Sports

Transfers open today

The players' transfer for the 2010-11 football season begins today with very little expectations of the usual last-minute drama, with most of the excitement centered around the emergence of a new force and the reinvention of a former champion.

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Muktijoddha Sangsad have challenged the power of Abahani and Mohammedan Sporting Club by signing most of their big name players, a long time before the official players transfer.
Despite that, the headquarters of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) will become slightly busier on the opening day of the transfers that will last a week for the local footballers and 15 days for the foreign brigade. The transfers will officially kick off at 3pm but only a few smaller clubs will probably show up to confirm their players on the first day.
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, a new brand name for club that has been in existence since 1962, has taken all the headlines since July. They have roped in as many as sixteen national team players.
In a ceremony earlier this month, the new faces of the club paraded its acquisitions that include Aminul Haque, Zahid Hasan Emily, Enamul Haq, Wali Faisal, Mohammad Sujan, Mamunul Islam, Atiqur Rahman Mishu, Zahid Hossain, Nasiruddin, Komol and Shahed, all poached from the two Dhaka giants.
In the same vein, Muktijoddha have renewed hope of a title push this season as they have revamped their entire squad. They have roped in some 19 players, many of them top stars from giants Abahani and Mohammedan.
Muktijoddha have confirmed the services of goalkeeper Biplob, defenders Firoz Mahmud Titu, Obaidur Rahman, Yeamin Munna midfielders Motiur Munna, Enamul Haq Sharif, Arman Aziz, Azmal Hossain Biddut, Alamgir Kabir Rana, strikers Rokonuzzaman Kanchan and Mithun Chowdhury.
To counter the exodus, the league authorities have confirmed yesterday that five foreign players (with the fifth being the goalkeeper) can be part of the starting eleven of all the teams.
But that factor won't confirm success and Abahani have confirmed the services of Mehdi Hasan Ujjal, Nazrul Islam, Abul Hossain, Mohammad Robin, Pranotosh Kumar, goalkeeper Zia, veteran striker Alfaz Ahmed, defender Amit Khan Shuvro, defenders Arup Kumar Baddya and Monayem Khan Jitu.
Mohammedan, who disappointed in last season's Bangladesh League, have lost the most number of stars such as Emily, Aminul, Wali, Mamunul, Ariful to Sheikh Jamal and later lost Arman Aziz, Sharif, Nasir and Saikat to Muktijoddha.
All these players are just a step away from officially coming under the clubs' umbrella as they have to put pen to paper at the BFF headquarters.
According to sources, Mamun Mia is the only player who could create a bit of a problem as Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra has claimed that Mamun has taken money in advance from them although the player himself claims to be in Abahani's books and has already won the Bordoloi Trophy with the Dhanmondi giants.
Tomorrow could see some of the bigger clubs coming with all their players and finishing the formalities but that too, is a forgone conclusion.
-Daily Star

Rain ruines 1st practice gamehttp://fognews24.blogspot.com/

Rain ruines 1st practice game

Today's first limited-over warm-up match between the visiting New Zealand and BCB XI was called off due to wet outfield at the BKSP in Savar following incessant rain over the last few days.

"The pitch is okay but the outfield condition is unplayable as it's soggy, soft and still water-soaked. It would be risky for the players to play in this kind of condition and that's why after inspecting the ground the match was called off," informed match referee Raquibul Hassan yesterday.

The late monsoon is in full flow at the moment and after the downpour in the last few days it was impossible for the groundsmen to make the ground match-fit. And there is serious doubt over the second and final practice match, which is scheduled for Sunday at the same venue, as another downpour in the area within the next two days may keep the condition the same.

"The second match is still on. Actually we even tried to play a 20-over-a-side match tomorrow but the condition was so bad that the ground's man was not confident about taking a risk. There were also two representatives from the New Zealand side (performance director Roger Mortimer and coach Shane Jurgensen) during the visit and they were also not ready to take a risk," said Raquibul.

The former national skipper however informed that New Zealand expressed their desire to play the match tomorrow at Mirpur and organising secretary Gazi Ashraf Hossain said that they would look into the matter.

"We have to check many things before taking a decision regarding the issue. We get back to them after checking everything," said Ashraf.

The focus would definitely have been on former national skipper Mohammad Ashraful but the batsman who was dropped for the five-match series, was not focusing on the warm-up matches but instead was looking forward to the domestic competition to recover his form.

"It's nice that I got a chance to play the warm-up match but I'm not focusing too much on it. My main target is to score runs in the domestic competition. I will try my best to return to form when I play ten innings in the national league," said Ashraful, who was captain of the BCB XI for the first match.

"This is not a good situation for me as I was out of the team when there is a one-day series at home ahead of the World Cup but I have to accept the reality. I was out of the team because of my poor performance which has been lingering this time," he added.

Ashraful however said that he was not frustrated rather he was confident about comeback to the national side.

"There is hardly any problem with my batting but the fact is that I was not getting runs. I need some good innings to emerge from the vicious circle and I am hopeful because still I am young and I have to long way to go," said a confident Ashraful.

"I don't believe there is any psychological problem behind the poor run of form. Once again I need some good innings and that's why I am looking forward to the domestic competition where I want to play some big knocks," he added.

