Liton Das, the right-handed Bangladesh top-order batter, is all set to take the helm, leading Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series against India starting on Sunday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Liton had previously led the Tigers in a T20 match against New Zealand. He recalled his first experience of captaincy as being similar to a vacation. Yet, now, with the advent of him leading Bangladesh in an ODI series for the first time, his excitement is palpable. "Every cricketer dreams of captaining their country," he said. "I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to do so, and I'm really looking forward to this new endeavor." Upon the announcement of Liton as captain of Bangladesh's ODI series, supporters questioned if he could maintain the same level of performance he had demonstrated for Bangladesh over the last year. In the last one year, he played 10 ODIs and scored 500 runs at an average of 62.5 — the highest for any Bangladeshi batter in the same period. read more: Liton to lead Tigers in ODIs v India Liton assuaged any worries, stating that his focus was instead on playing their natural cricket and performing well against a team like India, who have long been the superior side compared to Bangladesh. The superiority of India might be felt more to Liton as the regular captain Tamim Iqbal is out of action due to a groin injury, and the spearhead of Bangladesh's pace attack, Taskin Ahmed, is also uncertain for this series. So, Liton has to find a way to fill the gap left behind by the duo. The new Bangladesh captain lamented the absence of Tamim and Taskin, but was hopeful that those who have earned a spot in the team are more than capable of playing solid cricket. "Our only goal is to win," Liton stated. Liton is confident that the pressure of captaincy can be alleviated with the backing of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad, who have rejoined the ODI team after missing out on the T20 World Cup. Ahead of the upcoming ICC 50-over World Cup in India next year, Bangladesh are determined to start their preparations by taking on India in this three-match ODI series. Despite having the opportunity to begin their journey to the World Cup, Liton is more focused on sealing this series as a first step and refining their game. Read more: Zakir's big ton helps Bangladesh A save unofficial Test v India A "The World Cup is far away from now," Liton said. "We always have some areas to improve. We need to focus on playing good cricket on a daily basis. If we can play well against a strong team like India, it will sharpen our thinking and help us to elevate our game. Everyone in the team is eager to take the field and perform well." Liton was asked what his expectations were for his first ODI series as captain. He smiled, and in a diplomatic manner replied, "A trophy would be great; nothing else matters to me."

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiuqr Rahim announced retirement from T20 Internationals. He announced his retirement through his social media page where he also said he would continue playing ODIs and Tests for Bangladesh and T20s at the domestic level.  The decision came after Bangladesh’s shocking exit from the Asia Cup T20 where the Tigers failed to win any match and subsequently were out of the event right from the first round losing to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.  Mushfiqur batted in both matches and failed to impress. He managed to score 1 against Afghanistan and 4 against Sri Lanka. His failure cost the matches for Bangladesh.  “I have been grateful to have you all beside me throughout my long career. Your support has been my inspiration during my highs and lows,” Mushfiqur wrote on his social media. “Today, I am announcing my retirement from T20 Internationals. I will proudly continue to represent Bangladesh in Test and ODI formats. I am hopeful that I can bring success for our nation in these two formats.” Mushfiqur got his T20I cap in 2006 against Zimbabwe. The match was the first-ever T20I for both Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Since then, Mushfiqur played 102 T20Is for Bangladesh and scored 1500 runs with six fifties. He was among only the three players who have played at least 100 T20Is for Bangladesh.   