Did you know? Six of the last eight Tests between Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been drawn, with one win apiece
Sport
Sunday, January 5, 2014
DHAKA TRIBUNE
13
0 7 0 DAYS TO GO
14 City face fixture pile-up as Rovers earn replay
15 Sri Lanka salvages draw in first Pakistan Test
Russell sweat past Chittagong Abahani n Shishir Hoque Sheikh Russell KC came from behind to earn a hardfought 2-1 victory over the spirited Chittagong Abahani to salvage all three points in their second Bangladesh Premier League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Following their convincing 4-0 victory against Uttar Baridhara in their opening encounter, the reigning champions had to toil hard against the newly promoted side to get their successive victory of the league. Chittagong Abahani’s Nigerian striker Nepoleon Gabriel’s 13th minute opener was cancelled out by French midfielder Maxime Eric Roger three minutes later before Moroccan forward Younes Roux
slammed the winner for Sheikh Russell in the second-half.
Sheikh Russell’s Moroccan forward Youness Raux scores the winner against Chittagong Abahani at the BNS yesterday
MUMIT M
Asia Cup remains in Bangladesh Afghanistan to feature as fifth team in this edition just called from Colombo and informed eleven,” Nizamuddin added. n Minhaz Uddin Khan ACC CEO Syed Ashraful Huq inthat we will be hosting the tournament,” Millions across the country were relieved after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in its executive meeting at Colombo yesterday confirmed that the Asia Cup in March will not be shifted and it will be hosted by Bangladesh. The current political turmoil in Bangladesh had raised questions of whether it would be correct to host the tournament here and should it be shifted to another country. It created more doubts with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board offering to hold the tournament recently, but the phone call from Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hossain, who attended the ACC meeting in Sri Lanka, to Jalal Younus cleared the gloomy weather. “Asia Cup is going nowhere. The president (BCB president Nazmul Hasan)
said chairman of media and communications, BCB, Jalal to the media personals who were around him at the BCB office premises during the call. The concrete announcement of the decision followed within minutes after the ACC meeting ended in Colombo. “As of now, the decision has been made that Bangladesh will retain hosting rights of the Asia Cup,” said BCB acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury. Meanwhile, the traditional fourteam Asia Cup will see another nation joining the event. “We had a good meeting with ACC board members, and they have been convinced that we can host the tournament. Afghanistan has also been added to the tournament, making it a five-team event and the number of matches has gone up to
formed the media that the members did not have any precise queries about the security in Bangladesh while the tournament being held. “Bangladesh provided a detailed security plan to the ACC, which was studied and agreed to. If any member has any other concerns, they should address it with Bangladesh,” said Ashraful. In December, the West Indies Under-19s withdrawal from their tour after a bomb exploded near their hotel in Chittagong caught attention of the international media. The news around the globe made cricket boards of the participating nations in the Asia Cup show concern. Pakistan Cricket Board, who have been in bitter terms with the BCB for some time now, were the most
vocal with the issue. It was reported that the PCB might reconsider of sending its team for the Asia Cup and for the growing anti-Pakistan feelings across Bangladesh over the war-criminal’s trial. “The BCB and the Bangladesh government have no issue with Pakistan participating in the Asia Cup. It is their (PCB) decision whether to send their team or not,” said BCB president Nazmul to a local news channel in Dhaka over phone yesterday. “We always believe that cricket will remain above politics in Bangladesh and the country is crazy for the game. The situation is not like the tournament needs to be shifted to some other country. We have always said that the trouble is political, not terrorism. The situation will better as days passes by,” Nazmul added. l
The port city club, who finished the Bangladesh Championship League as champions to earn the top flight ticket, put a brave display throughout the game. Led by Gabriel, Chittagong Abahani fired all cylinders and played as a total unit despite the absence of their head coach Habibur Rahman. Russell coach Maruful Haque handed the debut to his new foreign recruits Eric Roger and Younes Roux in the premier league and they repaid the faith in some style. However, it was the Chittagong side who initiated the first attack with just three minutes on the clock. Gabriel did well to break into the penalty area from the left flank, but his shot hit the side netting. They, however, didn’t have to wait long to make the first breakthrough as Gabriel put Chittagong Abahani ahead with a brilliant solo effort in the 13th minute. Receiving a through from defender Masuk Mia Jony, Gabriel dribbled past two defenders before firing home through the gap of two defenders. Biplob dived to his right but his touch on the ball was not enough from stopping it roll inside the goal. Abahani’s delight lasted for only three minutes when Eric Roger restored the parity from a 20-yard leftfooted free-kick. The lead was almost restored three minutes after the resumption but Biplob saved his side producing a superb
McInnes disappointed with early exit UCB Club Cup Hockey n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh Under-19 cricket coach Richard McInnes is disappointed with Bangladesh’s exit from the ACC U-19 Asia Cup in spite of a good run. With wins in the first two games, the young tigers were a strong contender for the semi-finals. But Afghanistan denied Bangladesh from the next stage of the tournament. The former moved onto the semi-finals on the basis of the net run-rate after three teams – Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka - had the same number of points in the Group B. “It is really disappointing not to reach
the final stage of the tournament. The team was consistent beating Afghanistan by 16 runs and later Malaysia by nine wickets and a narrow defeat against Sri Lanka. But net run-rate pushed us out of the competition,” said McInnes to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. Bangladesh U-19 has no scheduled international matches ahead of the ICC U-19 World Cup in February. McInnes informed that a few more matches in the Asia Cup could have helped the cricketers prepare more as the venues are the same for the World Cup. “It’s our bad luck not to have played few more games and that we don’t
