After each wicket, the raw but charismatic 27-year-old fast bowler saluted as the fallen batsman departed Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval – a nod to his services background.

Ebadot’s figures for the tourists in New Zealand’s second innings were six for 46, winning him the man-of-the-match honours and signalling his development as a cricketer had entered a new phase.

In the first innings he took one for 75 – more in keeping with his career average of 81.54 from 11 wickets in 10 Tests before arriving in New Zealand.

Despite early poor returns, the Bangladesh selectors maintained faith in Ebadot.

His journey into Bangladesh cricket folklore has been swift, starting as recently as 2016, when he travelled 350 kilometres (200 miles) from his home town to take part in a bowling competition.

He was selected as one of three to attend a training camp in Dhaka and by 2019 he was in the Test squad, where he stood out with his pace, but there was a lack of finesse.

Ebadot said that he had been working hard with bowling coach Ottis Gibson, who played for the West Indies.

“Conditions are always flat at home. We are still learning how to bowl and reverse in away conditions,” said Ebadot.

“I am trying to hit the top of the stumps. I needed to be a little patient for success to come.”

‘Long story’

Ebadot is not your usual cricketer.

He was employed several years ago as a volleyball player by the Bangladesh Air Force, were he also learned the importance of the salute which he delivers with each dismissal.

“I am a soldier of Bangladesh Air Force so I know how to do the salute. It was a long story, from volleyball to cricket. I am enjoying cricket, representing Bangladesh and Bangladesh Air Force.”

With New Zealand starting their second innings 130 in arrears they were struggling at 147 for five when play resumed on the fifth morning with Ebadot having taken three wickets for no runs in the space of seven balls.

New Zealand needed veteran Ross Taylor to produce something magical, but he was undone by an Ebadot one-two – an out-swinger followed by one that came back and hit the wickets.

Although there is some guile to his play, the raw Ebadot still needs help with field placings and lengths, and also with his confidence.

“He’s a joy to work with because he’s enthusiastic and he wants to learn so much. When his confidence is high he can bowl spells like this,” Gibson said.

Wicketkeeper Liton Das also expressed support for giving the talented quick time to mature.

“We have to consider that Bangladesh play Tests infrequently so he doesn’t get to play regularly. Fast bowlers don’t have everything under their control,” he said.

“I am hopeful that he will keep proving himself in the future too.

“This is only his 11th Test. A cricketer needs 15-17 Tests to understand the game.”

(AFP)

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Seamer Ebadot Hossain took a career best 6 for 46 as the tourists dismissed the Black Caps for 169 early on day five at Mount Maunganui and Bangladesh knocked off the 40 runs for victory for the loss of two wickets.

“It’s unbelievable!” said seamer Taskin Ahmed as a small band of flag-waving Bangladeshis celebrated the triumph on the Bay Oval boundary.

“It was a great achievement for us, our first win out of Asia. We stuck to the process. We gave 110 per cent. It feels great.”

Bangladesh’s first win in any format of the game in New Zealand gave them a 1-0 lead in the two-match series with the second match starting in Christchurch on Sunday.

New Zealand had resumed on 147 for 5 with a slender lead of 17 but were quickly on the back foot when Ebadot clean bowled Ross Taylor for 40 and removed Kyle Jamieson for a duck in his first two overs.

Taskin (3 for 36) chipped in with his second wicket in the fifth over of the morning when he had allrounder Rachin Ravindra caught behind for 16 and the Black Caps were rocking on 160 for 8.

Tim Southee had his middle stump removed in Taskin’s next over and Trent Boult departed for eight when he holed out in the deep to end the innings.

Shadman Islam scored the first runs of the chase but was caught behind for three before his fellow opener Najmul Hossain Shanto departed for 17 with victory in sight.

It was left to skipper Mominul Haque, who scored 13 not out, and the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim, who hit the winning boundary in an unbeaten five, to usher Bangladesh to their historic triumph.

