Raqibul Hasan (cricketer, born 1953)

Raqibul Hasan
Personal information
Full name Raqibul Hasan
Born 1 January 1953
Dacca (now Dhaka, Bangladesh), Pakistan
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style n/a
Role Batsman, Occasional;Wicket-keeper
International information
National side
  • Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 9) 31 March 1986 v Pakistan
Last ODI 2 April 1986 v Sri Lanka
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs
Matches – 2
Runs scored – 17
Batting average – 8.50
100s/50s – -/-
Top score – 12
Balls bowled – 1
Wickets – –
Bowling average – –
5 wickets in innings – –
10 wickets in match – n/a
Best bowling – –
Catches/stumpings -/- 1/-
Source: , 13 February 2006

Raqibul Hasan (born 15 January 1953 in Dhaka) is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 2 ODIs in 1986. he is widely regarded as one of the best Bangladeshi batsman of his era.[1]

Early years

An opening batsman, Raqibul Hasan,made his first-class debut in 1968–69 at the age of 16, and was soon selected to represent Pakistan's U19 team against the English Schoolboys. He was twelfth man in a Test match against New Zealand at Dhaka in 1969–70. Barely sixteen at the time, he seemed sure to have a lengthy Test career ahead of him.

However on 26 February 1971 a match started at Dhaka in the Bangabandhu Stadium. It was a four-day match against the Commonwealth side. The Pakistan team was playing and he was picked to play for them. At 18 years old he became the first and only Bengali to play for a full-strength Pakistan team. The match couldn't be finished as on the last day demonstrations erupted all over the city and the stadium was invaded. Within a month of his debut, events in his homeland of East Pakistan took a shocking turn, and he was forced to flee for his life.

It would be nine long months before Bangladesh won its independence, at the cost of millions of lives. In Raqibul's family there were six casualties. On top of that, he lost his best friend, Haleem Chaudhri, who was his opening partner for East Pakistan and his room-mate on tour. And he lost his cricketing godfather, Mushtaq, the man who spotted him as a boy and gave him his first chance at club level.

In independent Bangladesh

After returning to Bangladesh, Raqibul became a key figure in building the Bangladesh cricket. He led the side in their return to international arena. In December 1976, the visiting MCC started their tour with a 2-day match at Rajshahi against North Zone, he was named captain and top scored with 73 in the 2nd innings. He bettered that, scoring 74 for South Zone at Jessore. But his proudest moment of the season came at Dhaka as he was part of the Bangladesh team (led by Shamim Kabir) that played in the 3-day-unofficial Test Match against MCC in January 1977. This historical match marked the resumption of international cricket at Dhaka.[2]

In full ODIs

Raqibul played in two ODI's for Bangladesh. He scored 5 against Pakistan,[3] and 12 against Sri Lanka[4] in the second Asia Cup in 1986.

In ICC Trophy[5]

Raquibul Hasan played in 3 ICC Trophy tournaments. In 1979, he scored 52 runs in 4 matches with a highest of 34 against Canada. He did better in 1982, scoring 167 runs at an average of 27.83. His highest, 42 came against West Africa. finally, in 1986, he scored 121 runs at an average of 24.19. His unbeaten 47 helped Bangladesh beat Argentina. He retired from international cricket after the 86 ICC Trophy.

Year Matches Runs Average Highest Score 100 / 50
1979 4 52 13.00 34 0/0
1982 7 167 27.83 42 0/0
1986 6 121 24.20 47* 0/0
Overall 17 340 22.67 47* 0/0
Raqibul Hasan: Significant Performances in International cricket
Date Opposition Venue Performance
Dec. 1976 MCC Rajshahi 73
Jan 1977 MCC Jessore 74
Feb. 1978 Decan Blues(India) Dhaka 64
Jan 1981 MCC Chittagong 78*
Jan 1981 MCC Dhaka 51 & 51
Dec. 1983 Chandan Nagar West Bengal(India) 77
Feb. 1984 Kenya Nairobi 64
March 1986 Rawalpindi Rawalpindi 49
June 1986 Argentina (ICC Trophy) England 47*

Raqibul as captain

He had two spells as captain of Bangladesh; first during 1977–79 and 2nd during the 1983–84 season. He had a difficult time, during the Sri Lankaseries in January 78. The Lankan team was far superior in strength and they won all the 3-day unofficial Test Matches. Raquibul Hasan failed to convert quite a few starts, into any score of substance. He (and his team) did lot better, against the Indians (Decan Blues) (led by former Indian captain) Ajit Wadekar in Feb 1978. His defiant 64 helped the lcoal side reach 320/9, despite the efforts of Indian leg spinner M. V. Narasimha Rao. (The leggie took 6/120). This was the first time Bangladesh crossed the 300 mark in an international match. However, Raquibul failed with the bat the following season, against a relatively weak MCC squad. It was apparent that the captaincy was becoming a burden for him. So, the selectors chose WK batsman Shafiq-ul-Haq Hira as captain for the 1st ICC Trophy in England, in the summer of 1979.

Raquibul's 2nd spell as captain came during the busy 1983–84 season. He led Bangladesh to victory in the 1984 South-East Asia Cup in Dhaka in January. In 1985, Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu was named as the new captain.[6]

Preceded by
Shamim Kabir
Shafiq-ul-Haq		 Bangladeshi cricket Captains
1977–79
1983–84 		Succeeded by
Shafiq-ul-Haq
Gazi Ashraf

Domestic cricket

He played his League cricket in Dhaka for Victoria Sporting Club and Mohammedan Sporting Club.

References

  1. ↑ : Rafiqul Ameer."Looking Back: Bangladesh Cricket in the 80's". Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
  2. ↑ Hasan Babli. "Antorjartik Crickete Bangladesh". Khelar Bhuban Prakashani, November 1994.
  3. ↑ Cricinfo Scorecard: Bangladesh v Pakistan (1986-03-31). (Retrieved on 2007-12-25).
  4. ↑ Cricinfo Scorecard :Bangladesh v Sri-Lanka. (1986-04-02) (Retrieved on 2007-12-25)
  5. ↑ Banglacricket: Bangladesh in ICC Trophy (retrieved on 2008-07-09)
  6. ↑ Hasan Babli. "Antorjartik Crickete Bangladesh". Khelar Bhuban Prakashani, November 1994.

External links