Bangladesh gifts Buddha's relic

The small Buddhist community in Bangladesh has gifted a few strands of a lock of hair said to have come from the Buddha to Sri Lanka as a goodwill gesture, an official said yesterday.

"The gift of Buddha's hair will raise friendship and goodwill between the two countries," Ajit Ranjan Barua of the Bangladesh Buddhist Association told DPA.

Bangladesh’s interim Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury handed over the sacred hair relic to his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama at a religious ceremony in Chittagong.

News via Earth Times, Ceylon Daily News

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to connect

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have decided to intensify talks to establish direct air and shipping links to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation, according private news agency UNB.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Bangladeshi Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, who led a high-powered delegation on a visit to Bangladesh.

After the meeting, the Sri Lankan foreign minister said they had comprehensive discussion on how to enhance economic ties through increasing trade and connectivity.

Adviser Chowdhury said that Sri Lanka wants to import cement, pharmaceuticals and potato from Bangladesh.

News via People's Daily Online

Bangladesh axe Bashar, Nafees

DHAKA, July 12 (Reuters) - Bangladesh have axed former captain Habibul Bashar and opener Shahriar Nafees for the one-day series against Sri Lanka later this month, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Thursday.

The two, accompanied by wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud, batsman Rajin Saleh and paceman Mohammad Sharif, will return home from Sri Lanka when the test series ends, the BCB said in a statement.

The three-match series begins in Colombo on July 20.

Bangladesh fighting in Colombo

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka Test Series - 1st Test, 2007

On the second day of Ashraful's inaugural Test-match, he has approached the experienced and versatile Sri Lankan Squad with vigour.

Although the question of Sri Lanka declaring soon enough was on everyones mind! There were odd moments of joy, and the lackluser performance in the 1st innings failed to devoid the team of spirit.

While both opening batsmen Shahriar Nafees and Javed Omar are still batting, chasing Sri Lanka's mammoth total of 577; the Bangladeshis are eyeing a heavy defeat.

However, there are encouraging signs on the weather front, forecasters have predicted a heavy deluge.

And on the sporting front, Ashraful has often claimed Sri Lanka as his batting-territory, and will be eager to prove himself as captain.

Bangladesh 89 & 3/0; Sri Lanka 577/6d
Stumps - Sri Lanka lead by 485 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 2nd innings.


DPMD Jayawardene 127* MG Vandort 117
Mohammad Rafique 28.5-1-138-1 Abdur Razzak 30-2-109-1

Bangladesh mauled in Colombo

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka Test Series - 1st Test, 2007

By lunch on the first-day of their test with Sri Lanka, the Bangladeshi batsmen again showed why they are often ridiculed by the international media, for their inconsistency.

While former captain Habibul Bashar's performance in the warm-up was encouraging, he managed a paltry-two, avoiding the golden-duck by a fathoms length!


Looking ahead to a second-day, it might be up to the bowlers to save the day. Shahadat Hossain showed some signs, but in the end the Sri-Lankan batsmen proved to capable for a Bangladeshi side still reeling from the departure of the influential Dave Whatmore.


Bangladesh 89; Sri Lanka 227/3
Stumps - Sri Lanka lead by 138 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.


TM Dilshan 27* MG Vandort 87*
Mohammad Rafique 11-1-46-0 Abdur Razzak 14-1-47-1

Asian dilemma

Asia’s headhunt for cricket coaches is getting curious and curious by the day.

It is by a strange coincidence that one finds the four leading cricket nations in the subcontinent India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in a situation where they are all on the search for a suitable foreign cricket coach for their respective national cricket teams.

Among the four coaches who quit their jobs Whatmore has the best credentials. He was the only coach to guide a team to win the World Cup.

He achieved it in his initial stint as coach with the Sri Lanka team in 1996. His instant success proved a successful formula for other Asian countries to emulate.

In his second assignment with Sri Lanka three years later he took them to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2003.

News via The Nation - Image by Amer Habib

Bangladesh against India: Test Review

Occasional brilliance has failed to mask that Bangladesh have a long way to go before they can consistently challenge bigger teams in Tests, like they have started to in the one-dayers.

Mashrafe Mortaza is the only batsman who applied himself and showed what could be done if the better batsmen, too, had put their heads down. The Bangladeshi bowlers, helped by the experience of Mohammad Rafique, have improved more than the batsmen.


With their coach gone, and their former-captain struggling for every single run, Bangladesh are entering a transitionary phase. For India, the Test series was expected to be easier than the one-dayers.

The biggest positive for India would be a second 100-run opening partnership between Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik in three Tests.

Bigger challenges await both the teams after this series - Bangladesh go to Sri Lanka and India to England. They will both go with a knowledge that they could have done better in this series.

News via Cricinfo