The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One Day International (ODI) status. It played its first Test match in 2000 against India in Dhaka, becoming the tenth Test cricket playing nation.
Bangladesh's first official foray into international cricket came in the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, leaving the tournament with 2 wins and 2 defeats. Seven years later, on 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played in its first ODI match against Pakistan in the 1986 Asia Cup. Cricket has gradually become very popular in urban areas of the country. Although football was the most popular game for a long time, cricket gained momentum and soon surpassed football, especially after Bangladesh won the 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia. By winning the tournament, Bangladesh qualified for the 1999 Cricket World Cup for the first time, where it defeated Pakistan creating one of the biggest upsets in their cricketing history. In 1997, Bangladesh became a regular ICC member with the right to play ODIs. It attained the status of a Test playing country on 26 June 2000.
Bangladesh hold the record for most consecutive losses in Tests (21 between 1999 and 2002) and ODIs (23 between 2001 and 2004). After gaining full member status with the ICC, Bangladesh had to wait until 2004 for its first ODI win since the 1999 World Cup. The team on the losing side on that occasion was Zimbabwe, who also participated in Bangladesh's maiden Test victory in 2005; by securing a draw in the second match, Bangladesh won their first Test series. In 2009 Bangladesh toured the West Indies for two Tests and by winning both secured their first overseas series victory.
As of August 2011, Bangladesh has played 70 Tests, winning only 3. Its first victory was against Zimbabwe and the other two were against a West Indian team crippled by a players' strike. Of the 60 matches it has lost, 34 were by an innings.[1] The lack of a first-class tournament in the country before it was granted Test status has been cited as one of the reason's for the side's struggle to adapt to the longest form of the game, and Bangladesh's performance has led to repeated calls for it to lose its Test status. The team has been more successful in ODIs, having won 70 of its 255 matches,[2] and has also played 17 Twenty20 Internationals, winning four.
