After winning the toss and electing to bat first in the first ODI of the three-match series against England in Mirpur on Wednesday, Bangladesh lost four wickets for 106 runs in just 22.4 overs. The last two wickets- Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan- fell in a span of three overs and 11 runs. Both of them fell prey to spinners— Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. Mushfqiur had a poor run in the middle once again. Before skying a catch to Mark Wood, he played 33 balls to score only 17 runs. It was a well-tossed-up delivery from Adil, Mushfqiur went for a slog sweep, but it was a half-hearted attempt. He was taken easily at the deep mid-region by Mark Wood. Mushfiuqr has only a fifty in his 10 ODI innings. Moeen dismissed Shakib in a similar manner to how Adil dismissed Mushfiqur, except for one crucial difference: Shakib was unable to make contact with the ball during his attempted slog sweep, resulting in the ball smashing into his stumps and sending one of them flying. Also read: Bangladesh opt to bat in first ODI vs England Tamim Iqbal made a steady start but was unable to maintain his momentum, while Litton Das struggled and had a brief stint on the pitch. Tamim managed to score 23 runs, while Litton fell for just 7. The pace bowling duo of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes proved to be a challenging obstacle for the Bangladesh openers.  

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim required six stitches on his leg after he got injured during training at the gym of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday morning.  The cricketer will have to refrain from cricketing activities for at least two weeks, the medical department of BCB said.  Mushfiqur recently retired from T20Is. He said he wants to focus on the other two formats of international cricket from now on.  The batter has been one of the mainstays of Bangladesh’s batting line for more than a decade. But he has been struggling in T20Is to deliver well which might have prompted him to retire from this format.  Also read: BCB announces Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup: Mahmudullah Riyad overlooked In the last Asia Cup, Mushfiqur scored only five runs in two matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Along with him, most of the Bangladeshi batters failed to perform in the Asia Cup and that was enough for Bangladesh to be eliminated from the race of the next phase of the event.

Wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim has added a feather in his cap by becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer to reach 5,000 runs in Tests. Pushing Asitha Fernando to fine leg for two, Mushfiqur reached the milestone during the 123rd over of Bangladesh’s first innings in the Chattogram Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Ahead of this Test, both Mushfiqur and Tamim were on the verge of reaching this milestone. Tamim hit 133 before leaving the field with a cramped right hand. He needed to score 19 more runs to complete 5,000 runs in Tests.  Also read:Mushfiqur, Liton grind Sri Lanka after Tamim’s ton To score 5,000 runs, Mushfqiur needed 81 matches and 149 innings. Along the way, the batter scored seven hundred and 26 fifties in the longer format of the international cricket.  While Mushfiqur is now the top scorer for Bangladesh in Tests, Tamim is right behind him. Shakib Al Hasan and Mominul Haque are after them with 4,029 and 3,516 runs in 60 and 52 matches, respectively.  Also read:Nayeem shines with 6 wickets to deprive Mathews of double ton Mushfiqur got his Test cap in 2005 against England at the Lord’s. Since then, he has been an integral part of the Bangladesh team in every format of the game.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first in the second T20I against Afghanistan on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  This match is also the 100th T20 appearance for Mushfiqur Rahim. The wicketkeeper-batter was out of the playing XI in the first match due to an injury concern.  Mushfiqur is the only second Bangladeshi cricketer after Mahmudullah Riyad to have played 100 or more T20Is. Shakib Al Hasan, the left-handed allrounder, stands right behind Mushfiqur with 96 matches.  To pave way for Mushfiqur, Bangladesh overlooked Yasir Ali, who was inducted in the previous match, which Bangladesh won by 61 runs.  READ:  One-minute of silence for Warne in 2nd T20 between Bangladesh and Afghanistan Bangladesh (Playing XI): Mohammad Naim, Liton Das (w), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad (c), Munim Shahriar, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman Afghanistan (Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sharafuddin Ashraf. READ:  Cricketing world pays tribute to Aussie legend Warne