have any scheduled series ahead of the World Cup. I don’t think we are prepared up to the mark for the big event as of now but I hope we will be able to hold a healthy camp and few matches with senior teams once the political unrest cools off,” informed McInnes. The 39-year old Australian marked the U-19 skipper Mehidy Hassan Miraz as a good prospect for the future if nurtured well. “We don’t have players which can replace Shakib or say Mushfiq in future. However there are very good talents in the team and they only thing needed is to groom them well,” he added. l
Shakib al Hasan flashes the shirt of Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide yesterday. Shakib is likely to become the first cricketer from Bangladesh to play in the Big Bash today against Sydney Sixers COURTESY
Sheikh Russell coach Maruful Haque fought hard to content his emotions after his team edged past a spirited Chittagong Abahani 2-1 in the Bangladesh Premier League yesterday. His counterpart thought his team did not enjoy the favour of lady luck as they dominated the procedure yet finished as the losers. The young players of Chittagong Abahani sent the chill through the Russell spine on many occasions and Maruf said he was expecting it. “To be frank I was ready to see Chittagong Abahani put the strong resistance against us, they are speedy and the players have been together for a long time, however we were focused
RESULT Sheikh Russell Roger 16 Roux 65
2-1 Ctg Abahani
Gabriel 13
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
breaks from left of the 3” Gabriel penalty area but hits the side
netting GOAL! Gabriel put Chittagong Abahani ahead with a brilliant solo effort. Receiving a through from Jony, Gabriel dribbled past two defenders and fired the ball home. GOAL! Maxime Eric Roger equalises from a 20-yard out left-footed free kick. Moroccan forward Youness Roux earned the free-kick when Nazrul Islam fouled him just outside the box Biplob produces a superb diving save to deny Atikur Rahman’s powerful shot from going in Ricardo Cousins header hits the sidebar on an Imrul Hasan Emu cross GOAL! Younes Roux sealed the victory for Russell slotting home with an angular shot, thanks to pin-pointed cross of Cousins Atiqur Rahman’s left-footed shot hit the woodwork after the striker received a pass from Sohel Mia
13”
16”
48” 57”
65” 75”
starts tomorrow
Sri Lanka to decide on Jan 9
n Raihan Mahmood
n Minhaz Uddin Khan
Sonali Bank and Shadharan Bima will feature in the inaugural match of the UCB Club Cup Hockey at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium at 1:00pm tomorrow. Later at 3pm Abahani Ltd will face Dhaka Wanderers in the second match of the opening day. The other three clubs of the seven-team meet, which by tradition has always served the purpose of a warm-up tournament of the premier division hockey league, are Usha KC, Ajax SC and Azad SC.
The four rebel hockey clubs - Mohammedan, Mariners, Wari and Bangladesh Sporting Club - who declared not to play under the current executive committee remained out of the tournament. The champions of the meet will receive a purse of Tk30000 while the runners-up will get Tk20000. In a press conference yesterday tournament secretary Anvir Adil Khan presented the meet to the press. Sponsors United Commercial Bank will provide Tk200000 for the tournament while the approximate budget of the event is Tk250000. l
Maruf relieved, Taher blames luck n Raihan Mahmood
diving save to deny Atikur Rahman’s powerful strike after the midfielder owned the rebound from a goalmouth melee. It was hard for anyone to take their eyes off the game as the flurry of attacks and counter attacks was heading for an interesting finish. Amid a number of attacks from both the sides, Roux scored the all-important goal in the 65th minute to open his league account. The Moroccan forward slotted the ball past Piaruzzaman with an angular shot from inside the box after receiving a cross of Cousins. Chittagong Abahani had an opportunity to equalise as Atiqur Rahman hit the woodwork in the 75th minute. With two victories from two Russell sits at the top of the chart with six points. l
upon our job and we at last emerged victorious,” said Russell. Maruf said his team struggled to adapt the system of 3-3-1-3 as French midfielder Maxim Rogers and
Chittagong Abahani created more pressure than we expected, they were spirited, however we fought hard to win the match Moroccan forward Younnes Raux played their first match in the league. “They did not play the first match as Raux was injured and Maxim was on a vacation, two changes made my formation unstable but I hope with more time it will improve,” he added.
Having no seasoned left-back Maruf had to go with the relatively unfamiliar formation. Younnes Raux, the scorer of the winner said he was happy to see his team win. “Chittagong Abahani created more pressure than we expected, they were spirited, however we fought hard to win the match,” said the Moroccan. Meanwhile Chittagong Abahani assistant coach Abu Taher Siddque and his forward Sohel Miah thought they could have won if luck was in their favour. “I think if we could have kept the lead further then it would have been a different story, we have been practicing for the last two months and we dominated the match,” said Siddique. l
Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision of Bangladesh remaining as the host of the Asia Cup should relax Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with their concern of security, believes cricket experts. This will also give the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) the momentum to convince SLC of going through with the bilateral series scheduled to begin on January 27. The BCB chairman of media and communication Jalal Younus informed that the BCB president Nazmul Hasan and the BCB CEO had a meeting with SLC yesterday and so far any negative is unlikely. “The meeting was fruitful and there were no negatives as far as I know. They (SLC) will wait for clearance from their government and asses the post-election condition in Bangladesh,” informed Jalal to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. Jayantha Dharmadasa, the SLC chairman also echoed the same thought and said a decision on the tour will be made soon. “Sri Lanka are also due to tour Bangladesh from January 24, and SLC is presently conducting its own security appraisal. A final decision on whether that tour will go ahead as scheduled will be made on January 9,” Dharmadasa said to the media. Bangladesh, scheduled to host the ICC World Twenty20 in March, will also look forward to the ICC’s move on the situation. The ICC, too, will hold security inspections of the country, before deciding whether to retain Bangladesh as the host for the World Twenty20. l