Chittagong Challengers to trust in 'impact players' in BPL 2023

Chittagong Challengers displayed great aptitude with an average team in the previous BPL. This time too they did not run toward well-known superstars. However, there are some players in the battalion of Chittagong Challengers who can satisfy the demands of T20.

Chittagong retained Afif Hossain in a direct agreement. This regular face of the Bangladesh national T20I squad is also a reliable name for the Chittagong team. A glimpse of Afif was seen in vital matches in the last season. Afif does not get the chance to bat in the national team a lot but he can perform at the top orders in BPL.

Chittagong obtained Lankan pacer Vishwa Fernando, off-spinning all-rounder Ashan Priyanjan and Ireland's Curtis Campher on direct contracts. In the meantime, Campher has shown glances of itself in the last World Cup. His batting with a medium pace can be the biggest investment of the team.

Chittagong did not look at local big stars after getting the chance from the draft. The first two they picked, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, have not been on the national team.

Shuvagata, who earlier played in the national team, is a routine player in domestic cricket as an off-spinning all-rounder. This right-hander can storm the lower middle order. His off-spin is very useful in Bangladeshi conditions.

Although he could not drive it to the national team, Mrittunjoy has already introduced himself. He delivered it in the last BPL by showing the capability of death bowling by making a hat-trick. This left-hander is also very intelligent with the bat.

Chittagong has brought Max O'Dowd of the Netherlands in the opening thought. He has played great in the World Cup. However, there is a huge distinction in the character of Australia's wicket and Bangladesh's wicket. Let's wait and see how he does on the slow wicket. Chittagong has also taken the Unmukt Chand who took the citizenship of the United States. Chand understood the conditions of Asia rather well. Taufiq Khan Tushar is an option among the locals in this place. He came into the discussion by batting fiercely in first-class cricket for the Sylhet division.

Taijul Islam is the reliability of the team in the spin. Although, Taijul is still not strong in T20I cricket. So, there is a challenge ahead of him. They have retained professional domestic cricket all-rounders like Farhad Reza and Ziaur Rahman. There is wicket-keeper batsman Irfan Sukkur. They can make a difference in their day.

The pace battery is not very sharp, to say the least. Mrittunjoy will be accompanied by another left-handed pacer Mehdi Hasan Rana. There is also right-handed pacer Abu Jayed Rahi but he has not been in shape recently. Even if Rana gets a wicket, he is often not much economical. It remains to be seen how much the bowling deficit will concern the unit.

Chittagong Challengers will face Sylhet Strikers in the first match of BPL on January 6, 2023.

Chittagong Challengers Team

Direct contracts: Afif Hossain, Vishwa Fernando (Sri Lanka), Ashan Priyanjan (Sri Lanka), Curtis Campher (Ireland), Darwish Rasooli (Afghanistan).

Locals from Draft: Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Irfan Shukkur, Mehedi Maruf, Ziaur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed Rahi, Farhad Reza, Taufiq Khan Tushar.

Foreigners from the draft: Max O'Dowd (Netherlands), Unmukt Chand (India/USA).

Tamim's Khulna Tigers will be battling with a balanced team in BPL 2023

Tamim Iqbal has already retired from the T20I. Nevertheless, he is very active in twenty-over cricket in the domestic arena. Bangladesh's one-day captain, who played in Dhaka's team last season, will handle Khulna's squad this time. Khulna Tigers are not filled with T20 national team hot-cakes but their squad is fairly balanced.

In addition to Tamim, Khulna has signed Sri Lankan Avishka Fernando, Pakistan's Wahab Riaz, Naseem Shah, and Azam Khan through direct agreements. They will not enjoy Nasim's show at the start of the tournament but the rest will be available from the start.

Meanwhile, there are suspicions about Wahab Riaz's performance. The 37-year-old pacer has long since passed his peak in Pakistan. However, as he is aware of the Bangladesh wicket, Khulna trusts him. Naseem can be the team's trump card. However, it is inquisitive what this speedy pacer does on Mirpur's pitch. It is very challenging for fast bowlers to do good on wickets where normal balls come to rest unless they are tactical.