Another record partnership - this time 202 for the third wicket between Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim- helped Bangladesh win the second ODI of the three-match series against Afghanistan on Friday in Chattogram. With the 88-run win, Bangladesh went to the top of the table of the World Cup Super League surpassing England. The Tigers now have 10 wins— one more than England of this event. Read:Hunting small targets helps me do well: Liton And with this win, also ensured a series win for the Tigers with one match to go on February 28 at the same venue.  Liton scored his fifth ODI ton, while Mushfiqur scored 86.   Bangladesh batted first in this match and posted a big total of 306 for four wickets in 50 overs. In reply, Afghanistan tumbled for 218 all out in 45.1 overs. The tourists lost three early wickets that prevented them from getting a good momentum while chasing a big target. Rahmat Shah and Najibullah Zadran hit fifty each, but they failed to carry and in spite of being set in the middle.  Afghanistan’s biggest partnership came in the f0urth-wicket stand when Rahmat and Najibullah added 89 runs off 90 balls. The stand was broken by Taskin Ahmed. Rahmat’s dismissal opened the floodgate and the other Afghanistan batters failed to recover from there.  For Bangladesh, Taskin and Shakib Al Hasan bagged two wickets each while Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah Riyad and Afif Hossain bagged one wicket each.  Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. Liton and Tamim Iqbal managed to have a cautious start, but they have parted away during the seventh over of the innings when Tamim fell prey to Fazalhaq Farooqi for 12 off 24 deliveries.  Shakib Al Hasan also backed early scoring 20 off 35 balls with two fours. And right after that, Liton and Mushfiqur added 202 runs off 186 balls in the third wicket stand.  Read: Domingo eyes to grab the series in 2nd ODI vs Afghanistan Along the way, Liton hit his fifth ODI ton— first against Afghanistan— with 16 fours and two sixes. Mushfiqur was also on the verge of his second ODI ton in two years. But with needing 14 more runs to do that, Mushfiqur was dismissed by Fareed Ahmad.  Both Liton and Mushfiqur were scalped by Fareed off two consecutive deliveries in the 47th over.  After the ODI series, both teams will lock the horns in the two-match T20I series in Dhaka on March 3 and 5. 

Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim guided Khulna Tigers to their fourth win in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) against Sylhet Sunrisers on Monday.  This match had some controversy as the Sylhet captain, Ravi Bopara, handed the leadership role right before the toss removing Mosaddek Hossain, was found altering the shape and state of the ball during the 9th over of the match, for which, they were handed a penalty of five runs. In the last over, Sylhet needed 36 runs, and Alauddin Babu smashed Kamrul Islam Rabbi for three sixes off the first three balls to create the last hope for his team. But in the end, Sylhet only managed 20, and Khulna won by 15 runs.  With this win, Khulna marched ahead towards the play-offs while for Sylhet, advancing to the play-off became a distant dream with five defeats in seven matches they have played so far. READ: IND vs WI ODI Series 2022: India triumph over West Indies in opening match   While batting first after losing the toss, Khulna posted 182 for three in 20 overs riding on the unbeaten stand of 136 by Soumya and Mushfiqur. In the fourth wicket stand, they came up with one of the best partnerships of the ongoing BPL.  Soumya scored 82 off 62 balls with four fours and four sixes while Mushfiqur hit 62 off 38 balls with six fours and two sixes.  BPL debutant Aks Swadhin and Sohag Gazi bagged one wicket each for Sylhet Sunrisers.  In reply, Sylhet opener Anamul Haque hit 47 off 33 balls with three fours and three sixes while Colin Ingram posted 37 off 28 balls with two sixes. And with three sixes in a row, Alauddin scored 25 off 7 balls for Sylhet, but that was not enough for them to avoid the fifth defeat of the season.   READ: BPL 2022: Barishal continue on winning-streak Along with doing well with the bat, Soumya shone with the ball as well taking two for 27. Besides him, Thisara Perera, the Sri Lankan allrounder of Khulna also took two wickets for them.  Khulna will take on Minister Group Dhaka in their next match on February 9 while Sylhet will lock horns against Fortune Barishal on February 8.

