Bangladesh Cricket Team Captain Shakib Al Hasan Wins Parliament Seat

Bangladeshi cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan won a seat in the country's parliament Sunday after a landslide victory in a general election boycotted by the opposition, an official said. The 36-year all-rounder, who leads the country in all formats of the game, beat his rival by a margin of more than 150,000 votes in his constituency in the western town of Magura, the district's chief administrator Abu Naser Beg said. "It was a landslide victory," he said. There is no immediate comment from the cricketer, a candidate of the ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is herself widely expected to win a fifth term in power after the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the vote.

Shakib, speaking ahead of the election, conceded he was not facing any serious obstacle but told AFP the contest still made him anxious.

"The competition and challenges are always there, be it a small team or big team," he said.

Shakib's campaign obliged him to take a temporary leave of absence from cricket.

He has bristled at the suggestion he would not be able to balance his duties as a lawmaker and a cricket captain.

"Did I retire?" he asked during campaigning. "If I haven't retired, then where does this question come from?"

Shakib is the only person to have been ranked the number-one all-rounder in all three formats simultaneously by the International Cricket Council.

He was a teenager when he was recruited to the country's premier sports academy and just 19 at his international debut in 2006 as a batting all-rounder.

By the following year, he was already a star when he hit a fifty in a David-and-Goliath show against India in the World Cup -- a victory still spoken of reverentially by Bangladeshi fans.

He has also garnered a reputation for ill-discipline, with a rebellious streak that once saw him threaten a spectator with a bat, and that earned him a three-match ban after making a lewd gesture to a television crew.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Meet India's Youngest First-Class Debutant From Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi

The ongoing edition of Ranji Trophy is gaining all the attention as batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi has made his first-class debut. The special thing about this batter is his age, as he is only 12-years-old. Vaibhav made his debut for Bihar in Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai on Friday at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, Patna. With his historic debut, this young lad surpassed the batting icons of India Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, to become the youngest debutant in India's first-class cricket.

Sachin made his first-class debut at the age of 15 years and 230 days. On the other hand, Yuvraj was 15 years and 57 days old, at the time of his debut.

Talking about Vaibhav, the young Bihar-based batter had earlier played for India B U19 team in a Quadrangular Under-19 series. He stunned everyone with his performance as he scored 177 runs in six matches, including two fifties.

Viabhav then went on to feature in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, where he emerged as the eighth highest run-scorer with a total of 393 runs. His stats include a century and three half-centuries.

Earlier, Bihar's Moin-ul-Haq Stadium hogged limelight for a wrong reason. The venue is hosting a Ranji Trophy Elite Group match after a 27-year-long gap and the miserable condition of the stadium has become a talking point.

It is worth noting that Bihar is currently playing against Mumbai in an Elite Group B match at the Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium.

As stars like Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube are playing in the match, fans entered the stadium in huge number but no proper seating and the deteriorating condition of the stadium has invited wide criticism.

A video of the stadium's poor condition went viral on social media and that saw former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad also slamming the state's cricket governing body.

"This is unacceptable. Ranji Trophy is the premiere domestic competition in India and it's time all stakeholders realise it's value. Don't see any valid reason for the state association not rectifying this," said Venkatesh while reacting to the viral video.

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Alexander Isak Stars As Newcastle Beat Bitter Rivals Sunderland In FA Cup

Newcastle ended their 13-year wait to beat bitter rivals Sunderland as Alexander Isak's double inspired a 3-0 win in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. In the first Tyne and Wear derby since 2016, Eddie Howe's side put their bitter local rivals to the sword thanks to Dan Ballard's first-half own goal and Isak's brace after the break at the Stadium of Light. Newcastle had lost six of their previous seven clashes with Sunderland, but their composed display neutered the fired-up Black Cats and delivered a first derby success since a 1-0 victory in 2011. After four successive defeats in all competitions, Howe hoped the derby would be a "season-changing" moment to salve the wounds from their Champions League exit and poor Premier League form. Whether vanquishing second-tier opponents will prove transformative remains to be seen, but for now local pride was all that mattered to the 6,000 Newcastle fans who waved their black and white scarves in delight at the final whistle.

While the northeast rivalry might lack the glamour of the Manchester and north London derbies, there is no questioning the rivalry between clubs separated by just 14 miles.

