After winning the election, the new MP arrived in a car with a new bat and went into the indoor facilities this afternoon to prepare for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He’s returning to training after being sidelined with an injury for a few weeks. Today, he’s expected to train with his childhood mentor Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who arrived before him. The Awami League candidate for Magura-1 constituency won the election with a total of 185,388 votes.

Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, won a seat in the country’s Parliament during the general elections on Sunday, January 7. Contesting from Magura-1 for Awami League, Shakib secured a significant victory in the elections, which were boycotted by the opposition. He defeated his closest rival, Kazi Rezaul Hossain, by a margin of 1,50,000 votes, with Hossain securing 45,993 votes. Shakib took a break from cricket to focus on his election campaign. Before the polls, he expressed that while there were challenges, he was not facing any serious barriers.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also secured another term for Awami League, with her party winning 200 out of the 300 parliamentary seats. Although the election commission stated that the Awami League might be proclaimed the winner based on the current results, the counting is still proceeding. The final announcement will be made after counting votes in the remaining constituencies.

Shakib’s last cricket appearance was in the ODI World Cup 2023, where he led Bangladesh to an eighth-placed finish. Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy spot was guaranteed by this outcome, despite the team’s lackluster record; Sri Lanka and the Netherlands were not included. Following the World Cup, Bangladesh played against New Zealand in two different tours, one at home and one away, but Shakib did not participate in any of these assignments

Tamim fulfilled the Under-19 cricket team’s request for high-quality bats ahead of the Asia Cup. Using his sponsorship ties, he worked with the Bangladesh Cricket Board to secure 15 bats for the players. Tamim personally contacted the board president and CEO, and upon approval, handed over the bats during the team’s practice in Mirpur. The U-19 team, currently training for the World Cup, will head to South Africa on January 7 after the Mirpur camp. They have warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and will kick off the World Cup against India, followed by matches against Ireland and USA.

Saikat recently made history as the first Bangladeshi umpire in the ODI World Cup. He officiated in five matches, including the Australia-New Zealand game in the 2023 World Cup. Additionally, the 44-year-old served as the fourth umpire in three matches, including the England-New Zealand opening match, and acted as a television umpire in three more matches. The confirmation of this achievement came from BCB Umpires Committee Chairman Iftikhar Ahmed Mithu on Wednesday.

“Saikat went to the World Cup, he did very well there. As a result, the ICC has also noticed him. Hopefully, he will be called from many places. Because there is no corona and the rule of neutral umpire is back. Saikat is going for umpiring in the Australia-West Indies series,” said Mithu.

Saikat umpired in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand and has been part of the U-19 World Cup multiple times. He was also in the umpiring panel for the last Emerging Asia Cup.

Currently, there’s a tour with two Tests, three ODIs, and three T20Is. The first Test is scheduled for January 17 in Adelaide, followed by the second Test on January 25 in Brisbane. The ODI series will kick off on February 2.

Shoriful performed exceptionally well in the Bangladesh-New Zealand series, taking six wickets in three matches and earning the best player award. Mustafizur Rahman, ranked 22 among Bangladeshi players, improved by five spots, giving 4.88 runs per over with 2 wickets in New Zealand. Other notable bowlers include Shakib Al Hasan (28), Mehidy Hasan (29), Taskin Ahmed (33), Nasum Ahmed (35), and Hasan Mahmud (43). However, there were no significant improvements in batting, with Litton Das leading at 23 (falling two steps) and Nazmul Hossain at number 32.

Hathurusingha thinks there’s a lot to learn from this tour. The Tigers won their first ODI and T20I matches against the Kiwis in New Zealand. Additionally, Bangladesh ended the T20I series with a 1-1 draw. They won the first match by 5 wickets, their first T20I victory in New Zealand. The second match was canceled due to rain, and New Zealand won the third match by 17 runs (DLS).

“I thought the attitude of players this young group had no fear. They wanted to compete in the middle. And the other thing I thought, leadership of Shanto, outstanding,” said Hathurusingha in the post-match conference.