Avishka and Azam can be the spine of Khulna's batting. Both played in the top orders. Left-hander Avishka is likely to partner Tamim in the openers. Pakistani Azam is quite skilled in creating a shower of runs with the bat. Munim Shahriar is also in Khulna for the opening options. This right-hander, who shined in Fortune Barisal in the previous BPL, is quite useful in the domestic cricket of Bangladesh.

Yasir Ali Chowdhury is Khulna's expectancy in the middle order along with Sabbir Rahman. Though Yasir will have more accountability. Even if they rotate to the top order, they can employ Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the middle order as well. Khulna has brought Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka into the unit from the players' draft. He can create a big influence in the tournament. In addition to fierce batting in the middle order, he can also bowl with a medium pace.

Pace all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin can be the place of the extraordinary power of Khulna. Saifuddin's bowling is always practical in the country's conditions. He can also donate down the bat. The same can be said about Nasum Ahmed who runs the spin bowling department. This spinner of the national team is deadly on the wickets of Mirpur, Chittagong, and Sylhet. He does a fantastic job of stopping runs on the power play.

Khaled Mahmud Sujan will play a major role in determining the tactics of the team, this convincing cricket character who coached Barisal last season is now in Khulna. Khulna Tigers' BPL will begin with a match against Dhaka Dominators at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on January 7, 2023.

Khulna Tigers Team

Direct contracts: Tamim Iqbal, Avishka Fernando (Sri Lanka), Wahab Riaz (Pakistan), Naseem Shah (Pakistan), Azam Khan (Pakistan).

Local Players from Draft: Mohammad Saifuddin, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Munim Shahriar, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiqul Islam, Pritam Kumar, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy.

Foreigners from the draft: Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka), Paul van Meekeren (Netherlands).

How were Russel Domingo's three years and four months with Bangladesh?

The Russell Domingo chapter is now over. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had already taken a policy decision regarding him in the series against India being the last task. Looking for a way to give the South African coach a dignified exit, Domingo took that opportunity himself by resigning. Last night he sent an e-mail to the cricket management department and informed them that he is no longer the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan expressed satisfaction with Domingo's performance at an event last night. But he hinted at a change by talking about long-term plans for the national cricket team. Although the matter is not clear in the words of the BCB president, according to BCB sources, Domingo is leaving for sure.

In August 2019, Domingo took charge as the head coach of the Bangladesh team. Although the Bangladesh team did not do very well under him in the opening. The Tigers had to lose the test against Afghanistan at home. Bangladesh also lost the T20 series and Test in Pakistan.

However, three significant wins have come under him in test cricket. One of these is against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. However, Bangladesh lost 17 of the 22 Tests played under the Protea coach. There are 2 draws. He is not very successful in T20 either. Bangladesh has lost 35 out of 59 T20Is and won 23. Where one T20I match did not yield any results.

His biggest success in this edition was winning the T20 series against Australia and New Zealand on home soil. Domingo, however, can claim to be truly successful in 50-over cricket. Bangladesh won 21 out of 30 ODIs during his time. His biggest success was winning the ODI series against South Africa in South Africa this year. Bangladesh also won the ODI series against India in his last assignment as Bangladesh coach. Series wins also came against West Indies and Sri Lanka.

In 2021, there were calls for him to be removed after he failed in the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Although BCB kept trust in him at that time, things changed later. Before this year's ICC T20 World Cup, India's Sreedharan Shriram was appointed as the T20 consultant for the national cricketing squad. In the meanwhile, Domingo was pushed away from the T20 team by BCB. Earlier, the appointment of former head coach Jamie Siddons as a batting consultant also narrowed down his work.

Besides athletes, BSPA will also honor sports journalists

Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA), the largest and oldest organization of sports journalists and writers in the country, has completed 60 years with glory. On this special occasion of the 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) on Friday, December 30, 10 sports personalities will be honored for their success at the national and international levels after independence through a colorful ceremony.

