Pakistan-Bangladesh tie also washed out in Champions Trophy

By Ehsan Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

It may not be possible to figure which of the teams, Pakistan or Bangladesh, were happier at the abandonment of game in Rawalpindi due to persistent rain on February 27. 

Apparently, both teams could have felt equally relieved at the outcome because they had already been knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after having lost their first couple of matches. 

The cricket fans were obviously anxious to see some action at the ground and that was not to be. It was the successive game at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium to have been washed out without a ball bowled. Earlier, the much-awaited fixture between Australia and South Africa had also met with similar fate. 

In both the abandoned games, there were hopes for the rain to subside leading to shortened contests. The spectators were left to wait in the rain until the official announcement which obviously caused disappointment for them. 

Unlike Australia and South Africa, both of whom are thought to be among the frontrunners to annex the title, Pakistan and Bangladesh had nightmarish run in the event and neither of them gained any point from their first games.

The washed-out encounter allowed them to open their account in the Group A but a solitary each was of little or no use. Because of the inferior run-rate, the hosts and the defending champions, Pakistan (-1.087) were relegated to the last position in the points table, just behind Bangladesh (-0.443) who finished third despite having same number of points. 

India and New Zealand have already booked their spots in the semifinals and the result of their league fixture on March 2 will determine the group champion. 

It is the third successive ICC tournament in which Pakistan failed to go beyond the first round following the exit in the 50-over ODI World Cup in 2023, followed by the debacle in the T20 World Cup last year.

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Ravindra’s ton, Bracewell 4-for put New Zealand, India in Champions Trophy semifinals

By Ehsan Qureshi

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Top-order batsman Rachin Ravindra banged a brilliant century and off-spinning all-rounder Micheal Bracewell captured top four wickets as New Zealand, along with India, stormed into the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 when they thrashed Bangladesh by five wickets at Pindi Stadium on February 24. 

Ravindra, who suffered an injury on the forehead during the tri-series opener in Lahore, made a grand comeback with a superb 112 off 105 with a dozen boundaries and a six while left-handed Tom Latham made 55 as Black Caps cruised to an easy victory while chasing a modest target of 237 on a flat pitch. 

With New Zealand’s triumph, defending champions and hosts Pakistan have crashed out of the event with their last match game against Bangladesh to be a mere formality. Their fate was not unexpected after having lost to New Zealand and India in their first couple of games. 

The cricket enthusiasts in Pakistan kept following the game between New Zealand and Bangladesh in anticipation of an upset which could have kept the hosts alive in the competition. 

There had been miracles in the past when Pakistan ended as the beneficiaries in similar situations and people seemed justified in hoping for another one in Rawalpindi. 

At times, it did look as if another stunning result was round the corner to keep Pakistan afloat but the wishes of the home fans were not fulfilled. 

There were signs of divine help on way when New Zealand lost opener Will Young, a centurion in the previous outing, for a six-ball duck and Kane Williamson, arguably the most consistent of all modern-day batsmen, also perished cheaply. 

When left-handed opener Devon Conway returned to the dressing room after making 30 as New Zealand struggled to 72 for three in the 16th over, there was even greater hope of an upset coming up. 

However, Ravindra and Latham controlled their nerves and remained unruffled by the loss of early wickets. Turning the things around with a superb 129-run fourth wicket stand. Latham hit just three boundaries but his knock of 55, coming from 76 balls helped the cause of his team immensely. 

The Bangladesh spinners, unlike the New Zealanders, could not get purchase out of the pitch and the asking rate remained around five throughout the chase. The faster men also could not make much of an impact after their opening bursts. 

Ravindra, as he has often done in the recent past, paced his innings intelligently and runs kept coming at decent rate which didn’t allow any pressure to be created on the batters. He played attacking shots whenever the ball was in his hitting arc and with the calm and composed Latham doing the business at the other end, the outcome was seldom in doubt. 

