Did you know? Kazakhstan (2002), Montenegro (2007) and Gibraltar (2013) are the three latest members who joined Uefa in the 21st Century
Sport
Friday, October 17, 2014
14 Suarez receives
top scorer award from Dalglish
14 Messi celebrates
10 years since Barca debut
DHAKA TRIBUNE
13
15 Cairns in London
court on charges of perjury
Hosts seek to build on momentum n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh seek to put up another gallant show against UAE in their second group match of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 5pm today. The hosts stunned the superior ranked Jordan as they beat the title contenders 1-0 on Wednesday and Bangladesh coach Golam Rabbani Choton wants his charges to build on the momentum. “We want to continue the winning spree. We have forgotten what happened in the past. We are fully focused upon the next match and tomorrow (today) is a new day and a new match. We will put our full effort,” said Choton. Though UAE were thrashed by Iran 0-9 in the opening game of the five-nation tournament, Choton is not taking their opponents lightly and said, “Iran is a strong team and UAE is not very inferior to us. We have to focus on our
duties. I have asked the girls to focus on their jobs and not what happened in the past.” The coach pointed out that Bangladesh had very less shots on target against Jordan so they worked on the lacking and expects his team to fire on all cylinders. “We had a workout on shooting. I have asked the players to shoot the ball whenever its possible. I want goals and proper finishing,” added Choton. Choton revealed previously they targeted a win against UAE only, but now the win over Jordan has raised their bar. He urged his players to keep calm and play their normal game. “Before the tournament UAE was our lone target. I spoke to my players about not taking any pressure and doing anything extra. I want my players to play their normal game and show the teamwork.” Meanwhile, the first match on the day at 2pm is the high voltage affair between the highest ranked India and Iran. l
A Bangladesh Under-16 woman footballer controls the ball during training at Kamalapur Stadium yesterday
COURTESY
Mushfiq brushes aside worries in warm-up Iranian team victim n Minhaz Uddin Khan National Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim’s mental strength was questioned following the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) decision to relieve the wicket-keeper-batsman from the captain’s job in ODIs and Twenty20 internationals. Mushfiq’s lack of interaction with the media after the BCB decision on September 29 gave birth to fears that the change in captaincy in the limited-over formats might hamper his onfield performance. The 26-year old, however, proved everyone wrong as he scored a chanceless half-century in the three-day practice match at Mirpur yesterday ahead of the
upcoming home series against Zimbabwe. The national cricketers reached the final stage of their preparation for the upcoming 45-day long series against Zimbabwe with this game. The Mushfiq-led BCB Red team won the toss and took first strike although their decision backfired as their two openers – Liton Das and Mohammad Mithun – were dismissed for ducks within the third over of the innings. BCB Green paceman Shahadat Hossain initiated the early inroads from which, however, BCB Red later recovered. Top-order batsman Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah were the first pair to start the recovery act as they added 42 runs for the third wicket. Spinner Tai-
jul Islam, who came on to bowl the 14th over, dismissed Sabbir (29) following which Mushfiq arrived at the crease. In-law brothers Mushfiq and Mahmudullah then slowed things down in the middle and milked runs whenever they got the opportunity. The duo batted for around two sessions and posted only 66 runs. In the 41st over of the day, BCB Red all-rounder Shakib al Hasan dismissed Mahmudullah (58) to break the partnership. Mushfiq stayed on for two more overs before becoming Shakib’s second victim. The right-handed batsman scored 62 runs facing 154 balls with the help of half a dozen boundaries and two sixes. Out-of-form middle-order batsman
Nasir Hossain displayed some urgency scoring a quick 49. The performance, however, will hardly have any bearing on the overall situation as the national selection panel, according to sources, have already decided to omit the right-handed batsman from the Test squad. BCB Green declared the innings with 220 runs on the board and three wickets intact. Shakib and Shahadat picked up two wickets each. BCB Green batted out the remaining 14 overs of the day and registered 45 runs for the loss of a wicket before match officials removed the bails and called it a day. The vice-captain in Tests, Tamim Iqbal, led the BCB Green and was unbeaten on 16 alongside Mominul Haque (two not out). l
of burglary n Raihan Mahmood
The visiting Iran Under-16 women’s football team fell prey to burglary at their team hotel and claimed that $1260 has been stolen from their rooms. The Iranian team management said the incident of theft took place while the side were in the stadium last Wednesday playing against the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian team came to know about the loss upon their return to the hotel. The team are staying at Hotel Victory, Naya Paltan. The Bangladesh Football Federa-
The axe finally falls on ‘Mr Consistent’ n Mazhar Uddin
Veteran paceman Mashrafe bin Mortaza (C) takes a break during the opening day of the three-day practice match between BCB Red and BCB Green at Mirpur yesterday MUMIT M
Kruif to return on Sunday n Raihan Mahmood Lodewijk de Kruif, the Dutch head coach of Bangladesh football team will return to his job on Sunday. The head coach, who flew to Holland to see his ailing father demanded his salary and threatened not to return, however, changed his decision and agreed to board the flight tomorrow. Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag confirmed the development and said, “De Kruif agreed to return on Sunday. We confirmed the tickets for him and Rene Koster today (yesterday). We told him that he will get his current month’s