Bangladesh had lost all nine of their previous Tests in New Zealand but were put into a winning position on day four when four of their top six batsmen struck fifties to earn them a first-innings lead of 130.

Man of the Match Ebadot, a former volleyball player who had taken only 11 wickets in his 10 previous Tests, turned the match with a late spell in which he removed three batsmen at the cost of no runs soon after New Zealand had wiped out the deficit.

New Zealand, who were crowned inaugural World Test Champions last year, are without regular skipper Kane Williamson for the series with an elbow injury but were still expected to beat a young Bangladesh side quite comfortably.

“We were not quite there in all three facets,” said stand-in captain Tom Latham.

“Bangladesh showed us how to go about things on that wicket … and they thoroughly deserved the win.”

(Reuters)

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The blaze broke out in the middle of the night on Friday when many of the ferry’s 700 passengers were sleeping near the southern district of Barguna.

Survivors relayed harrowing stories of having to jump into the Sugandha river from the three-storey ferry, which was only designed to carry 420 people.

Most of the victims burnt to death while others drowned in frigid waters while trying to escape.

Ferry owner Hum Jalal Sheikh was arrested on Monday, a police spokesman told reporters, a day after a court issued an arrest warrant for eight people including the captain and crew of the Obhijaan-10.

Marine police officer Mahbubur Rahman said the vessel did not have adequate fire extinguishers and buoys to face a major mid-river accident.

“We spoke to the survivors and they said the driver of the ferry kept the vessel moving for nearly an hour after its engine room caught fire,” he told AFP.

“Had they stopped the ferry and anchored immediately, it could have saved all these valuable lives.”

Experts in Bangladesh blame poor maintenance, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for the South Asian nation’s frequent maritime disasters.

At least 21 people were killed in August when a boat packed with passengers collided with a sand-laden cargo ship.

(AFP)

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Biman Bangladesh Airlines will re-commence services to Dhaka and Sylhet, and will fly twice a week until 28 March on the start of the art Dreamliner aircraft.

With business and economy class cabins, the return of the route will be popular with the 55,000 people a year who travel to both the Bangladeshi cities.

The North of England has one of the most vibrant Bangladeshi communities and the return of this service will prove hugely popular with those looking to connect with friends and family back in their homeland.

Karen Smart, managing director of Manchester Airport, said: “There has been significant demand for a direct service to Bangladesh for many years, so when the route returned in 2019 it was greatly received. It is therefore really positive news to see the route return as the aviation sector begins its road to recovery.

“Manchester Airport is the UK’s gateway to the North of England and within our catchment area there are many long-standing Bangladeshi communities for whom this will make a massive difference.

“There is also a great number of northern companies who trade with Bangladesh, and many more with a desire to do so, meaning this route is a real boost for them and will unlock and enable many business opportunities.

“I look forward to working with the team at Biman Bangladesh and making the route a success.”

Kazi Ziaul Hasan, assistant high commissioner of Bangladesh in Manchester, said: “The resumption of direct flight by Bangladesh Biman is a significant and firm step on the part of Bangladesh’s national carrier in the service sector. This direct flight will re-energise the movement of people, infuse dynamism in trade and business opportunities.”

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Bangladesh. Its main hub is at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and it also operates flights from its secondary hubs Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. The airline provides international passenger and cargo services to Asia and Europe, as well as major domestic routes inside Bangladesh.

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The incident took place about 200 metres inside the Indian territory at around 1:40 am near border post Nawada in Malda district of the state.

The BSF has lodged a protest with its counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the officer said.

Giving details about the incident, he said, “About 15-20 miscreants (comprising both Indian and Bangladeshi smugglers) reached near the border fence for the smuggling bid”

“The Border Security Force jawans asked them to stop but they encircled them and attacked them with dah (large knife), bamboo sticks and stones,” the officer said.

The jawans, he said, tried to disperse them and fired non-lethal stun grenades but they continued with their “aggressive gesture and act.”

Subsequently, he said, the troops fired two bullet rounds “in self defence”.

