Bangladesh Cricket Team played its first ODI match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup on 31st March, 1986. So far they have played a very good Cricket , yet it has not been consistent. Lack of transparent selection process, inability to groom the talent for international Cricket, substandard facilities and Politics has further added to the chaos.
Bangladesh Cricket got the test status in Nov, 2000 and since then won only 19 tests (not even 1 test win in a year). They hold the record of the most consecutive losses in One Day Internationals and Tests (23 and 21 respectively).
They have not won any Test Match against India, Pakistan and South Africa in 24 years. Occasional performances from their top player, Shakib-al-Hasan helped the team won some matches, but there has always been a scarcity of promising players. He is now aging 37 and approaching the twilight of his career.
Bangladeshi fans treat their team with highest pride and call them “Tigers”. Despite having so much backing from the nation, Bangladesh Cricket Team’s biggest ODI performance is beating Sri Lanka in Nidahas Trophy Semi-Final in 1999. Also, they reached to the Semi-Finals in 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
As of 1st May 2024, Bangladesh is ranked 9th in Tests, 8th in ODIs and 9th in T20Is by the ICC. Interestingly, in their span of 38 years of One Day International Cricket, they have not tied a match with any team.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board(BCB) is the governing body of Cricket affairs in the country and the chief of BCB is appointed by the Government of Bangladesh, this adds fuel to the political interference in the sports.
On the lines of Indian Premier League(IPL), BCB introduced Bangladesh Premier League(BPL) in 2012 to upscale talent identification and grooming. Yet, their T20 International performance did not get any improvement. They have lost 60% of T20 games played so far and not a single victory in T20 World Cups against test playing nation except West Indies in 2007.
Time for ICC to intervene and fix Bangladesh Cricket Board?
