debut. Sri Lanka were 21 for four after 3.5 overs. But the momentum shifted in the second half of the innings. Ratnayake attacked the Bangladesh bowlers and Sri Lanka added 114 runs in the final 10 overs. Mustafizur Rahman was particularly expensive, conceding 25 runs in the 14th over. Rishad Hossain, who had given away only nine runs in his first two overs, conceded 37 in his final two. Bangladesh’s chase unravelled almost immediately. Saif Hasan was caught behind for a duck in the first over, and Tanzid Hasan followed for another duck in the next. Captain Litton Das then fell to Nuwan Thushara’s yorker, also without scoring, leaving Bangladesh at nine for three after 2.3 overs. Towhid Hridoy offered a brief glimpse of a recovery with 11 off six balls, but he soon departed. Parvez Hossain and Mehedi then fell off successive deliveries, leaving Bangladesh 64 for six. Yasir Ali made 21 and Parvez scored 20, but there was little resistance thereafter. Nasum Ahmed, batting at No. 9, top-scored with 26 off 28 balls and helped Bangladesh avoid an even heavier defeat. Thushara, Ratnayake, Sahan Arachchige and one other Sri Lankan bowler took two wickets each. The defeat left Bangladesh without a cricket medal at the Asian Games for the first time. The men’s and women’s teams had both previously won medals in the event. Bangladesh’s only medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games so far has come in wushu, where they won bronze.

Cricket rivals India and Pakistan reached the Asian Games men's cricket final on Thursday after winning their respective semifinals, setting up another high-profile meeting between the neighboring countries. Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by six wickets in a rain-affected match reduced to 13 overs per side because of a wet outfield. India then crushed Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the second semifinal, with four Sri Lankan batters dismissed without scoring. The final, scheduled for Saturday in Japan, is expected to draw attention to the political tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Handshakes unlikelyPlayers from India and Pakistan have recently avoided the traditional pre- and post-match handshakes amid strained relations between the countries. Tensions along the India-Pakistan border brought the two countries close to war last year and have also affected their cricket encounters. India's men's team defeated Pakistan three times in the Asia Cup, including the final, but Suryakumar Yadav's side did not shake hands with Pakistani players in any of the matches. The Indian team also declined to receive the trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi. India's women's team similarly avoided handshakes with Pakistan during a match at the continental championship and later declined to receive the women's Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi after winning the tournament in the United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka bowled out for 45Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 80 off 46 balls helped India post 169-7. Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, added 38 runs, hitting six fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka, fielding a second-string team, suffered an early collapse. Sineth Jayawardene, Lasith Croospulle and Sohan de Livera were all dismissed without scoring. Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in his opening over, while Croospulle was run out. Nuwanidu Fernando was the only Sri Lankan batter to reach double figures, scoring 15. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 45 in 9.5 overs. Bumrah finished with 2-7, while spinners Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Abhishek Sharma shared five wickets. India made a fast start after being sent in to bat, but Sooryavanshi fell shortly after the powerplay. Sri Lanka then slowed India's scoring in the middle overs before Kishan accelerated the innings with five sixes and four boundaries. Samad, Muqim lead PakistanAbdul Samad smashed an unbeaten 30 from 15 balls, while left-arm spinner Sufyan Muqim took 3-28 as Pakistan comfortably defeated Bangladesh. Towhid Hridoy top-scored for Bangladesh with an aggressive 42 off 25 balls, including four sixes, before Muqim dismissed him in the penultimate over. Bangladesh finished on 111-7.

Bangladesh’s hopes of winning the men’s cricket gold medal at the Asian Games ended on Thursday after Pakistan beat them by six wickets in a rain-shortened semifinal. Bangladesh made 111 for seven in 13 overs after being sent in, but Pakistan chased down the target with nine balls to spare, reaching 112 for four in 11.3 overs. The match was still evenly poised when Pakistan needed 36 runs from the last four overs with four wickets in hand. But Mustafizur Rahman’s second over changed the game. The left-arm pacer conceded 23 runs, including five boundaries, leaving Pakistan needing only 13 from the final three overs. Abdul Samad struck an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls and Hasan Nawaz made 27 not out off 22 as Pakistan completed the chase comfortably. Bangladesh had made a strong start with the ball, reducing Pakistan to 17 for two in two overs. Mehidi Hasan removed Sahibzada Farhan before Nasum Ahmed dismissed Maz Sadaqat. Saim Ayub then added 21 off 12 balls before Mustafizur had him caught off the final delivery of his first over. Mustafizur finished with one wicket but conceded 41 runs in his two overs. Rishad Hossain and Mehidi took one wicket each for Bangladesh. Earlier, Towhid Hridoy top-scored for Bangladesh with 42 off 25 balls, hitting four sixes and two fours. He came to the crease after Bangladesh had slipped to 21 for three. Saif Hasan made 19 off 17 balls and Mosaddek Hossain scored 11, while Mehidi remained unbeaten on eight from four balls. Sufiyan Muqeem took three wickets for 26 runs for Pakistan. Bangladesh will play for the bronze medal on Sunday against the loser of Thursday’s second semifinal between India and Sri Lanka.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first against the West Indies in the second one-day international of the three-match series on Wednesday. India took an 1-0 lead in the series after winning the opening ODI by eight wickets on Sunday. The hosts made one change to their lineup, handing a debut to pace bowler Auqib Nabi. Allrounder Nitish Reddy was left out as India opted for a stronger pace attack. The West Indies made four changes. Justin Greaves, who scored his maiden ODI century in the first match, missed the game with a calf injury. Keacy Carty replaced him as the opening batter. Allrounders Sherfane Rutherford and Keemo Paul were also brought into the team, along with left-arm wrist spinner Vitel Lawes. Batter Jewel Andrew, pace bowler Matthew Forde and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie were left out. The pitch at Barsapara Cricket Stadium has more grass than it did during the first ODI. The surface is generally considered helpful to spinners, although batters are expected to find conditions favorable throughout the match.

