Bangladeshi cricket team in Pakistan in 1986
The tour, during March, 1986, was in preparation for Bangladesh's participation in the 2nd Asia Cup, later that month. Also, this tour can be considered as a follow up of the tour of a Pak side (officially called the Omar Quareshi XI), led by Imran Khan, during early January.Out of the 6 matches played, the tourists won 2, and lost the remaining 4.[1]
Scores in brief
| Date | Match | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 March | Bangladesh v Rawalpindi | Bangladesh 125/7 (Raqibul Hasan 49) | Rawalpindi 126/7 (Aamer Malik 32, Jahangir Shah 2/19, Tanjib Ahsan Saad 2/24) | Rawalpindi wins by 3 wickets | |
| 14 March | Bangladesh V North Zone | Bangladesh118/8 (Nannu 44) | North Zone 117 (Golam Faruq2/29) | Bangladesh wins 1 run | |
| 16 March | Bangladesh V Lahore City | Lahore 172 (Shahid Anwar 43, Tanjib Ahsan Saad 4/50, Golam Faruq 2/19, Jahangir Shah Badshah 2/38) | Bangladesh 118/8 (Nannu 27, Badshah 25, Sajid Akbar 5/17) | Lahore wins by 54 runs | |
| 17 March | Bangladesh vs Zone C | Bangladesh 154/7 (Nurul Abedin 50, Raqibul Hasan 46, Wasim Haider2/16) | Zone C 158/7(Sami 3/26) | Zone C wins by 3 wickets | |
| 19 March | Bangladesh Vs Zone B | Bangladesh 177/9 (Manzoor Elahi3/37) | Zone B 181/4 (Zahoor Elahi 70) | Zone B wins by 6 wickets | |
| 22 March | Bangladesh vs Zone A | Bangladesh 220/4 (Nurul Abedin Nobel 102, Lipu 69, | Zone A 152 (Shaheedur Rahman 2/21, Suru 2/25) | Bangladesh wins by 68 runs |
The tour
This can be described as the 1st major tour of a test playing nation by Bangladesh. Bangladesh had toured England in the summers of 1979 & 1982, but played against the Associate countries and club teams from England. The tour of West Bengal, in Dec. 1983, didn't cover other parts of India. In contrast, here, the tourists played against oppositions from different parts of Pakistan. Although, they didn't meet the official Pak team (which was away on a tour of Sri Lanka), the teams opposing them were strong. The teams included players like veteran Iqbal Qasim (captiain of Rawalpindi side), and youngsters like Ijaz Faqih, Saleem Jaffar, Anil Dalpat, Asif Mujtaba, Aamer Malik, Aamer Sohail, Naved Anjum, Akram Raza, Wasim Haider, Zahoor Elahi, Manzoor Elahi, & others. Among the teams, Rawalpindi looked the strongest on paper, but the Bangladesh side put up a spirited fight against them before losing by 3 wickets. There were some really close matches, but Zone B achieved the most convincing victory with the Elahi brothers, (Zahoor and Manjoor) dominating.
The Bangladesh performance
The real sensation form the tourists point of view was the batting of young Nurul Abedin Nobel. He scored a brilliant hundred (102) against Zone A. He shared a 135 run 2nd wicket partnership with his captain. Nobel's century was only the 3rd by a Bangladeshi batsman,after Tousuf Babu's (115) against PNG in 1982 ICC Trophy, & Rafiqul Alam's 129 for Bangladesh Tigers against Singapore in South East Asian Cup in 1984. Nobel also scored 50, against a stronger Zone C side, sharing a 112 run opening stand with the veteran Raqibul Hasan. Unfortunately, the middle order failed to capitalize on this great start. Skipper Gazi Ashraf came good in the final match. Minhajul Abedin Nannu was consistent, but failed to convert starts into scores.
The seam bowlers did a good job for the tourists. Their main strike bowler Gholam Nousher Prince, however, failed to impress. In contrast, young Golam Faruq Suru and Tanjib Ahsan Saad performed better. Skipper Gazi Ashraf did an admirable job as a part-time spinner, but the absence of a genuinely match winning spinner was badly felt in the close finishes. Either Anwarul Amin Azhar or Wahidul Gani would have been useful in the slow turning tracks.
In the game against the Lahore Cricket Association, all the 10 batsman of the Lahore team were out caught. WK Hafizur Rahman Sani alone took 6 catches.
Top batsmen (at least 75 runs)
| Name | Matches | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurul Abedin | 4 | 153 | 38.25 | 102 | 1/1 |
| Minhajul Abedin Nannu | 6 | 123 | 24.60 | 44 | 0/0 |
| Gazi Ashraf Lipu | 6 | 130 | 21.67 | 69 | 0/1 |
| Raqibul Hasan | 6 | 122 | 20.33 | 49 | 0/0 |
| Shaheedur Rahman | 6 | 81 | 20.25 | 29 | 0/0 |
Top bowlers (at least 4 wickets)
| Name | Matches | Runs | Wickets | Average | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaheedur Rahman | 6 | 60 | 4 | 15.00 | 4/11 |
| Tanjib Ahsan Saad | 5 | 113 | 7 | 16.14 | 4/50 |
| Golam Faruq Suru | 5 | 127 | 7 | 18.14 | 2/19 |
| Samiur Rahman Sami | 3 | 76 | 4 | 19.00 | 3/26 |
| Jahangir Shah | 6 | 141 | 6 | 23.50 | 2/19 |
| Gazi Ashraf | 6 | 135 | 4 | 33.75 | 1/16 |
References
- ↑ Hasan Babli. "Antorjartik Crickete Bangladesh". Khelar Bhuban Prakashani, November 1994.