Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said he never counted his performance at the domestic level.

The all-rounder said this after winning the man of the match award in the first ODI of Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series on Wednesday.

Shakib guided the Tigers to an easy win, bagging four wickets for eight runs in 7.2 overs, in his comeback match after a one-year-long ban imposed by the ICC. It was his ninth four-wicket haul in ODIs.

“I do not count domestic games. You consider performances at the domestic level, but it does not matter to me. What matters to me is playing for the country,” Shakib said.

Also read: Shakib takes four as WI tumble for 122

Before making a comeback to international cricket, Shakib played nine games in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup later last year, where he scored 110 runs and bagged only six wickets.

He previously batted at number three and did very well. But the current team management decided to field him at number four.

Also read: Shakib: It’ll be tough to repeat old form

“It was a collective decision of the team management. I have to respect it. I think the achievement of the team is bigger than personal feats.”

The touring West Indies are missing many of their regular cricketers, which made them an inexperienced side against Bangladesh.

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But Shakib said, “It is true that they are missing some key players. But we beat their full-strength team in the World Cup. We defeated them in their turf as well. However, we respect them as a team,” Shakib said.

“They are capable of playing good cricket. We outclassed them in the first match riding on our experience. But it does not guarantee that we will win the next two easily. We have to work hard to win the next two games.”

Former champions Sheikh Russel KC took a joint lead in the 13-team Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football on Wednesday, beating Rahmatganj MFS 1-0.

With the day’s match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Sheikh Russel KC shared the top spot in the league table with Federation Cup champions Bashundhara Kings and six times BPL champions Dhaka Abahani, securing full six points from straight two matches. 

Also read: BPL Football: Dhaka Abahani beat Brothers Union 2-0

After a barren first half, Mohammad Abdullah, who netted the first goal in his side’s 2-1 victory over Brothers Union in the last match, scored the match-winner for Sheikh Russel in the 75th minute, from a pass of Kyrgyzstan booter Bakhtiyar (1-0).

Earlier, Sheikh Russel made a good start in the league, beating Brothers Union Club by 2-1 while Rahmatganj MFS forced Federation Cup finalists Saif SC to play 1-1 draw in their first match.

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Three league matches will be held on Thursday.

Chittagong Abahani will play Arambagh KS at 3:30pm while Sheikh Jamal DC will face Muktijoddha Sangsad KC at 6:00pm at BNS, Dhaka Mohammedan will play Saif Sporting Club at 3:00 pm in Cumilla.

Bangladesh registered an easy win in a low-scoring affair against touring West Indies on Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

With the six-wicket win in the first ODI, Bangladesh made a flying start to the Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series. The second ODI will take place at the same venue on January 22 and the third match will be played in Chattogram. 

Shakib Al Hasan, the ace all-rounder who returned to international cricket after his ICC ban, won the man of the match award for his four-wicket haul conceding eight runs in 7.2 overs. 

Also read: Shakib takes four as WI tumble for 122

“My focus was to put the ball in the right areas and let the pitch do the rest,” he said after the match. “To be honest, I don't count (my batting in the) domestic games. Outside the dressing room, people may think about those performances.” 

Shakib scored 19 off 43 balls. 

Bangladesh won the toss and sent the Caribbean to bat first. The touring side, who are missing many of their regular campaigners, failed to post a challenging total on the board. With six debutants in the playing XI, West Indies tumbled for 122 for all wicket in 32.2 overs. 

Bangladesh sealed the game with six wickets and 97 balls in hand. Tamim Iqbal, the new Bangladesh captain, posted 44 to guide his team to an easy win. 

Bangladesh ended up on 125 for four in 33.5 overs. For West Indies, Akeal Hosein, the debutant left-arm spinner, bagged three wickets conceding 26 runs in 10 overs. The other wicket was taken by Jason Mohammed, the stand-in ODI captain of West Indies. 

Also read: Bangladesh bowl in first international match in 10 months

Along with Shakib, debutant right-arm pacer Hasan Mahmud bagged three wickets to bowl West Indies out for 122. 

Tamim's decision to bowl first proved to be a good one as Mustafizur Rahman took the first wicket in the second over of the match. 

Sunil Ambris, 7, went to flick Mustafizur but missed the ball which hit his pad, and he was judged LBW. Sunil went for DRS, but the third umpire upheld the decision of the main umpire. 

Before posting 50 runs on the board, the WI, who fielded six new faces in this game, lost two more wickets. Along with Sunil, Mustafizur removed the other opener of WI as well- the debutant Joshua Da Silva for 9. 