“He was tactically spot on and very clear with the messages with the players, what they expect, what he expect from them. And I thought we did the basic longer than before in terms of adapting to the conditions,” he said.

The coach recognized that the tour was a success for Bangladesh cricket.

“As you said, the beginning of the series, we spoke about what we have done before and we want to do better than that. So in that, sense I think this was a very successful tour,” he added.

In a challenging pursuit of a modest target, the host faced a setback against the Tigers as Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan both took two wickets, leaving New Zealand at 49-5.

Mahedi Hasan removed Tim Seifert (1) and Daryl Mitchell (1), while Shoriful claimed the crucial wickets of Finn Allen (38) and Glenn Philips (1).

Neesham and Santner’s resilient partnership of 46 runs steadied New Zealand, reaching 95-5 in 14.4 overs before rain interrupted play. Neesham (28) and Santner (18) remained unbeaten.

Santner earlier took four wickets, limiting Bangladesh to 110 runs. Bangladesh struggled from the start, losing top-order batsmen in the powerplay. Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with 16 runs.

Soumya Sarkar (4) was the first to depart, trapped leg-before by Tim Southee. Shanto and Rony Talukdar tried to rebuild, but Santner’s four-wicket haul disrupted their efforts. Towhid Hridoy (16), Afif Hossain (14), and Shamim Hossain (9) couldn’t rescue Bangladesh.

The visitors won the opening T20I by 5 wickets, securing their first-ever T20I win in New Zealand. The second match was washed out. Despite losing the ODI series 1-2, Bangladesh bounced back to claim a historic ODI win on New Zealand soil in the final match, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto.

Persistent rain disrupted the second T20I match between Bangladesh and New Zealand today at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The game was limited to only 11 overs before being called off. Despite the umpires waiting until the end and considering a five-over contest, the rain didn’t let up, leading to an early end to the match. Just 66 balls were bowled during this brief period of play. The third and final T20 is scheduled for Sunday at Mount Maunganui, where Bangladesh has a chance to secure their first series win in New Zealand in any format.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity and will do our best. We have full confidence in winning the series, In Sha Allah. In this series, we focus on the positives and don’t see any negatives. Catch-misses can happen, and we’re taking it in stride. Hoping for a better performance in the next match, In Sha Allah,” said Rishad after the match. He bowled economically, giving away only 10 runs in three overs without taking any wickets.

Tim Seifert scored 43 runs off 23 balls for the Kiwis before getting caught, ending his second-wicket partnership of 49 with Daryl Mitchell just as rain began to fall.

Seifert praised young Rishad, saying, “He bowled very well. Despite the strong Save wind, he bowled into it and hitting straight was tough. The boys played him well, and credit to him for bowling well in the first two overs.”

Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib teamed up to dismiss New Zealand’s openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Bangladesh’s captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second T20I at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, on Friday. In a change for Bangladesh, Litton Das got injured in the first T20I, which Bangladesh won by five wickets. Shamim Hossain took his place in the playing XI. New Zealand stuck with the same lineup, fielding an unchanged XI.

The playing XIs are as follows:

New Zealand (Playing XI):Tim Seifert(w), Ben Sears,Mitchell Santner(c),Dary Mitchell, Finn Allen, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Tim Southee.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Rony Talukdar(w), Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Towhid Hridoy,Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman,Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain.

BCB faced criticism for hosting matches without DRS multiple times, but they’re making improvements for the upcoming franchise-based tournament. BCB match referee Rakibul Hasan mentioned that they will now include Hawkeye technology, which should reduce incorrect umpiring decisions. BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury also confirmed a DRS services agreement until 2027.

“We are going for the long term. We have entered into a long-term agreement with those who directly provide the DRS service, till 2027. International and domestic cricket (BPL) in Bangladesh will always have DRS from now on,” said Nizamuddin.

In the previous BPL editions, there was the use of DRS, but ultra-edge technology was absent. The 9th season of BPL will kick off with a match between Comilla Victorians and Duronto Dhaka.