Riding on sensible batting by Andre Fletcher and Mushfiqur Rahim, Khulna Tigers earned their second win in the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Chattogram Challengers on Friday in Chattogram. It was the first match of the Chattogram leg of BPL. Khulna played two matches before this, and won one, while Chattogram played three matches and won in two. Read: Bangabandhu BPL to resume Friday in Chattogram Khulna won the toss and opted to bowl first. They restricted Chattogram to 143 runs for eight in 20 overs.  Afif Hossain was the best batter for Chattogram who scored 44 off 37 balls with three fours and two sixes. Will Jack, Naeem Islam and Shoriful Islam were the other batters to have reached a double-digit score amassing 28, 25 and 12 respectively. For Khulna, former Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera bagged three wickets conceding 18 runs in four overs while each of the other five bowlers took a wicket apiece.  In reply, Khulna lost Soumya Sarkar early as the struggling batter scored only one. But in the second wicket stand, Fletcher and Rony Talukdar added 50 to control the early damage. After Rony’s dismissal for 17, Fletcher and Mushfiqur added 46 runs in the third wicket partnership and guided Khulna to a six-wicket win. Fletcher fell for 58 for 47, but Mushfiqur remained unbeaten for 44 off 30 with four fours and a six. Seekkuge Prasanna came at number 5 and smashed 23 off 15 to seal the match.  Read:BPL 2022 Phase 1: Noteworthy Performance of Players in Different Categories For Chattogram, captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz bagged two wickets. Fletcher won the player of the match award for his 58 that was the highest individual score by a Khulna batter.  On January 29, Chattogram will take on Sylhet Sunrisers, and on the same day, Khulna will take on Fortune Barishal.

Experienced Mushfiqur Rahim has been rested as Bangladesh Cricket Board announced a 16-member squad for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan. To replace out-of-form Mushfiqur the BCB has called young Akbar Ali, the leader of Bangladesh’s U-19 World Cup victory last year in the squad announced on Tuesday afternoon. Along with Mushfiqur, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das – all of them from the T20 World Cup team _ have also been axed from the squad with the latter two being out of the set-up due to their lean show in recent matches. Also read: Bangladesh vs. Pakistan Series 2021: T20I Ranking Prediction Right-arm pacer Rubel Hossain is also out of the T20I side. Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin are unavailable due to injuries. A total of six players who were Bangladesh’s part in the T20 World Cup have been omitted while four uncapped players— Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali, Shohidul Islam and Akbar Ali-- have been included in the national team. Among the new faces, Saif Hassan has played in Tests, but the others are yet to don the national team jersey in any format of the game. The three-match T20I series will take place on November 19, 20 and 22 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Around 50 per cent of spectators of the total capacity of the Sher-e-Bangla will be allowed to enjoy the game in person at the stadium. However, the BCB is yet to announce the details about ticket sale. Also read: Rizwan reveals secrets of Pakistan’s strength in T20 WC After the T20 series, both the teams will take on each other in two-match Test series starting from November 26 in Chattogram, with the second Test to be played in Dhaka from December 4. It is going to be the first international cricket event for Bangladesh after the disastrous T20 World Cup campaign in Oman and UAE where Bangladesh lost six out of eight matches they played. Bangladesh squad for Pakistan T20Is: Mohammad Naeem, Saif Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali Rabbi, Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Nurul Hasan Sohan (wicketeeper), Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mohammad Shohidul Islam and Akbar Ali (wicketkeeper).

