The Summaries of Bangladesh Cricket in 2019 – Part II
In the previous article we have gone through some of the best moments of Bangladesh’s national team in 2019. And now we will go through some of the bad moments for last year on the national team.
The Gloomy Moments
Bangladesh’s test cricket success drew criticism after losing all five of their test matches in 2019. Bangladesh dropped both of its Test matches against New Zealand by an inning margin before the newcomers to Afghanistan in a one-off Test match at home in September, losing the 224-run series. They were later beaten by India in the two-test series, losing both inning margin matches and within three days, while the second test was a day-night test. Bangladesh failed to make their maiden appearance in Pink-Ball Tests unforgettable as they lost the game innings and 46 runs to the end of the year on a bleak note. After declaring the World Cup by defeating South Africa in their opening match, Bangladesh managed just two more wins over West Indies and Afghanistan in the tournament and was unable to progress to the knock-out stage. In the aftermath of the bad series, Bangladesh fired head coach Steve Rhodes, claiming a mutual agreement with both parties.
Right after the World Cup Bangladesh were then being beaten badly in a three-match series in Sri Lanka. The tigers finished the year with 7 wins in 18 One-day Internationals and 4 wins in 7 T20s. This year, five separate players – Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Sakib, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mominul Haque – captained the side in varying conditions, reflecting uncertainty in the leadership of the national team. Ex national cricketer Shahadat Hossain assaulted a friend during a National Cricket League match and imposed a five-year suspension from the BCB. Allegations of match-fixing in the lower-tier cricket of the country continued to plague the game throughout the year.
Moreover, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Sakib for not reporting multiple corrupt approaches from an Indian bookie. Sakib was contacted twice during the tri-series in 2018 and also during his Indian Premier League tour to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the same year, but he had failed to report to the ICC for both incidents. The suspension will end on 29 October 2020 which will basically clash with the ICC World Twenty20 on October 8 in Australia. A few days before the October ban, Sakib led Bangladeshi cricketers to an unparalleled boycott of all kinds of cricket activities until their 13 demands were met. The 72-hour standoff concluded with the BCB approving all the requests. The BCB was faced with an identity problem due to Lokman’s arrest after a casino-drive, and they were heavily criticised for not dropping him from the post.
