Sports Reporter :
Bangladesh played a Test match after 16 years without a member of five-man Army (Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim). Bangladesh played the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at Christchurch in New Zealand on Sunday. Ace batsman Mushfiqur Rahim could not take part in the second Test against New Zealand due to injury. Thus, the Mominul Haque & Co. played a Test match without a member of five-man Army.
In the last decade, at least a member of the five-man Army had contribution for the victory of Bangladesh against their opponents in the Test matches. It may be mentioned that Bangladesh won over New Zealand by eight wickets in the first Test at Mount Maunganui in New Zealand on January 5. Mushiq could not perform well in that Test but he played for Bangladesh.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had not been playing in Test cricket for a long time. Mahmudullah Riyad formally retired from Test cricket last year. He played for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in his last Test in 2021. Shakib Al Hasan has been granted a leave from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Shakib did not take part in the two-match Test series against New Zealand due to family reasons. Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out from the team for injury. Mushfiqur Rahim was the last person of five-man Army who was playing for Bangladesh in Test cricket. But Mushfiq could not take part in Christchurch Test due to injury. Thus, Bangladesh Cricket team returned to their 16-year memory in Christchurch.
Bangladesh played without a member of five-man Army in 2006 against Sri Lanka in Chittagong Test.