10 athletes in seven disciplines were selected by a 9-member judgment panel. Kazi Salahuddin and late Monem Munna in football, Mashrafe bin Mortuza and Shakib Al Hasan in cricket, the late Shah Alam in athletics, Mosharraf Hossain Khan in swimming, Mosharraf Hossain in boxing, Niaz Morshed in chess, Asif Hossain Khan in shooting and Siddiqur Rahman in golf.

At the same time, 10 sports journalists and writers will be awarded Diamond Jubilee Awards in recognition of their special contribution to sports journalism in the country. They are - Abdul Hamid, Tawfiq Aziz Khan, Badi-uz-Zaman, Muhammad Kamruzzaman, Abdul Tauhid, Ataul Haque Mallik, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Dilu Khandkar, Shahidul Azam and Mustafa Mamun.

A special honor will be given to the former captain of the national cricket team, ASM Rokibul Hasan, who showed infinite bravery by writing the 'Joy Bangla' slogan on the bat on the eve of the great independence war of 1971. BSPA President Sanat Babla, Vice President Kazi Shahidul Alam, and General Secretary Md. Saman Hossain.

Hathurusinghe is leading the race with two others for the new head coach's role of Bangladesh national cricket team

In fact, when Sridharan Sriram was appointed as a technical consultant in the T-20 format, it appeared that time had passed for Russell Domingo. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sought an alternative.

Russell Domingo himself could guess that. In between, the matter was a bit of a cover-up for a few days. But in the past few days, the coach has been the topic of most talks inside the BCB again.

BCB Senior Director and Chairman of Cricket Operations Jalal Younus told the media that the coaching staff of the national team will be modified after the series against India. BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papan also announced the changes in the coaching staff. All this news must have reached Domingo's ears as well.

Russell Domingo has seen his future in the dark. As it's seen, the Bangladesh Cricket Board doesn't want that darkness anymore. The South African head coach believes it is better to move away from himself.

And thus, Domingo resigned voluntarily. He officially submitted his resignation later to the BCB. Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Jalal Younus has confirmed Domingo's resignation.

The Domingo story is over. Now everyone has the same inquisitive question, who will be the latest head coach of the Tigers? Who will be given the duty?

While Domingo was there, the BCB looked for a potential coach for the future. Several coaches were also confidentially contacted. There is no talking to Kaznar. There are 3 names on that list. One is former Bangladesh coach, Sri-Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusinghe. The other two are Lance Clusner of South Africa and Mike Hussey of Australia.

It is already known and BCB officials have indicated that the board wants to select someone who will have awareness about the Bangladesh national team, and who is also aware of his responsibilities. Qualifications also hold the ability to personalize and manage the team and coach the cricketers along with the management team. Hathurusinghe is ahead of two former world-class cricketers, Australian Mike Hussey and South African Lance Clusner.

Hathurusinghe is authoritative and conscious of responsibility. He also has the ability to control the national team cricketers with a strong hand. So BCB is keen to get Hathurusinghe as head coach again.

He was the head coach of the Bangladesh team before. His ability, cricketing talent, cricketing sense, and coaching style are all known to BCB. Bangladesh's senior cricketers Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mahmudullah Riyad, along with Litton Das, Mehedy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, and Taizul Islam, are well known. These are the reasons why BCB is leaning toward him again.

Reliable references say that talks with Hathurusinghe have come a long way. Hathurusinghe also knows his demands to the BCB - salaries, allowances, and related benefits are much higher than before. However, BCB is still interested in him.

The prices are running side by side between the two sides. Very soon a decision or negotiation may be finalized.

England cricket team to play in Bangladesh after six years

England national cricket team last visited Bangladesh in 2016. The Bangladeshi Tigers won the historic Test against the Three Lions that time. The two-match test series was drawn 1-1. Now, England is back on their tour of Bangladesh after a six-year pause. This time, they will play against the hosts in three ODIs and Twenty20s each but no test series will take place this time.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the tour on its official website on Tuesday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has finalized the tour timetable. The two teams will play two versions of white ball cricket. The matches will be held from March 1 to 14 in Dhaka and Chittagong.