A Bangladeshi man, who was shot at, was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.

The killed Bangladeshi national has been identified as Ibrahim, and is a resident of Dhoolipara in Chapainawabganj district of Bangladesh which is about 6 km from the International Border.

A mobile phone, two iron ‘dahs’ and 197 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup were seized from the spot.

The cough syrup is abused as a narcotics and Bangladesh has banned its usage.

(PTI)

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Once abundant across the country’s dense tropical forests, Asian Giant Tortoises had all but disappeared from the lush Chittagong hills.

The area has been stripped bare of vegetation for new roads and development, and the tortoises are also popular in local tribal cuisine.

The 10 tortoises released into the area on the weekend were raised in captivity after their parents were rescued from slaughter.

Turtle Survival Alliance president Rick Hudson said on Monday (20) that the re-wilding was “a really big first step” to returning the creatures to their native habitat.

Each tortoise will be fitted with a transmitter and their movements will be monitored by biologists.

The species is the largest of its kind in Asia and can weigh up to 35 kilograms (77 pounds). It is believed to be of one of the world’s oldest tortoise lineages.

(AFP)

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Authorities this week ordered the closure of “unauthorised” education centres in border camps hosting around 850,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority, who fled there from violent persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.

The order came during a visit by UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews, who said the privately run schools played a critical role in educating Rohingya children.

“I am deeply concerned to have learned of a new policy, promulgated while I was here, that would close all private schools in the camps,” he told reporters in the capital Dhaka.

“We cannot allow an entire generation of Rohingya to go practically uneducated,” he added.

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has said the order will not impact around 3,000 learning centres for children in camps supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It claimed the move had been made to halt the operations of schools “promoting radicalism and engaged in illegal activities”.

Angered Rohingya activists in the camps have taken to social media to protest the decision in lieu of public protests, which have become difficult since security was boosted after the murder of a top camp leader in September.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said about 30,000 children will lose their access to education if Bangladesh does not reverse the closures.

Andrews used his Dhaka press conference to urge Bangladesh to protect Rohingya livelihoods after the bulldozing last week of around 1,000 shops in the camps, which authorities said were built illegally.

He also called for freedom of movement for Rohingya resettled to remote and flood-prone Bhashan Char island, where Bangladesh has shifted nearly 20,000 refugees from the overcrowded border camps.

(AFP)

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The city of London is home to more than 200,000 Bangladeshi-origin community, settled mainly in the East End, making significant contribution to the city’s economy.

In a joint column in the New Statesman by Sadiq Khan and Mohammad Atiqul Islam – mayor of London and Dhaka North respectively, they have raised alarm over migration challenge due to climate breakdown.

“As chair and vice chair of C40 Cities, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities dedicated to combating the climate crisis, we are taking urgent action to address the causes and devastating human cost of forced and unmanaged migration created by the climate emergency,” the have said.

They concur and say: “As cities we share a firm and focused resolve to tackle climate breakdown – a challenge that will define not just London and Dhaka’s prospects in the 21st century, but all of our futures.”

“This Saturday (18 December) is International Migrants Day, but it will be like any other day in Dhaka, where an estimated 2,000 people will arrive, having been displaced by rising sea levels and tropical storms elsewhere in the country.

“But the Bangladeshi capital itself is also increasingly vulnerable to river flooding that threatens low-lying informal settlements, where 40 per cent of the capital’s 18 million-strong population live, many of whom are rural internal migrants. It’s no wonder that many thousands migrate overseas every year, some making perilous journeys across Asia and Europe, with hopes of making it to cities like London,” Islam said.

Reports suggest, globally people are forced to move because of climate crisis. According to the World Bank estimate, 216 million people across the six world regions could be displaced within their counties by 2050 due to climate crisis.

Mayors across the world, including Khan and Islam are “taking urgent action to address these issues”, but they say that “we cannot do it alone”.

