Bangladesh Cricket Team News & Matches

Captain: Najmul Hossain Shanto
Coaches: Phil Simmons (head coach), Nic Pothas (assistant coach), David Hemp (batting coach), Andre Adams (fast bowling coach)
First international match: 1986
Cricket board: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)

Bangladesh Men's Cricket Team History

Cricket was played in unified Bengal in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the eastern parts, modern-day Bangladesh, began to stage proper tournaments only in the 1950s, when the region was known as East Pakistan.

An MCC side first toured Bangladesh in 1976-77. The cricket board of the time, the BCCB, put together a team for the 1979 ICC Trophy, a qualifier for the World Cup then. Seven years on, Bangladesh played their first ODI. Their first appearance at cricket's biggest event was in 1999, alongside Scotland and Kenya, the teams they beat in the semi-final and final of the ICC Trophy in Malaysia two years before. The country's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, led the rousing reception back home, with millions in attendance.

Bangladesh's case for full membership of the ICC had been strengthened by their successful hosting of the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, and in the 1999 World Cup they beat favourites Pakistan in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history. The following season, a first-class competition was established in the country, and in June 2000, Bangladesh became the tenth Test-playing nation.

They only won their first Test after playing 34 matches. Months after that win, against Zimbabwe, they were defeated soundly in their first Test at Lord's, though they made up somewhat by beating Australia in an ODI in Cardiff later on that tour of England.

After a series of misfiring coaches, Dav Whatmore shaped Bangladesh cricket in the mid-2000s. They beat India and South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, where their mix of experience and youth - in the form of Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim - paid dividends. Senior players Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Rafique retired in 2008, and the talented Mohammad Ashraful became more inconsistent.

Mashrafe, Shakib and Tamim took the reins as the team built through the 2010s under various coaches, among them Jamie Siddons, Shane Jurgensen and Chandika Hathurusinghe. Shakib became the No. 1 allrounder in the world, a rank he held for a substantial time; Mashrafe made the team a tough proposition in ODIs at home; and Tamim scored heavily as the team's most successful opener. They transferred those gains into Tests when they beat England and Australia in 2016 and 2017. In 2024 came perhaps their greatest achievement in Test cricket, when they beat Pakistan 2-0 away.

Bangladesh have not done well in World Cups historically, but cricket remains the No. 1 sport in the country.

Tests: 9
ODIs: 9
T20Is: 9

Tests: Most runs| Most wickets | Highest totals | Lowest totals
ODIs: Most runs| Most wickets | Highest totals | Lowest totals
T20Is: Most runs| Most wickets | Highest totals | Lowest totals

1997: ICC Trophy win, Kuala Lumpur

1998: First ODI win, Hyderabad

1999: First ODI win against a Full Member Nation, World Cup 1999, Northampton

2005: First Test win, Chittagong, and first Test series win

2009: First away Test win, Kingstown, and first Test series win away