Read: Mushfiqur Rahim completes 15 years in international cricket With Mushfiqur now retired, Shakib Al Hasan is now the only Bangladeshi player from Bangladesh’s maiden T20I who is still active in the format at the international level.  The right-handed batter has some wonderful innings in T20Is, but he was never as consistent in T20Is as he is in ODIs and Tests. His best innings in T20Is is an unbeaten 72 off 35 balls against Sri Lanka in Colombo. At the same venue, he scored another unbeaten 72 off 55 balls against India. Both the innings were notched up in 2018.  “I will continue to take part in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and other franchise tournaments. Alhamdulillah. Thank you all. Allah Hafez,” Mushfiuqr added in this retirement announcement.  Mushfiqur also led Bangladesh in 23 T20Is and won eight of them. He was Bangladesh’s captain in two T20 World Cups— in 2012 and in 2014 with the latter was host by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said they will try to play their best cricket against Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI series, starting Friday at the Harare Sports Club. Ahead of the ODI series, Bangladesh played a T20I series against the hosts and lost it 2-1. "Zimbabwe are a tough team to beat on their home soil," Tamim said Thursday. "However, we are a bit ahead of them. But the team that plays better cricket on the match day wins it." "They won the T20I series because they played better cricket. We will have to play our best cricket if we want to beat them in the ODIs." Bangladesh's last ODI defeat against Zimbabwe came in 2013. The Tigers have won 19 ODIs in a row against Zimbabwe. Before the Zimbabwe series, Bangladesh played their last ODI series in South Africa and registered their first-ever ODI series win there. Under the captaincy of Tamim, Bangladesh won six of their last seven ODI series. Read: Is there any potential suitor to replace Tamim Iqbal in T20I cricket? "We have to do what we have been doing for a long time," Tamim said. "Also, we need to rectify the mistakes that we made before." The first match of the series will start Friday at 1:15pm (Bangladesh time). The other two matches will be played on August 7 and 10 at the same time. All the matches of this series will take place at the same venue.

Bangladesh completed a clean sweep against the West Indies in the three-match ODI series. On Saturday, the visitors won the third and final ODI of the series by four wickets at Guayana.  Taijul Islam, the left-arm spinner, bagged his maiden five wickets in the match— his first in two years— and guided Bangladesh to a comfortable win.  Taijul’s five for 28 is now the record for the best bowling in ODIs by a Bangladeshi spinner. He surpassed Abdur Razzak who scalped five for 29 in 2009 against Zimbabwe in Dhaka.  West Indies batted first after losing the toss and posted a below-par total of 178 with a fighting fifty from captain Nicholas Pooran (73). Bangladeshi spinners proved to be too good against the hosts’ batters. And left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman was also economic against the West Indies. Taijul, Mosaddek Hossain and Mustafizur bowled 29 overs together and conceded less than three runs per over.  In reply to West Indies’ 178, Bangladesh chased down the total in 48.3 overs with Liton Das hitting a fifty, Tamim Iqbal and Nurul Hasan scoring 34 and 32 respectively.  Also read: 3rd ODI: Tremendous Taijul takes five as Bangladesh wrap WI for 178 Gudakesh Motie, the left-arm orthodox spinner of the hosts, bagged four wickets conceding 23 runs in 10 overs. But his effort went in vain as the batters failed to put a big total on the board.  With this win, Bangladesh ended up the long tour that had started with defeats in Tests and T20Is.   