With the asking rate coming down with every passing over, Ravindra duly achieved his personal landmark of scoring yet another ODI century, his first in the Champions Trophy on his maiden appearance. Neither he nor Latham could finish the match but they had done enough to secure another emphatic victory for their team. 

Earlier, Bangladesh inserted to bat by Mitchell Santner, were restricted to 236 for nine in the allotted 50 overs. Skipper Najamul Hossain Shanto hit a fighting 77 off 110 balls studded with nine fours while Jaker Ali contributed 45 off 55 balls with three four and one six. 

Off-spinner Micheal Bracewell, adjudged Player of the Match, bowled smartly to grab four wickets for 26 in tight 10-over spell. Speedster Will O’Rourke snapped up two wickets for 48 runs as Bangladesh played out a record number of 178 dot balls during the course of their innings. 

The Bangladesh batsmen were unable to maintain a healthy rate of scoring as they were stifled by the spin-cum-pace attack of the Black Caps, which as usual, was not prepared to give anything away. The captaincy of Santner was as impressive as ever.

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Bangladesh’s cricket tour to Pakistan in jeopardy once more

By Syed Khalid Mahmood  
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The fierce reaction of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was expected when their Bangladeshi counterparts jeopardized Bangladesh cricket team’s tour to Pakistan once more. 

The PCB Chairman, Chaudhary Zaka Ashraf, didn’t hide his sentiments at learning about the decision of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on the last day of 2012, to put on hold their proposed tour of Pakistan. 

"If they don't want to come it’s their own decision and we didn't force them. They had confirmed the tour to the PCB and the ICC three times and still they backed off. Now their reputation is at stake. If they don't want to respect their bilateral relationship then we will also respond in a same manner,” the PCB Chairman reacted. 

"We will take a principled stance on the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) but one thing is sure our players might not be free as we are making our own arrangements from next year,” Zaka Ashraf added. 

He didn’t mince words in stating that Bangladesh’s tour to Pakistan was almost confirmed and he found it strange that the BCB had pulled out from their commitment. He pledged that the PCB's efforts to revive international cricket in Pakistan were on track and they will soon manage to get a better team to tour Pakistan than Bangladesh. 

Earlier in the day, the BCB chief, Nazmul Hassan, had announced in a media briefing in Dhaka that Bangladesh will only tour Pakistan if the security situation in the country improved. 

"The ICC minutes have it that we have made an unconditional commitment to tour Pakistan. But there is concern among us about the country's security situation, it has deteriorated. We don't think it will be wise to visit Pakistan at this time," he said. 

"We have sent the PCB a letter three days ago, telling them of our stance. We will again contact them when their security situation improves. And we will go in the future, because we are committed to go there," Nazmul Hassan disclosed. 

"It isn't an easy decision for us. If we say we want to go, many people in the country will be hurt. If we don't go, there will be repercussions. We know the consequences. They may not want to send their players to the Bangladesh Premier League and our Dhaka leagues. They will probably not want to help us or support us," he thought. 

It’s not the first time when the BCB has played tricks with the PCB whose officials have been more generous than usual in luring them to undertake a visit in order to revive international cricket in the past. 

The PCB remains more than anxious to host them but the reluctance of the BCB functionaries to go ahead with the tour indicates their indecision and double-mindedness due to some reasons. 

Bangladesh’s cricket team was set to visit Pakistan earlier this year but they postponed it on grounds which were not too convincing. May be they are playing tricks with the PCB just to ensure that Pakistan’s cricketers continue appearing in the BPL.

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Bangladesh run out of luck against Pakistan as usual

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

One thing about the final of the otherwise maligned Asia Cup 2012 is certain. That it was not a fixed match, something which could not be said with conviction and certainity about some of the earlier games.

The final between hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan was a routine affair having predictable result with the latter emerging triumphant with the skin of their teeth. It was not unusual to find Pakistan being helped by the fringe members of their team.