salary after their arrival and it is not possible for us to send the money to Holland. We will provide the money as soon as possible to them but they have to be in Dhaka.” Shohag also added that as per the previous commitment De Kruif agreed that he will not ask for the dues before November while BFF also promised him to clear three months’ dues within November. De Kruif’s only assignment in hand will be to prepare the national side for the two international friendlies against Sri Lanka scheduled to be played in Jessore and Rajshahi on October 24 and 27 respectively. l
Dhaka underground football starts today
n Raihan Mahmood Dhaka Underground Champion’s Cup, focussing on the underground football teams of the capital city, begins at Army Hockey Ground today. A total of 32 boys’ teams and 8 girls’ sides are gearing up to play in the two-day tournament. Around 400 players are expected to participate in the competition. The organisers have roped in ‘Mojo’ as the title sponsor, WOW Burger as the food partner, McIntyre as the merchandise partner and Magnito Digital as the social partner. l
Once considered as Mr Consistent in the Bangladesh line-up Nasir Hossain is likely to face the axe from the Test squad after a horrible run with the bat this year. The selectors are having a difficult time in finalising the Test squad for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe and it was learned from sources that Nasir might finally have to pay for his poor form. Nasir made two, one, 19 and two in his last four innings away to West Indies in September while he registered only 99 runs this year in seven innings with an average of 14.14 and highest 42 runs. In 2013 he scored a combined 387 runs in eight innings at an average of 48.375. Instead Nasir might be featuring in the Bangladesh A team that will travel to Kolkata to play in a four-team tournament on the occasion of Eden Garden’s 150th year celebration. Meanwhile, with the 2015 World Cup in mind the selectors are willing to send the potential one-day players to India with the A team with Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza leading the second string side. In that regard opening batsman Anamul Haque, whose batting technique has often been questioned for the longer version, is also likely to be heading out of the Test squad. However, according to few sources Mashrafe might ask for rest and in that case Nasir, Anamul and Mithun Ali will be the frontrunners of captaining the A team. The teenage spearhead Taskin Ahmed and wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das are also among the probables to tour with the A team. “Nasir is in our mind for the A team as I said we will be sending our ODI side
BCB receives FTP draft till 2023 n Minhaz Uddin Khan
on this tour and he plays all the three formats of the game for Bangladesh,” chief selector Faruk Ahmed informed yesterday. However, Faruk is also against too much shuffling in the side and he put Tamim Iqbal, who suffered from a poor form, as an example. Even after terrible performances one after another Tamim was not dropped and he eventually fired in West Indies as Faruk said they want to give the important players that space to return to form.
TEST CAREER Year 2011 2012 2013 2014
Tests 4 2 6 4
Runs 209 263 387 99
tion (BFF) officials went to the hotel and talked with the management. BFF women’s wing deputy chairman Mahfuza Akhter Kiron said they are aware of the incident. “We came to know about the incident in the morning. It happened in the hotel and they have to take the responsibility. We will take the required action regarding this matter,” said Kiron. Questions have been raised, however, as to why the visiting teams have been taken to hotels that do not have a very good reputation. l
Avg 29.86 65.75 48.38 14.14
Back in 2007 when Faruk was the selector, he sent a young contingent to the World Cup in West Indies that paid back in dividends. Current superstars Tamim, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan (who were all teenagers that time) are the outcome from that very edition where Bangladesh reached the second round eliminating India from the group stage. But Faruk believes the situation is different now and it is difficult to find a good combination. “Things have changed as we don’t have a strong domestic league. Previously we had to depend on the age level players, that was the best young batch for us and I gambled. Seven eight years have passed and at the moment we are at the middle stage where we have some good players and some suitable players for those conditions while some players are also injured,” said Faruk. l
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) received a list of international matches for the next cycle of the Future Tours Programme running till the year 2023. The development came following the latest International Cricket Council meeting held in Dubai last week. Till the end of 2023, Bangladesh will play several home and away series. However, BCB media committee chairman Jalal Younus informed that Bangladesh will have to make bilateral arrangements in order to reach an agreement with the likes of South Africa, England and Australia. “We got the draft of the agreement,” Jalal told the media yesterday. “We will have to work on arranging matches with England, South Africa and Australia. Our CEO (Nizamuddin Chowdhury) will discuss the matter with the concerned authorities following which everything will be finalised and we can say how many matches we will get till 2023,” he added. Jalal further informed that the BCB will get a clear picture of the number of Test and ODI matches they will be playing till the end of 2023 within the next seven days. Meanwhile, when queried to give the latest on suspended Bangladesh spinner Sohag Gazi, Jalal said, “We will discuss with the Bangladesh coaching staff. They will decide who will work with Gazi to rectify his bowling action. “There is Ruwan Kalpage, (Mohammad) Salahuddin. The latter is in Malaysia now. We have not taken any decision yet but he (Gazi) may be sent to any exclusive place or may be sent to Malaysia to work with Salahuddin,” Jalal said. l