Also read: WI emphasise spin bowling to check Tigers

Shakib started taking wickets by removing another debutant Andre McCarthy for 12. It was an arm ball and the batsman missed it while sweeping away. With this dismissal, Shakib completed 150 wickets at home. He also bagged the next two wickets removing Jason Mohammed and Nkrumah Bonner. 

Hasan announced his arrival removing Rovman Powell and Raymon Reifer in two consecutive deliveries. Mehidy Hasan Miraz took the ninth wicket and Shakib pull off the last one to wrap the WI for 122 runs in 32.2 overs. 

At the end of the match, Tamim applauded bowling efforts from the pacers. He said: “No complaints. We bowled really well. The way Fizz (Mustafizur) started was very good. Rubel (Hossain) also started very well. The young guy, Hasan (Mahmud), bowled really well. The spinners were also really good. Shakib and Mehidy (Hasan Miraz) also bowled really well. It was a very difficult wicket to bat on. Even if you wanted to play aggressive shots, you couldn't. Initially, when I saw the wicket, I thought it would play really good. There was no sun throughout the day, so you cannot blame anyone. On this kind of wicket, you can't just go in and swing your bat. I thought whoever batted batted quite sensibly.”

Shakib Al Hasan bagged four wickets in his comeback match after serving a one-year-long ban imposed by the ICC due to failing to report corrupt approaches.

He ended up taking four wickets conceding eight runs in 7.2 overs as West Indies tumbled for 122/10 in 32.2 overs in the first ODI of Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series on Wednesday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

Also read: Shakib: It’ll be tough to repeat old form

Along with Shakib, Hasan Mahmud, the right-arm pacer who was inducted to ODIs with this match, also bagged three wickets conceding 28 runs in six overs to make his debut memorable for long. 

Tamim Iqbal, the new ODI captain of Bangladesh, won the toss and opted to bowl first in this game. His decision proved to be a good one as Mustafizur Rahman pulled off the first wicket in the second over of the match. 

Also read: Bangladesh bowl in first international match in 10 months

Sunil Ambris, 7, went to flick Mustafizur but he missed the ball which has hit his pad, and the umpire declared an LBW. Sunil went for DRS, but the third umpire retained the decision of the main umpire. 

Before posting 50 runs on the board, the WI, who fielded six new faces in this game, lost two more wickets. Along with Sunil, Mustafizur removed the other opener of WI as well- the debutant Joshua Da Silva for 9. 

Shakib started taking wickets removing another debutant Andre McCarthy for 12. It was an arm ball and the batsman missed it while sweeping away. With this dismissal, Shakib completed 150 wickets at home.

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He also bagged the next two wickets removing Jason Mohammed and Nkrumah Bonner. 

Hasan Mahmud announced his arrival removing Rovman Powell and Raymon Reifer in two consecutive deliveries. Mehidy Hasan Miraz took the ninth wicket and Shakib pulled off the last one to wrap the WI for 122 runs losing all wickets in 32.2 overs. 

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Bangladesh needs to score 123 runs in 50 overs to seal this game. 

The second ODI will take place at the same venue on January 22 while the third and final ODI of the series will be played in Chattogram on January 25. 

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Former General Secretary and Vice President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Raisuddin Ahmed died at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on Wednesday. He was 82.

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Raisuddin, who had been suffering from various health complications and recently developed Covid-19 symptoms, breathed his last at 10 am.

Raisuddin Ahmed was a former  Director (Admin) of national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

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He was admitted to Evercare Hospital on December 25 with Covid-19 symptoms and later he was put on life support when his condition worsened.

He was the general secretary of erstwhile Bangladesh Cricket Control Board (BCCB) from 1975 to 1981 and served the board as vice president from 1991 to 2001.

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Under his initiative, the famous MCC  team of London made their first -ever visit to Bangladesh in 1977 to play two two-day matches in Rajshahi and Chittogram against local teams and one three-day match in Dhaka against Bangladesh national team.

The namaz-e-janaza of Raisuddin Ahmed will be held at the Kakrail Circuit House Mosque after Asr prayers,

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Meanwhile, the BCB expressed their deep shocked at the death of Raisuddin Ahmed.

BCB President Nazmul Hassan, MP has paid his respect to the deceased saying “Raisuddin Ahmed served Bangladesh cricket at a time when the game was struggling to take off. It is due to the selfless efforts of people like him that our cricket is where it is today. On behalf of the Board I extend condolences and sympathies to his family and pray for the salvation of his soul.

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