Wonderful fifties from Mohammad Naim and Mushfiqur Rahim propelled the Tigers to 171 in their first Super 12s clash against Sri Lanka on Sunday at Sharjah.  Sri Lanka won the toss in this match and sent Bangladesh to bat first. Liton Das and Naim added 40 runs in the first wicket stand and laid a strong foundation for the Tigers.  Liton fell as the first wicket scoring 16 off 16 balls, and Shakib Al Hasan took the field hitting two fours, but the left-hander failed to continue on a good start as he was dismissed by a great delivery of Chamika Karunaratne for 10 off seven.  On the third wicket, Naim and Mushfiqur added 73 off 51 balls. Along the way, Naim hit his second fifty of the World Cup— the first one came against Oman in Round 1. Naim ended up on 62 off 52 balls with six fours. READ: T20 WC: Naim hits his second World Cup fifty Mushfiqur also hit a fifty off 32 balls. It was Mushfiqur’s first fifty in 12 innings in T20Is.  The right-handed batter remained unbeaten for 57 off 37 balls with five fours and two sixes. Mahmudullah Riyad also remained unbeaten for 10 off five balls.  Bangladesh ended up on 171 for four wickets in 20 overs.  READ: T20 World Cup: Nasum gets maiden World Cup match  For Sri Lanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara took one wicket each.  Bangladesh won nine matches scoring 171 or more runs while batting first in T20Is on 11 occasions before this match. 

Right after arriving in Bangladesh, the Australian cricket team went into a three-day quarantine in a hotel in the capital from Thursday. This is dictated by Bangladesh government's Covid-19 protocol, and the Bangladesh cricket team, which arrived back from Zimbabwe the same day, is also now going through the mandatory quarantine of three days.  That should be straightforward enough, but what is proving a far bigger ask is maintaining the strict bio-secure bubble, or biobubble, according to Australia's requirements, and Mushfiqur's exclusion from it. The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman sought to enter the bubble on July 22, two days after it came into effect. As per the agreement between the two cricket boards, both the squads have to maintain a ten-day bio-secured bubble ahead of the series. Since both Bangladesh and Australia were touring Zimbabwe and West Indies respectively, it was not possible for them to maintain a ten-day quarantine period in Dhaka ahead of the five-match T20I series-opening game on August 3. So both the boards came to an agreement to include their respective bio-bubbles in Zimbabwe and the West Indies as part of the pre-series ten-day quarantine in Dhaka which is mandatory. “It’s really unfortunate for Mushfiqur. He had to come back from Zimbabwe as both of his parents were sick, and while staying with them, he missed the quarantine deadline. He was so eager to take part in this series. In that sense, it’s very unfortunate and unfair for him,” Faruque Ahmed, former Bangladesh captain and former chief of the national selector panel, told UNB. Read: BAN vs. AUS 2021: How Bangladesh Team Shapes Up Without Tamim, Mushfiqur? “We know that before a series, all the involving boards came to an agreement. I’m sure it took place ahead of this series as well. Since we have been living in a pandemic for more than one and a half years, Australia came up with some conditions to ensure their safety, and BCB agreed to that as Australia are visiting Bangladesh after a long time,” he added. Mushfiqur had earlier decided to skip the T20Is against Zimbabwe to be fit and available for the Australia series. However, he had to come back from Zimbabwe early for his parents’ sickness. Bangladesh team members also believe that it was unfair that Mushfiqur was not allowed to enter the bio-secure bubble. Some of them pointed to the absurdity of not allowing Mushfiqur to enter the bubble following appropriate testing, when the entire team had gone through four airports - Harare, Johannesburg, Delhi and Dhaka - on their return trip from Zimbabwe, and that didn't violate the bubble apparently. “We came in a commercial flight passing through three airports so I don't know if it makes much sense to keep Mushfiqur out of the series. He went back home from the middle of a tour for a family problem. So to not allow him to enter the quarantine after just two or three days, is not right,” a Bangladesh team member was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. Read: Mushfiqur to miss T20 series against Australia over isolation norms Bangladesh are going to miss the services of Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das as well. Mustafizur Rahman is also doubtful  for the first couple of matches as the pacer has been suffering from an ankle injury sustained during a tour match in Zimbabwe. There are worries over Shakib Al Hasan’s fitness as well. Indeed to fulfil Australia’s demand, Bangladesh had to manage quarantine for match officials, ground staff, and technicians who operate DRS. Bangladesh also managed a direct path for the Australian team to get to their team hotel from the airport tarmac, bypassing immigration. The five-match series will be packed into a week, with the first match on Monday, August 3. Then again on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and the final fixture on Sunday, August 9. All the matches will be hosted at the single venue— Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.