-Daily Star

Bangladesh is no more a `basket case'

Nearly four decades after US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dubbed Bangladesh a bottomless basket, the largest circulated newspaper of his country the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has said the South Asian nation was no more a `basket case'.

"For the outside world, much of the country's (Bangladesh) history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disaster punctuated by outbursts of jihadis violence and occasional coup', said a nearly 1,000-word analysis of the world's most read newspaper, which is regarded for its in-depth coverage of international business and politics.
It further noted that "Nearly 40-year ago, only the most reckless optimist would have bet on flood-prone, war-ravaged Bangladesh over relatively stable and prosperous Pakistan".
"But with a higher growth rate, a lower birth rate and more internationally competitive economy, yesterday's basket case may have the last laugh," read the analysis written by WSJ columnist Sadanand Dhume in the current issue of the journal.
The WSJ comments came days after US President Barrack Obama congratulated Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the country's MDG (millennium development goal) achievements.
The achievements also earned the country the prestigious UN Award on the sidelines of the 65th UN General Assembly session, where the world leaders including UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon too highly appreciated Bangladesh's progress, particularly under Sheikh Hasina's leadership.
Bangladesh was one of the six countries in Asia and Africa feted for its progress towards achieving its MDGs, a set of targets that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and boost health, education and the status of women and children worldwide by 2015.
"Bangladesh has much to be proud of," said the WSJ noting that its economy grew at nearly six percent a year over the past several years, while it exported 12.3 billion US dollars worth of garments alone last year, making it fourth in the world behind China, the EU and Turkey.
Against all odds, the WSJ noted, Bangladesh curbed population growth with the average Bangladeshi woman today bearing fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s.
"Perhaps most strikingly, Bangladesh-the world's third most populous Muslim-majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan-has shown a willingness to confront both terrorism and the radical Islamic ideology that underpins it," the analysis read.
Since taking office in 2009, it said, the Awami League-led government arrested local members of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, the al Qaeda affiliate Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a domestic outfit responsible for a wave of bombings in 2005.
In July this year, the Supreme Court struck down a 31-year-old constitutional amendment and restored Bangladesh to its founding status as a secular republic while a long-awaited war crimes tribunal will try senior Jamaat-e-Islami figures implicated in mass murder during Bangladesh's bloody secession from Pakistan, the analysis said.
The WSJ also noted with appreciation Bangladesh's foreign relations affairs, saying its crucial ties with India were "on a high" while in development sector the country's leading NGOs including the microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank earned a global reputation for their anti-poverty campaigns.
The analysis, however, said it would take more than a burst of entrepreneurial energy and political purpose before Bangladesh turns the corner for good as the "long-running feud" between major parties and the "war of ideas" against the country's plethora of Islamist groups required the kind of sustained pressure that Dhaka has been unable to apply in the past.
"Despite these caveats, Bangladesh ought to be held up as a role model, especially for the . . . other Muslim-majority states," read the analysis which particularly tended to make a comparative study taking into account of the contemporary history of Pakistan.
It said Pakistan could learn about economic growth and combating terrorism from its former eastern province.
"Perhaps most importantly, Bangladesh appears comfortable in its own skin: politically secular, religiously Muslim and culturally Bengali. Bangladeshis celebrate the poetry, film and literature of Hindus and Muslims equally," it read.
-BSS

Babri mosque site 'split between Hindus, Muslims'

A court ruled on Thursday that the site of a demolished 16th century mosque in northern India would be divided between Hindus and Muslims, local television and a Hindu lawyer said.

The demolition of the 16th century mosque by Hindu mobs in 1992 triggered some of India's worst riots that killed about 2,000 people. More than 200,000 police have fanned out in India on Thursday to guard against any communal violence.
The television reports have not been confirmed by the court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Local television said it was a 2-1 majority verdict, giving two thirds of the land to Hindus and one third to Muslims.
If confirmed, it could help appease both sides in one of the most divisive court cases in India's history.
"The majority of the bench has ruled that the place where Lord Rama is enthroned, that is the birthplace of Rama," Ravi Shankar Prasad, lawyer for a Hindu petitioner, told reporters.
Hindus wants to build a temple on the site. Muslims want the mosque rebuilt after it was demolished in 1992.
The verdict is almost certain to be challenged in the Supreme Court and a final decision could take years.
From the capital New Delhi to the financial hub Mumbai and towns of the northern Hindu "cow belt" along the holy Ganges river, many Indians had waited with apprehension on the verdict, some staying at home and stocking up with food ahead of the verdict.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the verdict one of the country's biggest security challenges, and it comes at an already tense time when India worries about its international image days before the Commonwealth Games start in New Delhi.
Commentators say the verdict is unlikely to spark widespread riots that hit Mumbai and other cities in 1992. Political parties have called for calm and there is little electoral headway to be made in egging on religious riots in post-economic reform India.
The verdict's outcome will be a barometer of whether a rapidly globalising India with a growing middle class and an interest in investor stability has shed some of the religious extremism that often marred its post-independence years.
The issue haunts the ruling Congress party, a left-of-center group with secular roots, which will have to stand by a verdict that is likely to upset one or other major voter bloc.
-Daily Star