Deccan Blues cricket team in Bangladesh in 1989–90

A Deccan Blues side, led by former Indian Wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani, visited Bangladesh in January 1990. This was the fourth visit of a Deccan (Hyderabad) Blues side to Bangladesh, following tours in 1978 (Skipper Ajit Wadekar), in 1981–82 (skipperB.S. Chandrasekhar), and in 1983–84 (skipper Gundappa Viswanath. The Bangladesh side looked the stronger side in the limited over games, but the tourists won the three-day fixture.

Scores in brief

Notes

1) BCCB(Red)'s victory was the 1st by a Bangladeshi team over Decan (Hyderabad) Blues side. Gundappa Viswanath's team did lose a game (1984), but that was against Mushtaq Mohammad's PIA (Pak).

2) The Navana XI was a multinational team, consisting players (Local and Foreign) playing at the Dhaka League at that time. It included a number of Sri Lankan and English players. On paper, this was the strongest team playing against the tourists. But, unfortunately, the team failed to live up to the expectations and was badly beaten.

3) The game against BCCB (White) was played at Mymensingh. All the other matches were played at Dhaka. The final game, against the U-25 side, was a Day-Night affair. This was the first time, a game was played under the floodlights at Dhaka. A huge crowd gathered at the National Stadium (now called Bangabandhu National Stadium) to watch this historical event.

Individual performances

The series was dominated by two players: Indian opener Raman Lamba and Bangladeshi all-rounder Aminul Islam Bulbul.

Raman Lamba narrowly missed a ton in the first match. He was left unbeaten on 97 after he and skipper Kirmani had rebuilt the innings. From 41/5, the pair took the score to 160. Lamba made up for the missed century with centuries in each innings of three-day match, followed by another ton in the match against the U-25 team. In the three-day match, he and Sridhar put on 238 for the 1st wicket. Lamba even impressed with his bowling, taking 3/18 against a strong Navana XI batting line up.

The young all-rounder produced some brilliant performances to enhance his reputation as the country's best all-Round Cricketer. Playing for the BCCB (White) at Mymensingh, he performed with both bat and ball. Chasing a small total, the BCCB side lost some early wickets. But, Aminul Islam, along with fellow all-rounder Enamul Haq showed great determination with the bat. But, it was in the three-day match, that Bulbul showed greatest effort. After the opening pair of Raman Lamba and Sridhar had put 238 runs for the 1st wicket, the tourists were restricted to 338, mainly due to Bulbul's brilliant off-spin bowling. He was team's best batter as well, scoring 47 and 44*.

Sridhar provided good support to Raman Lamba in the opening partnership. Vivek Jaisimha and Pravin Amre, however, failed to do justice to their names. Syed Kirmani used his long experience in Sub Continent conditions to play some useful knock down the order. Unlike the previous tours of the Indian teams, the spinners failed to dominate. Medium Pacer Chetan Sharma bowled well in the three-day match.

For the local side, Minhajul Abedin played a match winning knock for BCCB(Red). Sabiir scored a good half-century playing for the U-25 side. He was given good support by Selim Shahed (33), but more experienced Akram Khan and Aminul Islam failed in this match. The medium pacers, Prince, Suru and Dulu did well in the limited over games, but they looked completely hapless against Raman Lamba and SriDhar in the three-day fixture.

• B.S. Chandrashekar left Bangladesh after just 1 game, Chetan Chauhan led the side in the remaining matches.
  • These two games were against the PIA(Pak)side, led by Mushtaq Mohammad.

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References