Will you believe it that wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was not being beinf played in the crunch games, turned out to be Pakistan’s topscorer? Equally awesome was the performance of fast bowler Aizaz Cheema, who wasn’t an automatic choice either.

But these are the norms in Pakistan cricket. Those least likely to do it in ordinary circumstances come up with something sensational to turn the tide decisively. They won the final by a couple of runs while defending a modest score of 236.

Bangladesh would have realized that defeating Pakistan, no matter how inexperienced or vulnerable they may look on paper, present the toghest challenge in the world. They may be good enough to overpower the World Cup finalists but they run out of steam in taking on the semifinalists.

It must not be often when Bangladesh control the game but fail to cross the line. But it happened two times and on both occasion Pakistan were their opponents. They had overtaken a much bigger total of 290 against the world champions but they crashed reaching a modest target of 237 in the final.

Whether they will curse that final over from Shahadat Hussain which went for 19 runs with the last pair in or they hold the others responsible for it, Bangladesh had reasons to feel deprived of their maiden title win.

At 170 for three, with Nasir Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan going great guns, Bangladesh appeared on course of a comfortable win. Only 67 more runs were needed in eight overs which looked a straighforward task for them considering the purple patch of their batsmen.

But as we have seen so many times in the past, Pakistan came back from nowhere to derail the home side which, only for the second time in the tournament, faltered from a position of strength.

It was being anticipated that they would not repeat their mistakes after having suffered a loss at the hands of Pakistan in their league fixture. But they proved everyone wrong by literally throwing the match away.

The kind of fortune Misbah-ul-Haq has been enjoying for the past few months it was going to be difficult to tame him but Bangladesh were expected to perform much better than they did in their first-ever appearance in a final.

Irrespective of the conditions in which they had registered thumping victories over India and Sri Lanka the momentum was with Bangladesh and they seemed to be having a balanced outfit to bring home their maiden title. They ran out of luck, more than out of steam, in the final.

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Cricket suffers yet another major jolt in Asia Cup 2012

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Cricket was once again disgraced out in the open during the Asia Cup 2012 when hosts Bangladesh marched into final after recording a comfortable victory over Sri Lanka in the last league fixture on March 20. The outcome was as much predictable as the body language and the efforts on the field of the two teams.

The equation was quite uncomplicated and straightforward. It was not rocket science. Bangladesh had to win and Sri Lanka had to lose in order to prevent defending champions India from reaching the final. A Bangladesh-Pakistan final was predicted before the start of the game and every thing went according to the plan. The Nature also didn’t come in the way.

Although India, who had emerged triumphant in the last edition of the Asia Cup before going on to win the World Cup less than a year ago, wouldn’t have mind exiting from the tournament because they accomplished everything else other than retaining the title.

India should be returning home satisfied having overpowered both their bitter rivals, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides having watched their record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkur fulfill his ambition of scoring 100th international ton.

The Indian cricket authorities won’t feel embarassed for the above reacons but the cricket fans over there must have felt disheartened if not cheated by the shady deals that appeared to have taken place that marred the Bangladesh-India game.

In the prevailing circumstances every match in the Asia Cup is suspected of being fixed but there are two matches in particular where the emotions of a large number of people seemed to have been played with. It became apparent on so many occasions during the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka encounter that an engieered result was on the cards.

Bangladesh have rewritten their cricket history by advancing to the final of the Asia Cup for the first time. That they have done it in dubious manner, apparently with the support of the outside forces, certainly takes gloss out of their most awesome accomplishment yet.

They may even win the Asia Cup for the first time, since the event was launched in 1984. They would enter the final against Pakistan as underdogs despite their unexpected triumphs over India and Sri Lanka, the finalists of the last World Cup.

The kind of cricket that’s being played in the tournament and knowing the unpredictability and vulnerability of the Pakistanis in crunch games it should come as no real surprise if Bangladesh lift the trophy on March 22.

