The Rise of Cricket in Bangladesh

 


Cricket is one of the most popular sports among the people of Bangladesh. Before diving deeper into how cricket gained its popularity in Bangladesh, let's look at what cricket is and some of the basic rules of cricket.  In simple terms, cricket is a game played between two teams consisting of 11 players each where one team gets to bowl and another team gets to bat. Now, let's look into how cricket was introduced in Bangladesh and how it gradually rose to the point of being one of the most popular sports.




How it all started:

Cricket was first introduced in the land of Bengal by the British during the eighteenth century. After the partition and the creation of East Pakistan, the game of cricket started to gain popularity among the people of this region. Both first-class and Test cricket were played during the 1950s and 1960s. But after the independence of Bangladesh, the country lost first-class status and had to regain its position as a full member of International Cricket Council(ICC).





How things went after the independence of Bangladesh:

International cricket in Bangladesh began during 1976/77 when the Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) came to play against the Bangladesh national team. MCC played their first match against a regional team in Rajshahi which ended in a draw. However, the main attraction of the tour of MCC was the first unofficial Test against the MCC which was played at Dhaka on 4 January 1997. This match also ended in a draw. 




Regaining the full membership of ICC: 

 



The first major achievement of Bangladesh national team came during 1997 when they went on to win the ICC Trophy which was hosted by Malaysia. As a result, Bangladesh Cricket Team qualified for the 1999 Cricket World Cup for the very first time. Bangladesh Cricket Team also played well in the World Cup where they won two out of their five Group Stage matches, from which one of them was against the mighty Pakistan. This win came as a significant boost for the Bangladesh Cricket Team and their hopes of getting full membership of ICC started to rejuvenate. Bangladesh created its National Cricket League(NCL) in 1999-2000, which was one of the criteria to get a full membership of the ICC. Finally, the golden moment came when Bangladesh rose from their position of associate member to full-time member of ICC and with that marked the formal establishment of Bangladesh Cricket Board(BCB). In November 2000, the Bangladesh team played its first ever official test match against India at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.




The current situation of cricket in Bangladesh:

Currently, cricket is the most followed sports in Bangladesh. The cricket fans of Bangladesh love their team with utmost fervor. After the full-time membership of ICC, Bangladesh team has had a lot of achievements and heartbreaks at the same time. There have been numerous occasions where Bangladesh team could have won the match, but let it slip out of their hands either due to poor batting or fielding. One of the most heartbreaking moments for Bangladesh cricket fans was the 2012 Asia Cup Finals where they lost to Pakistan for only 2 runs. If we go on to count all the close encounters that Bangladesh had lost, then the list would get really big. 

However, there are also some sweet memories that would always remain in the minds of Bangladesh cricket fans. To mention one of them, a surprising win against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 got them across the group stage of the tournament to reach the semi-finals. A stunning partnership of 224 runs between Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad helped the Tigers ensure that they reach the semi-finals which seemed absolutely impossible at one stage of the game. There are many such games where the Tigers have made a sudden comeback and offered the team and their fans some great memories to cherish. Perhaps, cricket will remain one of the most followed sports in Bangladesh if the future of cricket remains in the hands of the well-wishers of the country's cricket!!!










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