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. 

Also read: Tigers show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement

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. 

Also read: Najmul the new number 3 in Bangladesh ODI tea

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

Also read:Ekushey Padak recipient actor, director Aly Zaker passes away

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.

Also read:Ekushey Padak winning writer Rashid Haider dies

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.

Also read:Senior journalist AUM Fakhruddin dies

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,

Also read:Prominent educationist Prof Atful Hye Shibly passes away

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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On the eve of the first match of Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series,  Bangladesh and West Indies cricket teams showed solidarity with  Balck Lives Matter movement, a decentralized political and social movement.

Also read: BD v WI: First sighting of Tigers in 10 months

Along with the Tigers, the West Indies cricket team also joined the cause as all of them kneeled down and raised one hand to show their solidarity with the movement— Black Lives Matter.

Also read:West Indies in Dhaka for series against Bangladesh

The Black Lives Matter movement erupted last year after a policeman killed an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at Charlotte in North Carolina of the United States last year. Right after this incident, the movement spread throughout the world. The movement was also addressed as George Floyd protests.

Also read:Bangladesh to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement

The movement was initiated first time in 2013 when three women started the movement after the acquittal Gorge Zimmerman, who shot dead unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

Also read:West Indies series: Bangladesh ODI, Test teams announced

During West Indies’ England tour in June-July last year, they kneeled down to show solidarity with the movement. Hosts England also joined the cause.

Also read:West Indies to arrive in Dhaka Sunday

Bangladesh are taking on the West Indies in three ODIs and two Tests. The first ODI is taking place in Mirpur on January 20 while the second match will also be played at the same venue on January 22. The third ODI and first Test will take place in Chattogram on January 25 and February 3, and the final match of the series, the second Test, will be played in Mirpur from February 11.

Bangladesh won the toss against West Indies and opted to bowl in their first international match in 10 months after the breakout of Covid-19 pandemic. With this match, Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series began on January 20 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Also read:West Indies in Dhaka for series against Bangladesh

Bangladesh gave a chance to Hasan Mahmud, the young right-arm pacer, in this game. He earlier played a T20I for the Tigers. Hasan is the only debutant for the hosts while West Indies are fielding six uncapped players as many of their regular players have opted out from this series citing Covid-19 situation.

Also read:West Indies to arrive in Dhaka Sunday

This series will be marked as Shakib Al Hasan’s comeback series after he served a one-year ban imposed by the ICC due to failing to report corrupt approaches made to him.

Also read:Bangladesh to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement

At the same time, it will be the first series under Tamim Iqbal’s full-time captaincy. He is appointed as Bangladesh’s ODI captain after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stepped down from his post during Bangladesh’s last ODI series before this.

Also read:Akram Khan: Bangladesh shouldn't take West Indies lightly

Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Soumya Sarkar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain

Also read: West Indies series: Bangladesh ODI, Test teams announced

West Indies XI: Sunil Ambris, Joshua da Silva, Andre McCarthy, Nkrumah Bonner, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell, Kyle Mayers, Jahmar Hamilton, Raymon Reifer, Alzarri Joseph, Chemar Holder

When Bangladesh national cricket team will take on West Indies on Wednesday in the first match of a three-match ODI series, it will be the Tigers’ first international fixture in 10 months. In comparison, the West Indies have played plenty of cricket in 2020 after the Covid-19 breakout including tours of England and New Zealand.

With this series, the two teams also commence their journey in the ICC World Cup Super League – a series of competitions that will determine  The top eight teams of this competition will enjoy a direct entry to the World Cup 2023 in India.

In this series, Bangladesh will have a new-look batting order as Najmul Hossain Shanto will play at No. 3 and Soumya Sarkar will have to adjust at the lower order, maybe at No. 7.

At the same time, the Tigers are expected to  have a new look pace-bowling attack as well. With the omission of the former captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the team management will have a chance to test the bowlers like Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam, who earned their maiden call ups to Bangladesh’s ODI set-up.

While Hasan has already played a T20I for the Tigers, Shoriful is a fresh face who just shone for the Junior Tigers playing a pivotal role during Bangladesh’s ICC U-19 World Cup-winning campaign in South Africa in early 2020.

Also read: Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series begins Wednesday

In Tuesday’s last practice session before the series starts, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan and Shoriful were the most hard-working pacers in the nets. At least two of the 3  might be included in the playing XI along with the main pacer Mustafizur Rahman.

This series will also be marked as Shakib Al Hasan’s comeback series after serving a year-long ban imposed by the ICC for failing to report corrupt approaches made to him by the bookies.

Shakib played his last international game back in 2019 against Afghanistan at home. Since then, he was out of all cricketing activities until made a comeback to competitive cricket with the Bangabandhu T20 Cup which took place late last year. But he failed to impress either with the ball or bat. He played nine games in the event and scored 110 runs and took six wickets.

In his comeback match after serving the ban, Shakib will be batting at No. 4 as the head coach of Bangladesh, Russell Domingo and captain, Tamim Iqbal, revealed recently. Shakib was Bangladesh’s most successful No. 3 in recent times, notably during the 2019 World Cup. So moving to a lower position will surely pose a new challenge for him. But the head coach and captain believe this will give the premium allrounder some extra breathing space.

Also read: Najmul the new number 3 in Bangladesh ODI team

While Bangladesh are busy finalizing their playing XI, West Indies are looking forward to a fresh start as they are missing at least 13 members of their regular set-up. Most of them said no to this series citing their concern over the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh.

“It is (playing well) something that we will look at. It depends on how you play on the day. Obviously, a lot of the guys will be making their debut. Once you have the belief within yourself and within the team that you can win games, these things are achievable. It showed in the India-Australia Tests. We have the same mindset of playing some good cricket starting tomorrow, and hopefully results can go on our side as well,” Jason Mohammad, the West Indies stand-in captain for ODIs, told the media in the pre-series media interaction.

Jason also expressed their concern over facing Shakib in the ODI series. He addressed Shakib as “one of the best” going around in the world now.

Also read: Akram Khan: Bangladesh shouldn’t take West Indies lightly

In contrast, Bangladesh’s captain Tamim Iqbal said that they are looking forward to their own game rather than thinking much about the opponents. He said: “We are focusing on our own game. We have to keep our process right. At the international level, every team is a strong team and they will surely play hard to win the games.”

The teams have faced off each other in 38 ODIs, and Bangladesh came up victorious in 15 occasions with losing 21 instances. 17 of those 38 matches were played in Bangladesh, and the hosts won six of them with losing 10, and the other match ended up with no-result.

The match will start at 11:30am, and T-Sports and Nagorik TV will broadcast it live along with BTV.