The six teams in Bangladesh’s new D3 Trophy selected their coaching staff through a management draft in Dhaka on Tuesday, two days after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) formally announced the tournament. Sohel Islam was picked as head coach of Ace Bluestar, Rajin Saleh by Acme, Mizanur Rahman by Citizens Bank, Mohammad Salahuddin by Fortune Group, Talha Zubair by Seven Rings Cement and Abdur Razzak by Walton Group. The draft was held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, where the BCB presented the teams with a list of 35 coaches from which they selected their staff. Each team picked a head coach, two assistant coaches, a physiotherapist, a strength and conditioning coach and an analyst. The D3 Trophy, formally called the Domestic Three Trophy, is part of a restructuring of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket calendar. The BCB will combine the three formats under one tournament, with the T20 competition beginning on December 15, followed by the four-day competition in January and the one-day competition in May. The BCB has awarded six institutions the rights to operate the six teams for three years at a cost of taka 250 million each per year. National team batting coach Mohammad Ashraful and bowling coach Talha Zubair are also among the coaches selected for the tournament. They will work with their D3 teams when the national team have no commitments. Teams can also appoint coaches who went unselected in the draft if a member of their coaching staff is unavailable. The assistant coaches selected were Humayun Kabir and Hannan Sarkar by Seven Rings Cement; Faisal Hossain and Tarek Aziz by Acme; Dollar Mahmud and Tushar Imran by Walton; Abdul Qayyum and Mohammad Ashraful by Fortune Group; Mohammad Selim and Najmul Hossain by Citizens Bank; and Ashikur Rahman and Salauddin Ahmed by Ace Bluestar.

Cricket powerhouses India and Pakistan reached the Asian Games semifinals without playing a match after rain forced the cancellation of their quarterfinal games on Monday. Defending champions India advanced at the expense of Afghanistan, while Pakistan moved on after their match against Hong Kong was also washed out. The results were decided according to the teams’ world rankings. India, led by Shreyas Iyer and featuring fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and 15-year-old batting prospect Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, are yet to play an official match in the tournament. They did, however, beat Japan in a warm-up game last week. India are the back-to-back T20 World Cup champions and play in the Indian Premier League, the richest cricket league in the world. The Asian Games is being played in the Twenty20 format, which will also feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. India will face either Sri Lanka or Nepal in the semifinals, while Pakistan will take on either Bangladesh or Malaysia. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were seeded for the tournament and entered the competition directly at the quarterfinal stage.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Sunday unveiled a new three-format domestic tournament that will bring together T20, 50-over and four-day cricket under a single competition in an effort to increase interest in the country’s domestic game. The tournament, called the Domestic Three Trophy, or D3 Trophy, will feature six teams owned by six corporate groups under three-year agreements with the BCB. The six teams are backed by H. Bluestar, Walton Group, Citizens Bank, ACME Group, Seven Rings Cement and Fortune Group. The team owners include three BCB directors: Fahim Sinha of ACME Group, Mizanur Rahman of Fortune Group and Shahniyan Tanim of H. Bluestar. The D3 Trophy will replace three of the BCB’s existing domestic competitions with a single structure. The four-day National Cricket League will remain separate, while the Bangladesh Cricket League’s four-day and one-day competitions and the NCL’s T20 competition will be incorporated into the new tournament. The T20 competition will open the tournament on Dec. 15 at the renovated Jibanananda Das Cricket Stadium in Barishal. The BCB plans to gradually take the competition to all divisions. Khulna is being considered as the second venue, with Dhaka as an alternative. The four-day matches will begin in January, followed by the 50-over competition in May. Across the three formats, the tournament will feature seven four-day matches, 16 one-day matches and 19 T20 matches. Each team will be allowed to sign up to 23 players for all three formats. Coaching staff, analysts, physiotherapists and trainers will also be selected through a draft. The six teams announced their icon players at Sunday’s launch. Walton selected Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Fortune chose Towhid Hridoy, ACME took Mosaddek Hossain, Seven Rings Cement picked Mushfiqur Rahim, H. Bluestar selected Nurul Hasan and Citizens Bank named Mohammad Naim. BCB President Tamim Iqbal said the board had been concerned by criticism that domestic cricket had lost its appeal. “We often hear that domestic cricket has lost its color, that there is no interest and that some call it picnic cricket,” he said. “When we came to the board, we were concerned about this and thought about how we could bring that color back.” Youth and Sports State Minister Aminul Haque said keeping domestic cricket active for six or seven months a year could help narrow the gap between players competing at domestic level and those in the national team.