Interestingly betting and match-fixing were in the stage of infancy when the inaugural Asia Cup was staged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more than quarter of a century ago. Sharjah had just been inducted as a venue for One-day Internationals.

28 years down the road the mechanics of cricket have changed. In the past only just an odd game or two in years were feared to have been manipulated. It has become the other way round now. There are very few games that seem to remain unaffected of the outside forces. Let’s see how long cricket can endure this pain.

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Match gifted to celebrate Tendulkar’s 100th ton?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

How to classify the Asia Cup encounter between hosts Bangladesh and defending champions India at Dhaka on March 16, 2012? Was it the most memorable day for Indian cricket when Sachin Tendulkar completed the much awaited 100th international ton? Or was it the most shameful of days when succumbed to the minnows?

The majority of the people as well as the common sense say that a win-win situation was created by the stakeholders to let the Little Master reach the milestone which was haunting him for over a year.

Tendulkar did get the 100th hundred but at the cost of yet another match. Whether it was by design or by default the bottom line was that the team lost the game. As a newspaper highlighted in its report, it was his 25th century having come in a losing cause.

This is not to suggest that whenever he scores a hundred his team is going to be the second best on the day but there are valid reasons to prove the point that his centuries have not won matches for India.

Have a look at his last three centuries for example. The Indians were humiliated by Bangladesh at Dhaka when he scored his 100th century. India had lost to South Africa at Nagpur during the 2011 World Cup when Tendulkar amassed his 99th hundred. In the same competition India’s match against England at Bangalore was tied after he scored his 98th ton.

There are many people who believe that Tendulkar plays for himself rather than for the team. After all it can’t be mere coincidence that India rarely wins when he scores heavily. He has not been in the business of saving Test matches either for a very long time.

His records are unlikely to broken but it’s for the analysts and the statisticians to work out exactly if he has caused more damage to the team or has helped it. Wasn’t his latest century as forgettable as many of those that harmed the team’s interest?

It was an ordinary innings by his high standards. It was a patchy knock that cost his team immensely. He was not on top of the bowling at any stage and when he tried to make amends he was scalped.

It was the easiest of pitches to bat on and the outfield was very quick. The runs were there to be taking against a friendly bowling attack lacking fire or intensity. But it became much too obvious that the basic purpose of the proceedings to let Tendulkar get to his landmark.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, in mercurial touch, kept on providing the strike to Tendulkar rather than going after the bowling to post a big total. The master batsman was unable to dominate the Bangladesh bowlers and even his 100th run reflected nerves and uncertainty.

The low-key celebrations that followed had conveyed the message to many people that things were manipulated to ensure the 100th century. The refusal of the Indian batsmen to attempt quick runs in the death overs with wickets in hands dropped hints that the plan was not to set a daunting target for the home side. As was being anticipated in the knowledgeable circles Bangladesh did reach the target later in the evening.

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Bangladesh skipper, Board President lock horns

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The skipper of the Bangladesh cricket team, Shakib Al Hasan, and the President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), A H M Mustafa Kamal, have been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. Both of them appeared to be guilty of going overboard in a ceremony recently that was actually being held to celebrate their cricketing triumph.

It’s so easy to get carried away when provoked and you need depth of character to absorb remarks or comments that are not to liking. Both these gentlemen were found wanting in conducting themselves and their acts caused embarrassment instead in the hour of glory.

At the function organized to felicitate the team for its triumphs against the West Indies and Zimbabwe last year, BCB chief AHM Mustafa Kamal, should have avoided bitterly criticizing his team for losing the first Test of the ongoing home series against India. He didn’t have a point in questioning the commitment and sense of responsibility of the players after Bangladesh lost in Chittagong.

"You have to be more responsible and have to give your best. As a professional, I always want hundred per cent from the players and you have to be habituated with triumph and it will be not acceptable if you go down one day after winning a match the previous day," he was quoted as saying.