That’s why C40 Cities and the Mayors Migration Council (MMC) launched the C40-MMC Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration in 2021. The task force is led by the mayors of a diverse group of global cities – including developed, developing, coastal, inland, large and mega-sized cities – which are dedicated to accelerating local, national and international responses to the challenges of climate and migration.

Sadiq Khan is the Mayor of London and chair of C40 Cities. Mohammad Atiqul Islam is Mayor of Dhaka North and vice chair of C40 Cities and co-chair of the C40-MMC Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration.

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Bangladesh have lost their last six Test matches — five of them by an innings or more — but they have also beaten Zimbabwe five times in their last six encounters.

“We do need to develop a Test culture within the playing group,” said Domingo, who took on the coaching job in August.

Saturday”s Test will be 100th international between the two nations, a familiarity Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine hopes will benefit the visitors.

“These conditions are a little bit familiar to us as we have toured here often in the past,” he said.

“It should be a very good contest.”

Zimbabwe pushed Sri Lanka hard in two home matches in January — their first Test series in more than a year — before narrowly going down 1-0.

“The momentum gained from that series, we want to carry that into the Test match against Bangladesh,” he said.

Zimbabwe will also play three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s during their Bangladesh tour.

Bangladesh: Mominul Haque (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadat Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Yasir Ali.

Zimbabwe: Prince Masvaure, Kevin Kasuza, Craig Ervine(captain), Brendan Taylor, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva(w), Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Donald Tiripano, Carl Mumba, Victor Nyauchi, Brian Mudzinganyama, Chris Mpofu, Ainsley Ndlovu, Charlton Tshuma.

(AFP)

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The alleged attacker was wrestled to the ground by worshippers, and later arrested by police officers.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “A 29-year-old man, who is believed to have been attending prayers, was arrested inside the mosque on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken into custody at a central London police station. The incident is not being treated as terror-related at this time.”

Videos showed the police arresting a barefooted white man wearing a red hoodie and black trousers.

Regent’s Park mosque stabbing

Wonder if they say this is a terrorist act or a mental health issue#regentsparkmosque pic.twitter.com/R9VLh8EwlT

— 25-06-20 CHAMPIONS x 19 (@PumpItIH) February 20, 2020

Reports said it was “30 seconds of mayhem” at the mosque in Regent’s Park.

The muezzin, whom some reports named as Rafaat, is in his 70s, and has been attending the mosque for 25 years. He was “seriously injured” and rushed to a “major trauma centre” after being treated by paramedics at the spot.

Abi Watik, who was at the mosque, said the attacker stabbed Rafaat above his right shoulder, moments after the prayer started.

Ayaz Ahmed, an adviser to the mosque, said the worshippers halted the prayer and rushed to Rafaat as he “yelled and screamed”.

“Everybody’s reaction was shock and horror, the men were screaming,” he said. “It was a vicious attack.”

He added: “This guy [the attacker] was not a regular, I’ve never seen him here in 10 years.”

Mustafa Field, director of the Faiths Forum for London, told reporters that worshippers described the attack as “one stab, one strike, around the neck” of the victim.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “deeply saddened” by the attack, and added: “It’s so awful that this should happen, especially in a place of worship.”

I'm deeply saddened to hear of the attack at the London Central Mosque. It's so awful that this should happen, especially in a place of worship. My thoughts are with the victim and all those affected.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 20, 2020

Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “deeply concerned by this incident”, and the Met department was “providing extra resources in the area”.

The mosque’s statement said “the muezzin did not sustain any life-threatening injuries but was seriously injured” and “our thoughts and prayers are with the muezzin and his family”.

Director-general of the Islamic Cultural Centre at the mosque, Dr Ahmad al Dubayan, said he hoped it was “only an individual incident”.

He added: “This place is iconic—not only for Muslims but for all the British society. Many Muslims come here, many communities come here.”

The Muslim Council of Britain said it would be reissuing its safety advice to mosques across the country.

“Regardless of the motive of the attacker, we must remain calm but vigilant as we aim to balance the importance of retaining mosques as open spaces, and the security of worshippers,” it said.

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