Virat Kohli has confirmed that the 2027 ODI World Cup will be his final World Cup appearance for India, saying he is determined to give everything to help the team win the title. Kohli, the leading century-maker in ODI cricket with 54 hundreds, has already retired from T20 internationals and Test cricket. He now represents India only in the 50-over format. The 37-year-old has scored 14,941 runs in ODIs, second only to Sachin Tendulkar’s 18,426. Kohli was part of India’s World Cup-winning team on home soil in 2011 and also played in the 2023 final, where India lost to Australia. The 2027 World Cup, jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November, will be Kohli’s fifth ODI World Cup. “For me, it’s the last World Cup I’m going to play for India,” Kohli told broadcaster JioStar on Saturday. “That is my motivation ... to leave everything out there. And of course, the goal is absolutely to win the World Cup and whatever it takes, I’m absolutely ready.” Kohli said playing a 50-over World Cup is one of cricket’s toughest challenges, particularly because the 2027 tournament will be held outside India. “The intensity of a 50-over World Cup is greater than anything,” he said. “You are playing 2.5 T20 games in one day. And to maintain that intensity for 10 games in a big tournament and World Cup is a big deal. Also now, it’s in foreign conditions. It takes a lot out of you.” Former India captain Rohit Sharma, who also now plays only ODIs, said he remains motivated by the prospect of another World Cup campaign. “The thought will never cross my mind that the business I had is finished,” Rohit said. “As long as you’re playing, there is always something to look forward to. And I’m looking forward to the World Cup.” Kohli and Rohit were both included in India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The opening match is scheduled to be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Source: Al Jazeera

India retained their Asian Games women's cricket title on Tuesday, beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final in Japan. Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat. India made 216 for 3, the highest team total in women's cricket at the Asian Games. Sri Lanka had never chased more than 177 to win a T20 international, and they never came close this time either. They were all out for 69 in 15.4 overs. The margin is India's biggest win by runs in T20 internationals, beating the 142-run win over Malaysia at the 2018 Asia Cup. It is also Sri Lanka's heaviest T20 defeat by runs. Smriti Mandhana top-scored with 79 off 45 balls. Along the way she became the first woman to reach 11,000 runs in international cricket. She needed 13 when she walked out. Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on 99 in the first 10 overs. Shafali made 48 off 29 balls and broke South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt's record for most T20 runs in a calendar year. Wolvaardt set the mark of 824 earlier this year. Shafali now has 863 from the same 24 innings. Richa Ghosh finished the innings with an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls, adding 53 off 19 with Fulmali. Sri Lanka were 41 for 2 after the powerplay but lost four wickets for 11 runs in the next four overs. Captain Chamari Athapaththu made 29. Off-spinner Deepti Sharma took 3 for 6. India have now won both Asian Games women's cricket golds, including Hangzhou 2022. Earlier, Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 31 runs to take bronze.

Bangladesh missed out on a medal in women’s cricket at the Asian Games after losing to Pakistan by 31 runs in the bronze-medal match on Tuesday. Pakistan made 145 for eight after being sent in at Korogi Sports Park, then restricted Bangladesh to 114 for seven in 20 overs. The result left Bangladesh fourth, while Pakistan took the bronze. Bangladesh had won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games after reaching the final in both editions. At the 2022 Games in Hangzhou, they missed the final but beat Pakistan in the third-place playoff to win bronze. There was no medal this time. Bangladesh had been knocked out of the gold-medal race by a 114-run loss to India in the semifinals. Chasing 146, Bangladesh lost three wickets for 20 runs in the first five overs. Dilara Akter made 12, Juwairia Ferdous four and Sobhana Mostary two. They reached 25 for three at the end of the power play and never really recovered. By the halfway mark, Bangladesh were 43 for three and needed 103 from the last 60 balls. Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akter gave Bangladesh some hope with a 47-run partnership from 56 balls for the fourth wicket. Nigar made 25 from 30 balls before she was dismissed. At that point, Bangladesh needed 79 from 39 balls. Sharmin stayed until the end, making an unbeaten 46 from 45 balls, but Bangladesh managed only 71 runs in the final 10 overs and lost four more wickets. Bangladesh’s batters played out 43 dot balls in the innings. Pakistan offspinner Umme Hani finished with three wickets for 10 runs. Pakistan had also been in trouble after losing five wickets for 67 runs in 11.4 overs. Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz then put the innings back on course, adding 67 from 43 balls for the sixth wicket. Fatima, who came in at No. 7, top-scored with 45 from 30 balls. Aliya made 25, while opener Gul Feroza scored 31. Nahida Akter, Sorna Akter and Ritu Moni took two wickets each for Bangladesh. The match may also mark the end of Nigar’s tenure as Bangladesh’s T20 captain. She had previously said she would step down after the Asian Games. India will play Sri Lanka in the women’s cricket gold-medal match later Tuesday.