YEAR IN SPORT

Historic Test Series Triumph
Bangladesh embarked upon a new journey in the arena of world cricket in 1997 through winning the ICC Champions Trophy in Malaysia. In 1999, the cricketers made their presence felt in the World Cup in England participating for the first time, which paved the way to becoming a member of the Test elite in 2000.

And this year's 2-0 Test series win in West Indies under the able leadership of Shakib Al Hasan was the biggest thing for the cricket-crazy nation in nine years and it was also their first-ever overseas series triumph. The Tigers completed a historic double after wining both the one-day and the test series in the Caribbean.

Zafar on the Crest of a Wave
In a country more renowned for its cricket players, Zafar Alam is riding the wave of popularity literally. The man from Cox's Bazar is a pioneer in that he is Bangladesh's first professional surfer. This year alone Zafar visited the island state of Hawaii and Bali to take part in international surfing events. In Hawaii, he finished sixth amongst 130 international surfers at the International Freedom Surfing Contest. Zafar also set up “Surfing Bangladesh,” an organization that aims to popularise the sport in Bangladesh. Through his endeavours, he put Bangladesh on the map, so much so that in October, Cox's Bazar also hosted an international surfing competition.

Dido Falls Prey to Sharks
“Kazi Salahuddin is surrounded by sharks,” said Brazilian football coach Edson Silva Dido after his acrimonious sacking by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). The Brazilian came in all guns blazing in January with a promise to develop the game in the country. The side started brightly qualifying for the AFC Challenge Cup. But a hail of administrative hassles and run-ins stunted bright early steps. The tipping point was a youthful side that Dido selected for the SAFF Championship. The BFF were against the selection, but Dido remained unmoved which led to him being relieved of his duties. “The concept of development is beyond the capacity of these people to understand,” were Dido's final words.

Six-lac Dollar Mashrafe
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza made a mark in the country's sports history by striking the highest financial deal in February to enter into the whirlwind world of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when the pace spearhead was bought for a whopping $600,000 by Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders after an intense bidding war with Kings XI Punjab.

It was a milestone financial deal for any Bangladeshi sportsman and the “Narail Express” virtually stole the thunder from the two highest paid cricketers of the auction, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson.

Mashrafe's base price was $50,000 and Knight Riders were the first to take the call before Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta pitched in aggressively in what turned out to be a virtual war between two Bollywood stars that continued for over 20 bids.

Shakib Reigns Supreme
Shakib Al Hasan scaled unimaginable heights this year as he became the worlds the top all-rounder in one-day cricket for most of the year and was selected as the Wisden Cricketer magazine's Test Player of the Year for 2009.

Four years into international cricket, the 22-year-old from Magura has become the mainstay of Bangladesh team performing admirably both with the bat and the ball. And he stepped in big when he was handed the responsibility to lead the team for the injured Mashrafe Mortaza and ensured three successive one-day series victories as well as first overseas Test series win.

Shakib boasts an average of nearly 30 with the bat and has 48 wickets to his name in 14 Tests, while his ODI average is close to 36 and has 83 wickets from 75 matches.

His latest achievement came when he became the first ever Bangladeshi cricketer to be signed by an English county after Worcestershire roped him as their overseas recruit for the 2010 season.

Citycell Super Cup
After being elected in April 2008, BFF president Kazi Salahuddin took some initiatives to revive country's about-to-die football and thus roped in mobile company Citycell with record money that actually indicated what was waiting for country's domestic football. But no one dared to imagine a one-crore cash prize Citycell Super Cup would be introduced. Definitely the introduction of a new tournament brought huge enthusiasm among players, organizers and spectators and thus almost every match of the Super Cup pulled a healthy crowd and after a long time a full-capacity crowd at Bangabandhu National Stadium watched the final match between two archrivals Abahani and Mohammedan to recall memories of golden time of country's football in 80s and 90s. The introduction of Super Cup also makes the professional football league competitive this time as a certain number of teams will qualify for the second Super Cup. Football seemed to be going in the right direction.

Asif Hossain Khan
After country's popular game likes cricket and football, shooting is the most discipline with the most potential. It image was enhanced when Asif Hossain Khan clinched the 10m Air Rifles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in 2002 and repeated his success in South Asian Games in 2004. But, after the double feats, Asif was going through a bad-patch and was dropped from Bangladesh's 2008 Beijing Olympic squad for poor performances. But he bounced back boldly to celebrate his return shooting his best score of 694.5 to bag the 10m air Rifles gold in the 4th South Asian Shooting Championship in Pakistan in the same year. The former BKSP student, however, promises to return to his form. “I believe I will come back to form if I can practice a bit more and I am determined to do something in the days coming forward,” were Asif's final words.

Return of ICL Rebels
Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Basher led an exodus of 14 players including Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed and Alok Kapali to the Indian Cricket League thus forming Dhaka Warriors which was officially unveiled on 16 September 2008. The players all received 10-year bans from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for joining the league which is not authorised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Later that year due to the Mumbai attacks on 26 November the ICL tournament was cancelled. The rebel cricketers returned to Bangladesh one by one in 2009 and to the BCB with their tails between their legs. The BCB accepted their apologies and let them participate in the 2009 domestic league. Now four former Dhaka Warriors' members including Shahriar Nafees have found themselves back in the international fold.

Saff Poses More Questions than Answers
After original hosts India backed out of hosting the sixth SAFF Championships, Bangladesh stepped in admirably. In what is certainly a mentionable feat, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin bailed out our neighbours. The BFF bought the regional extravaganza home and rebranded it the Bangabandhu SAFF Championships. There were high hopes of a Bangladesh triumph which was heightened after an opening match win against Bhutan. But despite capacity crowds at all the home side's games, Bangladesh succumbed to eventual champions India; which left the BFF with many questions to answer in the aftermath.