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National Cricket Round the year

The year of topsy-turvy

Published : Saturday, 30 December, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 346
Rashedul Islam Ratul
2017 is now a guest of a lone day as the new year 2018 is knocking at the door. If we look back to the 2017 of Bangladesh National Men's Cricket, there were a lot of ups and downs. But still there were some precious moments that made the Tigers' fans proud once again and which will stick in mind for a long.
The most prestigious parts of the year were the 20 runs' Test victory over the 'mighty' Australia during the fourth day at Mirpur, four wickets victory over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and playing the semis of the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time.
On the other hand, the South Africa tour was more disappointing. The retirement of Masharfe from T20 and resignation of Hathurusingha as the head coach were two most shocking incidents in the cricket of Bangladesh in 2017.
In last year, Bangladesh found Miraz but this year there was none who should be mentioned especially.
In this year, Bangladesh played 14 ODIs, nine Tests and seven T20Is and they won four ODIs, two Tests and one T20I till date. Three ODIs were ended without result.

Tigers in the land of Kiwi
Tigers start the year with the three-match T20 series against New Zealand in New Zealand. The series was started in December 2016 with the three-match ODI series where the host whitewashed the tourist.
The result of the T20I series was same like the ODI series. In the first T20I, Tigers lost by six wickets. Tigers lost the last two matches by 47 and 27 runs respectively. Mahmudullah was the best performer with the bat as he scored 89 runs in three matches while Rubel took highest seven wickets for Bangladesh.
Following the T20I series, Bangladesh played two-match Test series. Tigers were clean swept in the Test series as well. Though Bangladesh lost the series there were some achievements in the series. In the first Test, Shakib and Mushfiq added 349 runs which was highest partnership for Bangladesh for any wicket in Tests before that it was marked at 312 runs partnership of Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal for the first-wicket partnership against Pakistan in Khulna in 2015. The pair (Shakib-Mushfiq) was also inked the fourth highest partnership for the fifth-wicket stand in Tests. On the way to make the blot Shakib hit 217 runs which was the highest score by a player in an innings. Mushfiq made 159 runs in that innings.

A 17-year wait finally end
Since Bangladesh got their Test status in 2000, they toured every Test playing country for playing Test except India till February 2017. Finally the wait for 17 years ended as India hosted Bangladesh for a one-off Test in February 2017. But Bangladesh lost the match by 208 runs. Mushfiq (127) hit a ton while Miraz (51) made a fifty in the first innings. In the second innings, Mahmudullah (64) was lone batter who hit a fifty. Kohli hit double tons while Muraly Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha  made tons for India to win the match.

Tigers drew series in Lions's den
Following the Test in India Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka in March to play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is.  Bangladesh lost the first Test by 259 runs. But in the second Test, Bangladesh bounced back brilliantly and beat the Lions at their home in Test by four wickets to draw the series.
After the Test series, Bangladesh started the ODI series with a winning note as they rout Sri Lanka by 90 runs. The second match of the series was abandoned due to bad weather. Bangladesh still had the opportunity to win the series but Sri Lanka won the last match by 70 runs.
In the T20I series, Bangladesh lost the first one by six wickets. But in the second match, the farewell match for Mashrafe from T20, Bangladesh put their all efforts and sealed a 45 runs victory after scoring 179 runs for nine wickets.

Retirement of Mashrafe from T20I
During the toss of the first T20I against Sri Lanka on April 4 in Colombo, Mashrafe Mortaza announced his retirement from T20 internationals and mentioned that series would be his last in T20 format. Though Mashrafe could not perform well in his last match as he made a duck with the bat and took one wicket conceding 30 runs, Tigers won the match by 45 runs with a combined team effort in every aspect. The victory was a satisfactory end of the 'best' captain of Bangladesh.

Tri-nation series in New Zealand
Bangladesh played a Tri-nation series against New Zealand and Ireland in Ireland. The first match between Bangladesh and Ireland was abandoned due to bad weather. In the second match Bangladesh lost to New Zealand by four wickets. In their second match against Ireland, Bangladesh won the match by eight wickets. Though Tigers lost the first match against New Zealand, they bounced back well in the last match and recorded a five wickets victory. New Zealand scored 270 runs for eight wickets and in reply, Bangladesh scored 271 runs riding on the fifties from Tamim and Sabbir with 10 more balls to spare.
 
Tigers into the maiden semis of ICC Champions Trophy
Having won the ODI against New Zealand, the confident Tigers went to England to play the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.  In the first match against the host they scored 305 runs but lost the match by eight wickets. Tamim made 128 runs in that match while Mushfiq scored 79 runs. The next match against Australia was abandoned due to rain. In the last match, Mahmudullha and Shakib made a brilliant stand for the fifth wicket that sailed the Tigers to secure a five wickets victory. Chasing the Target of 266 runs, Bangladesh lost four wickets for only 33 runs within 12 overs. Then Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan made a 223-run stand in the do-or-die encounter in order to remain in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals. Both the batsmen struck hundreds to snatch a magnificent win for the Tigers. Shakib was dismissed just nine runs away from the historic win for 114 while Mahmudullah remained unbeaten at 102. The victory led the Tigers into the semis where they faced India. In the semis, India beat Bangladesh by nine wickets.

Historic win over Australia in Test
After huge drama concerning the security reason, at last in August, Australia visited Bangladesh to play a two-match Test series. In the first Test in Mirpur, Shakib Al Hasan led the Tigers from front to seal the historic maiden victory over Australia as the host beat the Aussie by 20 runs during the day four. Shakib scored 89 runs and hauled ten wickets in that match. The second match of the series held in Chittagong and Australia won the match by seven wickets to draw the series.

Disaster in South Africa
In September, Bangladesh toured South Africa to play a full series. But Tigers had a disappointing performance in all the three formats, Test, ODI and T20Is. In the Test series, Bangladesh lost the first one by 333 runs while the result of the second match was more miserable. Bangladesh showed a bellow par performance and conceded an innings and 254 runs defeat. Captaincy of Mushfiq in Test and his comments regarding the performance of the players, especially the bowlers, were widely critisised.
Following the Test series Bangladesh were whitewashed in the ODI series. Bangladesh lost the matches by 10 wickets, 104 runs and 200 runs respectively. Then Tigers lost the T20Is series in the same manner as they lost the matches by 20 runs and 83 runs.
Resignation of Hathurusingha
During the South Africa series head coach Chandika Hathurusingha submitted his resignation latter. But there was not any clarification from the BCB regarding the acceptance of the resignation as BCB wanted to hear from Hathurusingha who was in Australia to spend the vacation. Finally BCB accepted the resignation in the second half of November and Hathurusingha also made a farewell visit to Bangladesh where as a reason for his resignation he claimed that he had nothing more to give the Tigers. However, later he was named as the head coach of his own country Sri Lanka. 

Shakib regained Test captaincy
After the disappointing performance in Test series in South Africa it was almost confirmed that Mushfiq would be replaced by anyone else as Test skipper. Finally on December 10, BCB announced Shakib Al Hasan as Test skipper and Mahmudullah as his deputy who replaced Tamim Iqbal. It will be the second phase of Shakib's Test captaincy which will start with the upcoming Sri Lanka series.
However, Tigers passed the year 2017 with a lot of ups and downs. Tigers have a busy schedule in 2018. The new year will be started with the tri-nation series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and the players hope for a better start and keep the rhythm thorough the year. 


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