Habibul Bashar facts for kids

Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar on field as selectors of BCB

Qazi Habibul Bashar (Bengali: কাজী হাবিবুল বাশার) is a famous former Bangladeshi cricketer. He was born on August 17, 1972. He used to be the captain of the Bangladesh cricket team. Many people remember him as one of Bangladesh's most successful captains. Under his leadership, the team achieved some really important victories.

He led Bangladesh to their first-ever Test match win in 2005 against Zimbabwe. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh also beat strong teams like Australia, India, South Africa, and Sri Lanka in shorter cricket matches. Today, Habibul Bashar is one of the main selectors for the BCB. He works with Abdur Razzak and Minhajul Abedin to choose players for the national team.

Early Career in Cricket

Habibul Bashar started playing cricket when he was young. In 1989, he played for the Bangladesh Under-19 team in a tournament called the U-19 Asia Cup. Throughout the 1990s, he played for a local team called Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

His first international match, known as an ODI debut, was in 1995 against Sri Lanka. He missed some important tournaments early in his career, including the 1997 ICC Trophy and the 1999 World Cup. However, after the 1999 World Cup, he rejoined the team and got more chances to play.

When Bangladesh played their first-ever Test match, Habibul Bashar was initially not chosen for the team. But because he was playing so well, many people and the media spoke up. Because of this, he was finally added to the team. In that historic match, Habibul Bashar scored the first fifty runs in the history of Bangladesh Test cricket, proving his skill.

Leading the Team to Success

Habibul Bashar was one of Bangladesh's best batsmen. He became the captain of Bangladesh in January 2004 and led the team until June 2007. During this time, he guided the team to some amazing achievements.

In January 2005, when Zimbabwe visited Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi team made history. They won their first-ever Test match. They also won their first Test series and their first One Day International series. These were huge moments for Bangladesh cricket.

In June 2005, Bangladesh achieved another big win. They beat the world champions, Australia, in a One Day International match held in Cardiff. In April 2006, they almost beat Australia in a Test match, showing how much they had improved.

Habibul Bashar had a tough time as a batsman during the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, the Bangladesh team still played quite well overall. After losing a Test series to India, Habibul Bashar decided to step down as the ODI captain. He still wanted to play for the team. But on June 2, 2007, he was also removed as the Test captain. Mohammad Ashraful took over as captain for both formats.

On September 14, Habibul Bashar announced that he was retiring from international cricket. He continued to play some local cricket for a while before fully retiring from professional cricket at the end of the 2009/10 season.

Being a Brand Ambassador

In 2017, Habibul Bashar was chosen to represent Bangladesh as a brand ambassador. This was for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy tournament. It showed that he was still an important figure in Bangladeshi cricket.

Career Highlights

This graph shows Habibul Bashar's scores in each Test match (red bars) and his average score over his last ten innings (blue line).

Test Match Milestones

• His first Test match was against India in Dhaka in 2000.
• He scored his highest runs in a Test match, 113, against West Indies in 2004.
• He scored three centuries (100 runs or more) in Test matches:
  • 108 runs against Zimbabwe in Chattogram in 2001.
  • 108 runs against Pakistan in Karachi in 2003.
  • 113 runs against West Indies in Gros Islet in 2004.
• His best year for scoring runs in Test matches was 2003. He scored 801 runs that year, including one century and seven scores of fifty or more. His average score was 44.50.

One Day International Milestones

• His first One Day International (ODI) match was against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1995.
• He scored his highest runs in an ODI, 78, against Zimbabwe in 2007.