If you want to know Aminul Islam Bulbul, you must read this article

If You Want to Know Aminul Islam Bulbul, You Must Read This

Aminul Islam Bulbul is not just a name—he’s a symbol of Bangladesh cricket’s rise on the global stage. A true pioneer, Bulbul etched his name in history by scoring Bangladesh’s first-ever Test century, and played a vital role in putting the nation on the cricketing map.

? Early Days and Rise to Glory

Born on February 28, 1968, Bulbul was a gifted right-handed batsman and leg-break bowler. His leadership, composure, and cricketing intelligence stood out during Bangladesh’s pre-Test era. But it was in 2000, during Bangladesh’s maiden Test match against India, that Bulbul made history.

 His Historic Test Century

In Dhaka, under immense pressure, Bulbul stood tall against India and scored a brilliant 145, becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score a century in Test cricket. His knock was more than just runs—it was a statement that Bangladesh belonged on the world stage.

Career Highlights

• Test Debut: November 10, 2000 vs India

• Total Tests: 13

• