Dhaka, July 20 19 (UNB) — Bangladesh A team will play against their Afghan rivals in the second one-day match on Sunday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram to regain their lost pride.

The tourists had defeated the hosts by 10 wickets in the first of the five-match one-day series on Friday. Bangladesh performed poorly despite having four national cricketers – Anamul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Mithun.

Earlier, Bangladesh A team lost the two-match four-day unofficial Test series 0-1 to the second string Afghanistan team.

Afghanistan won the first match by seven wickets at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna and settled for a draw in rain interrupted second match in Chattogram last week to win the series 1-0.

The third one-day match will also be held at the same venue in Chattogram on July 24 while the last two matches, scheduled for July 27 and 29, will be played at the BKSP ground in Savar.

Dhaka, July 20 (UNB) — Bangladesh National Cricket Team left here for Sri Lanka on Saturday to play a three-match ODI series against the hosts in Colombo.

The Tigers departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 12:45pm.

The first match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will take place on July 26 while the remaining ones will be played on July 28 and 31.

In the absence of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who has been ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury just one day the before team's departure, Tamim Iqbal will lead the Tigers in the series.

"The series is important for us. Some of our important players are missing this series. It's a big challenge for the guys who are in the squad," Tamim told reporters at the airport before the departure.

"It’ll be tough to face Sri Lanka at their home. They’re a strong side on the home soil. We have to play our best cricket to register a position result," he added.

Along with Mashrafe, all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin was also left out due to injury. The team management called Farhad Reza and Taskin Ahmed as the replacements.

Bangladesh will miss the service of Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das in the upcoming series as they are on leave due to personal reasons.

This is the first assignment of the Bangladesh team after their unexpected run in the ICC Men’s World Cup in England and Wales where they ended eighth.

Dhaka, July 20 (UNB) - Mahendra Singh Dhoni has no immediate plans to retire despite the intense speculation surrounding his future, his longtime friend and business partner Arun Pandey said Friday, reports The Indian Express. 

Speculations over Dhoni’s future intensified ever since India lost their big-ticket World Cup semifinal against New Zealand earlier this month.

“He has no immediate plans to retire. The constant speculation over the future of a great player like him is unfortunate,” Pandey told. 

Pandey’s comments came ahead of Sunday’s team selection for the West Indies tour. The picture on Dhoni’s plans will be clearer once the squad is picked for the tour beginning August 3.

BCCI officials are expected to speak to the two-time World Cup winning captain.

Pandey has been associated with Dhoni for a long time and also handles his business interest besides heading Rhiti Sports, a sports management company.

With the selectors looking at the future following the World Cup, the 38-year-old may not be an automatic pick in the team.

The speculation surrounding Dhoni’s retirement is only growing by the day with many of his countless fans wanting him to carry on while some questioning his waning abilities as a batsman.

Dhoni has captained India to titles in all major ICC events — World Cup, World T20 and Champions Trophy.

His last international innings of 50 ended in heartbreak for the entire nation as he was run out with a brilliant direct hit from the deep by New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, effectively ending India’s hopes in the knock-out game.

Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja had brought back India into the game with a 116-run stand after they were reeling at 24 for four chasing 240.

The man from Ranchi have turned up for the country in 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20 Internationals. He has amassed 10,773 ODI runs at an average of over 50 while in Test cricket, Dhoni accumulated 4876 runs at 38.09.

Monaco, July 19 (AP/UNB) — Former world indoor 400-meter champion Kemi Adekoya has been banned for four years for doping in another drug case to hit Bahrain's squad of elite African-born runners.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping cases in track and field, said Friday that Adekoya tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol. Her ban is backdated from November 2018.

Adekoya competed for Nigeria but switched allegiance to Bahrain ahead of the 2014 Asian Games. Since then, she's won four Asian Games gold medals and an Asian championship title, plus the 2016 world indoor 400 gold in Portland.

The AIU said Adekoya's results since Aug. 24 last year would be struck out, meaning she loses her Asian Games gold medals in the 400 hurdles and the 4x400 mixed relay. The hurdles gold is due to pass to Vietnam's Quach Thi Lan and the relay gold to India.

Bahrain's longstanding policy of fielding African-born runners has come under scrutiny after Olympic marathon silver medalist Eunice Kirwa was banned for four years last month in a doping case. Another distance runner, Violah Jepchumba, was banned last year.

After countries including Bahrain and Qatar spent years recruiting African runners, the IAAF tightened the rules for changes of allegiance in track in 2018, saying it feared some athletes were being bought and sold by third parties. The new measures include a three-year waiting period and a bar on athletes transferring more than once.

Also Friday, the AIU said Indian distance runner Sanjivani Jadhav has been banned for two years for a positive test for probenecid, which can be used to mask the presence of other banned substances. Jadhav loses the bronze medal she won in the 10,000 at April's Asian championships.

Dhaka, July 19 (UNB) — Bangladesh ODI captain Masrhafe Bin Mortaza and all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin have been ruled out of the upcoming Sri Lanka tour due to injuries. 

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) called in all-rounder Farhad Reza and right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed as replacements. 

While Mashrafe got a new blow on his left hamstring, Saifuddin is suffering from an old problem on his back. They were scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka on Saturday with the national team.

Debashis Chowdhury, the chief physician of BCB, confirmed Mashrafe’s injury to the media on Friday.

“Mashrafe’s been suffering from many injuries for a long time. Now he injured his left hamstring and it’s tough for him to join the Sri Lanka tour. It’s up to the team management to decide whether he will play in the upcoming series or not,” he said. 

Later, a source close to the team management confirmed UNB that Mashrafe has been ruled out from the Sri Lanka tour where the Tigers will play a three-match ODI series. 

Mashrafe suffered the injury during practice at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday evening. Before the World Cup, he had sustained a hamstring injury in the final of tri-nation series against West Indies in Ireland.