Encapsulating the enmity was a bizarre incident this week when Sunderland were forced to apologise to furious fans after a stadium bar was redecorated with Newcastle colours in the corporate hospitality section of the visitors' support.

Newcastle's fans were taken to the stadium on buses in a huge police convoy, then given their tickets to the match, in a bid to avoid the violent scenes that have marred previous encounters.

Howe had enlisted the help of the few Geordies in Newcastle's squad to tell the rest of his globally assembled squad just how important the derby is.

The message clearly hit home as Newcastle dominated a frenetic encounter.

Responding to the sound and fury in the stands, tackles flew in with abandon from both teams. 

Sunderland's Jobe Bellingham, brother of Real Madrid star Jude, caught Joelinton with a crude lunge before Jack Clarke pole-axed Sven Botman to the audible delight of the Black Cats fans.

Amid the maelstrom, Newcastle kept their nerve and snatched the lead in the 35th minute as Ballard stretched to block Joelinton's cross but only succeeded in diverting the ball into his own net.

Sunderland gifted Newcastle their second goal less than 60 seconds after the interval when Almiron robbed the dawdling Pierre Ekwah inside his own area and teed up Isak to fire home from 10 yards.

Ballard's 90th minute foul on Anthony Gordon conceded a penalty that Isak converted to cap the exclamation point on Newcastle's victory.

Non-league Maidstone United, the lowest ranked team left in the competition, clinched a surprise 1-0 win against Stevenage to reach the fourth round for the first time.

There is a 69-place gap between George Elkobi's Kent-based club and third-tier Stevenage.

But in their first third round appearance since 1988, the National League South minnows made history as Sam Corne netted a penalty in first half stoppage-time before fans flooded the pitch in celebration at the final whistle.

In Saturday's other early third round ties, Leicester took a break from their Championship promotion push to beat Millwall 3-2 at The Den.

Ten points clear at the top of the Championship, the 2021 FA Cup winners were able to rest several players and still saw off Millwall through goals from Cesare Casadei, Ricardo Pereira and Tom Cannon.

Ipswich, who are second to Leicester in the Championship, moved into the fourth round with a 3-1 win at League Two side AFC Wimbledon.

Later on Saturday, inconsistent Chelsea will look to avoid a shock at home to Championship side Preston, while surprise title chasers Aston Villa travel to second-tier Middlesbrough.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Hezbollah’s Leader Says It Would Not Negotiate Peace With Israel Until War in Gaza Ends

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"If 20 Wickets Fell On Day 1 In India": Indian Star's Dig At Pitch Critics

As a whopping 23 wickets fell on Day 1 of the second Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town, the world of social media is going ga-ga over the nature of pitch used in the match. Whenever an early result is obtained in a Test match in India, the 'pitch critics' often call out the imbalance between the bat and the ball. However, no such remark has been made yet about the Newlands wicket. Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal, reacting to the developments in South Africa, wondered what would've happened had 20 wickets fell on the first day of a Test match in India.

"What if 20 wickets fell on day 1 in India," Agarwal posted on X (formerly Twitter), taking a subtle dig at those who often criticse India's spin friendly wickets.

What if 20 wickets fell on day 1 in India #INDvsSA

— Mayank Agarwal (@mayankcricket) January 3, 2024

Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra, also took a subtle dig at the Newlands pitch, saying he expects the match to be over on teh second day.

"We have again taken three wickets (in the second innings). We are still well ahead in the game. The match will be over on the second day. Why do you keep five-day Test matches? The first match lasted three days and the second match will last two days," he said on his YouTube channel.

"I hope that does not happen, but the only chance for India to lose is if South Africa get a 150-run lead. Other than that, I feel we are in the driver's seat. So the expectation is that when this match ends, the series would be tied at 1-1 and we would have registered our first-ever win in a Cape Town Test," he added.

Chopra also lauded Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj who bagged a six-wicket haul in the first innings, saying that the best of Siraj is "magical".

"You have to credit the Indian bowling for the way they bowled, especially Mohammed Siraj. This is what makes Siraj extremely special. The best of Miyan Magic is actually magical," said Chopra.

"When he bowled against Sri Lanka - six wickets, and when he bowled here - six wickets. If you see his action, he falls slightly towards the left and it seems the ball would come in but the ball pitches and goes away. The ball also shapes away a little in the air. So there he kept picking up wickets," he added.

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