It was really unfair of the Board chief to have raised the issue in the ceremony even if he felt let down by the team. In any case his criticism looked totally unjustified. If he considered Bangladesh’s performance in the first Test as dismal or below par then I am afraid he needs to some crash courses on understanding the game.

Probably the BCB President was unaware of the fact that India are the top ranked Test side in the world and their batting line-up is hailed as one of the greatest of all-time. If the Bangladesh bowlers succeeded in routing them for less than 250 in their first innings they needed to be applauded not criticized. Then they very nearly equaled India’s first innings total.

The BCB President should have looked at the positives from the first Test rather than humiliating his players for losing the game in the final session.

Then the young Bangladesh skipper, Shakib-ul-Hasan, could not control his emotions and gave a befitting reply to the Board President by saying:

"No cricketer plays for defeat and we always try to give our best in the field. In order to get consistent success both players and the coaches should work together, no one can win on his own. Everyone should speak responsibly and assist us in our job. We will not win everyday, no one does. But our integrity should not be questioned.”

The BCB President had committed the first mistake and the Bangladesh skipper made the second mistake by taking on the former. Two wrongs don’t make one right. Shakib should have absorbed the remarks of the Board chief in the sporting spirit.

It didn’t stop there. A local newspaper, Kaler Kantho, posted a picture of Shakib kneeling in front of Mustafa Kamal after the function, reportedly to apologize for the comments. It was also reported that Shakib was also threatened with dire consequences by the BCB.

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A tale of two thrillers

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

January 16, 2009 turned out to be one of the most exciting days for the cricket enthusiasts all over the world. It was not unusual to have more one contest taking place on the day but there was double treat for the followers of the game as both the matches produced thrilling stuff until the very end.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were engaged in a low-scoring cliff-hanger in Mirpur while Australia and South Africa thrilled the audience at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with yet another memorable encounter between two of the strongest sides in the business today.
Sri Lanka were extremely lucky to get away with it against Bangladesh and it were the heroics of Muttiah Muralitharan with the bat that saved the day for the tourists. The Sri Lankans had appeared dead and buried when the top half of their batting was back in the hut with only six runs on the board.
Bangladesh had become the firm favourites to lift the trophy even while defending a modest total of 152 in the final of the three-nation series but their hopes were shattered by the belligerence of Muralitharan who surprised everyone with his match-winning cameo down the order.
Muralitharan is always expected to be a match-winner but that’s because of his outstanding qualities with the ball. His magical off-spin bowling has engineered innumerable conquests for his team in every form of the game but probably it was for the first time in his illustrious career that his batting exploits turned the tide so decisively.

Although the Man of the Match award was clinched by Kumar Sangakkara for his half-century that might not have mattered had Muralitharan not produced that sensational unbeaten knock of 33 from only 16 balls.
Sri Lanka would have fancied their chances of recoding a cakewalk win when they came out to chase a target of 153 in 50 overs. Indeed it should have been a straight forward proposition for their star-studded batting but the target was looking out of reach after the nightmarish start to their innings.

Bangladesh also had made a recovery in their innings after being 54 for 5 in the 19th over. They got themselves into a very good position when they progressed to 149 for 6 at the end of 47 overs. Ajantha Mendis mauled the lower-order as the hosts last their last four wickets for only three runs.
The quality of cricket at the MCG was obviously higher where Australia and South Africa locked horns. After a few twists and turns during the course of the high-scoring fixture South Africa managed to pull of their sixth successive ODI win over the hosts at the historic ground.
Albie Morkel’s blistering unbeaten knock of 40 from 18 balls settled the issue which was still in doubt when 50 runs were still needed from the last six overs. JP Duminy and Neil McKenzie had earlier played their role admirably in reviving the innings that had been off to a shaky start while chasing target of 272 in 50 overs.

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