As anticipated, the political masters of Pakistan have finally directed its national cricket team to lift the boycott and play India on 15 February, 2026, as scheduled in Colombo . The Masters must've thought the money at stake is too lucrative to continue indulging in such kind of grumpy politics. Of course, they had imposed some pre-conditions that included making the 'handshake' a mandatory protocol, but the ICC looked the other way. So, the PCB takes it as protecting the 'spirit of cricket'. The Indian cricket board , the sponsors, the TV channels and millions of fans who do not necessarily mix patriotism with sports, if it's cricket in particular, must be deliriously ecstatic that all the revenues and hype and excitement shall be there for harvest thr oughout the ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 , co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka . Most of the Indians fans must also be ecstatic to have their heroes go on vanquishing the enemy neighbor and humiliating t...
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| Mushfiqur Rahim |
The one-off Test match between India and Bangladesh begins tomorrow at Fatullah near Dhaka. Two points would make this match quite interesting. First, as we have mentioned earlier the host team cannot be taken lightly any more, at least in One-Day Internationals, after its strong performances in the World Cup-2015 and the recent series against Pakistan. Second, the bitter aftermath of the World Cup quarter final in March this year between the two teams sort of makes this a ‘revenge’ match for Bangladesh players and fans.
There were views about bad umpiring decisions that led to the rather untenable view that India robbed Bangladesh of a World Cup semi-final berth—the margin of defeat and the form of Team India at that time are pointers that India would not have lost the match under any circumstances. The ‘views’ were so strong that Mustafa Kamal who alleged Indian bias resigned as the President of the ICC. Anyway, cricket Tests nowadays need such ‘spices’ to make up for its diminishing appeal. Of course, players from both teams feel that this would not affect their relations as they moved ahead and past is past.
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| Virat Kohli |
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| Indian Strategy With Ravi Shastri? |
Virat Kohli will lead the Indian team for this Test while Mushfiqur Rahim leads Bangladesh amidst reports that the latter may not keep wickets due to an injury. Team India is full strength with the addition of the great spinner having 413 scalps, Harbhajan Singh who was recalled thanks to his spirited performances recently. India have won six of the seven Tests played so far against Bangladesh and they start as favourites. For Bangladesh batsman Mominul Haque would be eager to match South Africa’s AB de Villiers’ world record of scoring a half century in 12 consecutive Tests by getting just one more fifty. It is certain that the home team would give a tough fight and Virat’s captaincy would be really tested.
After this solitary Test there will be three ODIs on June 18, 21 and 24 during this short India tour of Bangladesh. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the team in the one-day matches. Some good cricket can be safely expected.
The Teams:
Bangladesh: (From) Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Nasir Hossain, Shuvagata Hom, Abul Hasan, Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Shahid.
India: (From) Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.
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