Experienced Bangladesh batter Sharmin Akhter Supta made a sensational return to the national side as she struck a career-best 89-ball 96 in the Tigresses’ record 154-run win over Ireland in the first of three ODIs in Mirpur yesterday. Had she not been caught at mid-off while trying to ratchet up the scoring rate in the latter stage of the innings, Supta could have become only the second Bangladeshi woman batter to score an ODI hundred after Fargana Hoque, who scored both the ODI hundreds for Bangladesh. Playing her first international game since July 2023, she also had cramps while fielding which forced her to leave the ground. After the match, the 28-year-old batter talked to The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan regarding her comeback, preparation, and yesterday’s match-winning knock. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

Bangladesh premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is not sweating over when he could next appear for the Tigers at the moment, mentioning that he is now focusing on the upcoming Abu Dhabi T10 tournament, which is set to begin today.

Iftekhar Rahman Mithu, chairman of BCB's umpires' committee for the last three years, in an interview with The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan, expressed his concern regarding the recent increase in code of conduct violations by players in the ongoing National Cricket League while also admitting umpiring errors that have led to such a rise. Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Bangladesh cricket is unparalleled in terms of one thing -- creating its own mess and then bemoaning the untidiness.

When it comes to Shakib Al Hasan, nothing is ever that straightforward.

Former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha on Friday issued a statement, raising questions regarding the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) motive behind his sacking from his position.

BCB found Hathurusingha's explanation unsatisfactory and described his actions as "consistent with misconduct and dereliction of duty."

The directors of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) are all set to sit today for a board of directors’ meeting at the BCB Headquarters in Mirpur from where directives for the upcoming 11th edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) are expected to come to light.

Bangladesh Test side began their preparations for the upcoming series against India yesterday in Mirpur and pacer Shoriful Islam felt that it would be a steeper challenge than what they faced in their recent Pakistan tour.

A delegation of former directors, who worked at BCB in various capacities between 2001 and 2005, raised this demand when they met BCB president Faruque Ahmed at his office on Saturday.

Bangladesh’s Test win at Mount Maunganui against the then World Test champions New Zealand in 2022 would certainly go down as a historic achievement in the Tigers’ history. But even Mominul Haque, the Tigers’ skipper back then, believes that winning a series away from home evokes a very different kind of feeling within the team than what a one-off win produces.

Will the success against Pakistan put Faruque in a difficult position regarding the decision to remove Hathurusingha from his role?

Pakistan spin wizard Mushtaq Ahmed has been in charge of the Bangladesh spinners for the past two international assignments -- the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies followed by the two-match Test tour of Pakistan. His troops have delivered remarkable performances in both tours but the 54-year-old is yet to be offered a long-term contract. In an interview with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan yesterday, Mushtaq shared his take on Bangladesh’s historic series win in Pakistan and his future with the Tigers.

Following their historic first-ever Test series victory over hosts Pakistan, the first contingent of the Bangladesh cricket team -- including skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha -- arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 11:20pm on Wednesday night.

From Mushfiqur Rahim’s majestic hundred in the opening Test to Liton Das’s resilient ton and the pacers’ lethal performance in the series-deciding second Test, there were a number of heroes who played pivotal roles in Bangladesh’s maiden Test series victory over Pakistan.

Newly appointed Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed said he had not changed his mind about removing Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathuruisngha. 

Veteran coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim on Saturday said that he wants to introduce a comprehensive outline to reform the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is in constant communication with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the A team’s tour," said the BCB in their statement.

Bangladesh are awaiting key returnees to the Test outfit ahead of the Pakistan series in mid-August with ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan confirmed as available while pacer Taskin Ahmed, who had decided to sit out Tests owing to injury issues at the beginning of the year, is likely to return to the red-ball format.

The BCB president also informed that the next ICC board meeting will take place in Bangladesh, where the ICC election could also take place.