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made a change into the Test squad which will tour Zimbabwe later this month by including allrounder Mahmudullah Riyad to the squad.  BCB has previously announced a 17-member squad, and now it increased to 18- member.  READ: From U-19 star to national team prospect: The incredible journey of Shamim Mahmudullah played his last Test during Bangladesh’s Pakistan tour last year. He was later omitted from the longer format of the game.  The right-handed allrounder played a total of 49 Tests to date and amassed 2764 runs with four centuries and 16 half-centuries. He also scalped 43 wickets with one five-wicket haul.  The Zimbabwe series will kick off with the one-off Test on July 7 while three ODIs will take place on July 16, 18 and 20 while the T20Is will be played on July 23, 25 and 27 respectively.  Test and ODIs will be started at 1:30 pm (Bangladesh time) while T20Is will be commenced at 4:30 pm (Bangladesh time).  READ: T20 WC shifted to UAE from India All the matches of this series will be hosted at the Harare Sports Club.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 15-member squad for the first and second ODI of the three-match series against Sri Lanka starting from May 23.  Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was number three in Bangladesh’s last ODI series at the home against the West Indies, was omitted from this squad. Besides, injured right-arm pacers Rubel Hossain and Hasan Mahmud and spinner Taijul Islam were also sidelined from the main squad. Read:Bangladesh-Sri Lanka ODI series: Tigers to play intrasquad game Thursday Shanto hit his maiden Test ton in Bangladesh’s last tour of Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series. He also represented Bangladesh in eight ODIs but failed to impressed as he scored a total of 93 runs with the best innings of 29.  Taijul, however, will stay with the team as one of the four standby players. The other three standby players are— Naim Sheikh, Aminul Islam Biplob and Shohidul Islam.  “We played good cricket in the last home series against the West Indies. Now to keep that continuity intact, we announced a team including most of the  players who played the last series,” Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector of BCB told the media.  “Along with the 15-member squad, we added four standby players considering the Covid-19 situation. We may need their service along the way,” he added.  With this series, Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman are set to make a comeback to the national team after a leave to play the Indian Premier League (IPL). Minhajul believes the inclusion of Shakib and Mustafizur will boost the confidence of the team.  “Shakib is our best player and whenever we have him it increases our confidence. They are playing the practice match. If they can have the confidence I think it will be good for us,” he further told the media.  Read:Bubble-fatigued Mustafizur lacks confidence BCB has earlier included left-handed opener, Imrul Kayes, in the preliminary squad, but he was overlooked from the main squad.  The first match of the series will take place on May 23, while the other two games will be played on May 25 and 28 respectively. All the matches will be hosted at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  Bangladesh squad for the first two Sri Lanka ODIs: Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Litton Das, Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Musaddek Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam and Standby: Naim Sheikh, Taijul Islam, Shohidul Islam, Aminul Islam Biplob    

Bangladesh batting coach Jon Lewis has hailed Mohammad Mithun who hit a 50 in the second game of the three-match series between Bangladesh and the hosts New Zealand. The final game of the series will take place on March 26 at 4am (Bangladesh time) at Wellington. The match will be telecast live on BTV, GTV, and T Sports. Bangladesh posted 271 in the second game riding on the 50s of Tamim Iqbal and Mithun. But the total proved to be too easy for the hosts to chase down as they sealed the game with 10 balls to play and five wickets in hand. Also read: Tamim, Mithun propel Tigers to 271 in 2nd ODI vs Kiwis Tamim scored 78, his 50th 50 in ODIs, and Mithun remained unbeaten on 73. According to Lewis, these two batsmen set the foundation for a win for the Tigers, but the bowler failed to defend the total as Tom Latham, the stand-in captain of New Zealand, smashed a 100 and won the game for the hosts. "Mithun played an exceptional knock in Christchurch. He was trying to get himself closer to the line of the ball. He was trying not to look at the offside so much by keeping leg-side as an option," Lewis told the media on Thursday. Also read: Ross Taylor to play the final ODI vs Bangladesh "You can do it where the ball bounces above the stumps a bit more than Dhaka or Chattogram. I think the big aspect of batting overseas for a Bangladeshi batsman is dealing with quality seam bowling when the ball is new and there is a little bit more bounce." Unlike the first match of the series, Bangladeshi batsmen were cautious at the start of the innings. The strategy was to start slow and change the gear at the later part of the innings, and this is what Mithun did for the Tigers at Christchurch. Lewis said Bangladesh should follow the same strategy in the final game of the series. Also read: Sloppy fielding costs Bangladesh series to New Zealand "If we bat first, we have to be wary of what the new ball might do and have to ensure that quality performers like Trent Boult and Tim Southee – who might join the New Zealand side – do not do too much damage to us early on," he added. "If we are chasing a high score, we have to take advantage of the powerplay – take some risks, play some shots."