United News of Bangladesh

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has regained his position as the world's number one T20I all-rounder in the latest ICC weekly rankings update, rewarding his stellar performances that led his team to the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage. Raza reclaimed the throne from Pakistan's Saim Ayub, reaching 294 rating points compared to Ayub's 281. The two players have frequently swapped the top spot in recent times. The Zimbabwean skipper secured his return to the summit after playing crucial knocks of 45 against Sri Lanka and 27 against the West Indies during the group stage. ICC announces women's T20 World Cup 2026 schedule: Bangladesh drawn in tough Group 1 Further down the all-rounder list, India's Shivam Dube advanced two places to seventh, while Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi climbed three spots to eighth. In the batting rankings, India's Abhishek Sharma retained his number one spot despite enduring a dismal run of form in the ongoing tournament. After registering three consecutive ducks in the group stage and scoring just 15 against South Africa in the Super Eight, Sharma still holds an 815-point rating, keeping him 61 points clear of England's Phil Salt in second. Meanwhile, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan, the tournament's leading run-scorer so far, moved up two places to third. ICC opens hearings into former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte India's Ishan Kishan climbed to fifth, while South Africa's Dewald Brevis broke into the top ten, jumping ten spots to ninth. England captain Harry Brook also surged ten places to 18th following his match-winning century against Pakistan. The bowling rankings saw Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy hold onto the top position. However, South African pacer Corbin Bosch made a massive leap of 21 places to reach third after claiming seven wickets in four matches. West Indies fast bowler Matthew Forde also enjoyed a meteoric rise, jumping 23 spots to seventh, right ahead of India's Jasprit Bumrah, who climbed seven places to eighth. West Indies spinner Gudakesh Motie advanced 17 spots to sit tied for 21st.

Riding on the outstanding batting display by Wessley Madhevere, Regis Chakabva and Ryan Burl, Zimbabwe posted 193 for five in 20 overs in the third and final T20I against Bangladesh on Sunday at the Harare Sports Club.  It is now the highest T20 total by Zimbabwe against Bangladesh. Their previous highest was 187 for six in 2016 what was notched up in Khulna.  In Sunday’s game, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and opted to bat first.  Also read: Zimbabwe restore parity in T20 series Openers Tadiwanashe Marumani and Madhevere added 63 runs in just 5.6 overs. In the fourth over of the innings, Madhevere struck five fours off Taskin Ahmed. Madhevere took only 13 balls to score his first 30 runs.  Before falling out by Mohammad Saifuddin, Marumani scored 27 off 20 balls. Madhevere was doing some damage at the other end of the wicket.  Regis Chakabva was more destructive than Madhevere. He struck 48 off 22 balls with six sixes. Soumya Sarkar managed a breakthrough for the Tigers removing Chakabva and Sikandar Raza in the same over.  Also read: BAN vs. ZIM 2021: T20I Series Finale Review But that was not enough to wrap Zimbabwe in something less than 150 or 160 runs.  Ryan Burl did the final damage scoring 31 off 15 balls with three fours and two sixes.  It was a nightmarish outing for the Bangladesh bowlers. Saifuddin conceding 50 runs in four overs and bagged only a wicket. Nasum Ahmed, who got a chance in the XI for the first time in this series, conceded 37 runs.  Soumya was the best bowler for Bangladesh taking two wickets conceding 19 runs in three overs.  Bangladesh won the first match of the three-match series, but the hosts made a good comeback in the second. So the third match became the final of the series.

Ahead of the one-off Test against Bangladesh that is scheduled to begin on February 22, Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza on Thursday said that they are stronger than before as a Test team.