England will arrive in Bangladesh in February 2023. The two teams will start the cricket haul with the ODI series. The first two ODI matches will be played at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on March 1 and The final ODI match will be played on March 6 at the Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong. The first match of the T20 series will be played at the Chittagong venue in March. The remaining two T20 matches will be played on March 12 and 14 at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium.

The English won the ODI series 2-1 in their last tour of Bangladesh. They will play two warm-up matches before the beginning of the ODI series. Those matches will take place on February 24 but BCB has not yet finalized the venue.

In a press release, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury Sujan said, "This series will be a great opportunity for the teams to assess their respective strengths in the year of the World Cup (2023 ODI World Cup in India). The ODI and Twenty20 (series) are expected to be very exciting for fans in Bangladesh and around the world. Bangladesh has an extraordinary record in white balls (in cricket) at home and we all know what a great team England is."

Bangladesh has lost just one of their 14 ODI series at home since November 2014. Which was during the 2016 ODI series against England. The Tigers have won a series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, South Africa, Afghanistan, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. They have played 44 ODIs and won 35 of them.

Schedule of England tour of Bangladesh:
20th February - England cricket team arrives in Dhaka.
24th February - Practice match 1 (Venue is not finalized yet)
26th February - Practice match 2 (Venue is not finalized yet)
1st March - First ODI (SBNCS, Mirpur)
3rd March - Second ODI (SBNCS, Mirpur)
6th March - Third ODI (ZACS, Chittagong)
9th March - First T20I (ZACS, Chittagong)
12th March - Second T20I (SBNCS, Mirpur)
14th March - Third T20I (SBNCS, Mirpur)

Russel Domingo resigned as Bangladesh Cricket coach

Russell Domingo has resigned as the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board about his conclusion on Tuesday.

Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Yunus affirmed the news on Wednesday morning. He said, 'Yes, he has quit. He also sent us the resignation letter.'

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had an agreement with the South African coach till the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. Anyways, he resigned 11 months before the end of the contract.

After failing to win the test match against India last Sunday, there was a glimpse of Domingo's leave. On that day, Jalal Yunus told the media that they are going to revise the coaching panel. They will select a coach who can make an impact on the team.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon MP said the necessity for a new coach while praising Domingo's performance in a different event the next day.

The South African coach was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh back in September 2019. He was replaced by Steve Rhodes after the ODI World Cup that year. Domingo obtained many successes in Bangladesh after taking responsibility in place of Rhodes.

Under him, Bangladesh beat Australia and New Zealand in the T20 series at its home venue. Notably, a remarkable Test win on New Zealand soil. The ODI series win in South Africa comes after India lost the ODI series at home a few days ago.

However, Bangladesh did not win a single match in the main event of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Despite winning the Test in New Zealand at the start of the year, the rest of the test matches saw a shaky performance.

Domingo was dropped from the T20 coaching staff ahead of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. Indian coach Sreedharan Sriram was appointed as a twenty-over cricket consultant and sent to Australia for the World Cup along with the national team.

Domingo came to the conference by making harsh remarks in the media at that time. Long before the contract, there was a situation of misunderstanding between him and BCB. But despite all this, he survived. He is seen as the head coach in the India series. After losing against India in the ODI series, there was also the possibility of Domingo surviving another round. However, after the disappointing results in the Test series again, BCB gave the impression of stepping in a different direction with him. Discerning the bitter situation, Domingo announced that he is to depart on his own.

Argentina's President thanks Sheikh Hasina, the PM of Bangladesh for support.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez thanked Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for supporting the Argentina national football team in the recently ending Qatar World Cup 2022.

The Argentine President published a tweet on his authorized account on 20th December, responding to the letter sent by the Bangladesh prime minister a day before where she hailed Argentina for triumphing in their third World Cup championship in football.

