Today, we are going to discuss about one of the relatively new entrants in the world cricket, Bangladesh. Although the history of cricket in Bangladesh is as old as it is in India or in Pakistan or even in Sri Lanka, but yet it took a while for them to enter on the big stage of cricket. Prior to their entry in world cricket the Bangladesh cricket team has seen many ups and downs and unfortunately it is still facing the same even after spending more than a decade in international cricket. Let us know more about the Bangladesh Cricket Team in detail.
Bangladesh Cricket Team
The cricket in un-divided India was brought by the British in the 19th century. After the partition in 1947, Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan and thus its cricket had to wait till it got the full independence from Pakistan in 1971. Way back in 1979 the International Cricket Council or the ICC recognized Bangladesh and the team played the ICC Trophy in England that year.
There was no lack of talent or passion amongst the Bangladeshis for cricket and slowly but surely they were approaching towards the big stage of the international cricket and in 1986 Bangladesh gained the status as an One Day International team and played its first ever ODI against Pakistan on 31st March, 1986 in the Asia Cup, played in Sri Lanka.
Slowly the popularity of cricket gathered momentum in the country and it spread in semi urban and rural areas of Bangladesh as well. The boost came when Bangladesh won the 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia and thus it booked the ticket for the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup which was played in England. Over their too Bangladesh upset their previous masters, Pakistan in a round robin match and thus they announced their arrival in the world cricket.
A year later in 2000 Bangladesh gained the full membership of ICC thanks to the then ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya and played their first ever test match against India at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium. Although Bangladesh lost the test match badly but they did put on 400+ runs in the first innings thanks to Aminul Islam’s century on debut.
But since then the cricket in Bangladesh has seen the downward trend and apart from inciting upsets here and there the team lacks consistency. On one hand Bangladesh has defeated West Indies (when their players were on strike) in a test series played in West Indies, in 2009 but has also managed to lose a test series in Zimbabwe recently.
There is a view amongst the greats of Cricket that whether Bangladesh is fit to play the test match or not? But with talents like Mushfiqur Rahim and the world class all rounder in Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh, if managed well can still be the better team in the international cricket.
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