“Thank you Sheikh Hasina and the entire people of Bangladesh. The union and mutual affection that we have seen in recent weeks has become inexplicable, and today both flags are flying here as well. Let’s deepen this link,” president Fernandez noted in the post on Twitter.

Earlier, the individuals of Argentina and Bangladesh assembled a special bond over the course of the Qatar World Cup 2022 over their common passion for the Argentina national football team. Argentines were surprised and overwhelmed witnessing photos and video clips of the incredible support for their national football team thousands of miles away in Bangladesh. To show solidarity, some Argentinians even introduced fan groups on various social media platforms to support Bangladesh in cricket, a sport they have very little to no understanding of.

IPL 2023 Auction Review: Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes crack records in a breathtaking auction.

Foreign all-rounders, Indian pace bowlers, and uncapped all-rounders dominated the mini-auction in Kochi making a Rs 167 crore sale of 80 players on Friday, December 23.

For the record books, 24 year old English sensation Sam Curran broke the record for the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL auctions. He was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping amount of Rs 18.50 crore, breaking South African cricketer Chris Morris’s total of Rs 16.25 crore from the auction of the 2021 season.

However, the record of Sam Curran was looking like it will not last long as the bidding war started for 23 year old Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green. Minutes later, Mumbai Indians secured Cameron Green for a magnificent sum of Rs 17.50 crore, the second-most expensive buy in the history of the IPL auction - which was just Rs 18.25 crore less than Curran.

The show was still on air when the England test captain Ben Stokes was introduced to the franchise teams in the auction. He was bought for big money - 16.25 crores by the Chennai Super Kings.

West Indian cricketer Nicholas Pooran was the 4th most pricey player at the IPL 2023 auction. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) guarded off the bidding war from Delhi Capitals (DC) to buy the former West Indies captain for Rs 16 crore. Pooran, who was dismissed by Sun Risers Hyderabad after an unfortunate run in the previous IPL found his way back in this new season. The big hitter scored 306 runs in 14 matches but failed in crunch situations last season.

Except for Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, and Punjab Kings, all other franchise teams in the 10-team league met their quota of 25 players. Kolkata and Punjab will head into IPL 2023 with solely 22-member teams while Mumbai will hold 24 players. Unlike Mumbai Indians, Kolkata and Punjab had sufficient funds to complete their teams for the new season, which is designated to be held in both home and away formats.

While the big money expenditures, many stars like South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen, Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka, England's Chris Jordan, and Dawid Malan were some of the big foreign players, who went unsold. On the other side, there are going to be a few thrilling first-timers in the IPL 2023 as the preferences of former England captain Joe Root and Ireland pacer Josh Little, England’s youngster big-hitter Harry Brook and Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das apart from Green.

Kolkata Knight Riders bought Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Litton Das and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Shakib and Litton were unsold when they were introduced to the auction in Kochi. Later on, they both attracted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and will be under Khan's pandal in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Both of them were bought by KKR at their base price, Rs 50 Lakh for Litton Das and 1.5 Crore for Shakib Al Hasan. Kolkata was the sole bidder for Litton and Shakib, while no other IPL franchise was interested in the bids.

Obviously, this is not the first time for Shakib in IPL or Kolkata, after being overlooked in the last season - Shakib is back in the galaxy of knights again.

On the other hand, Litton Das is the seventh cricketer from Bangladesh to get selected by an IPL team, following Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, and Mustafizur Rahman.

There were two more Bangladeshi cricketers introduced in the auction this year. But Taskin Ahmed and Afif Hossain did not attract any bids for their base price of Rs 50 lakh each.

Anyways, Bangladesh's 'cutter-master' Mustafizur Rahman has already been retained by his previous franchise Delhi Capital in November.

Although, earlier, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the franchises about the availability of the players for the 2023 IPL. Which turned out Bangladesh players could just take part for a little time of the tournament because of some international series of Bangladesh national cricket team that is supposed to take place in the same time-frame.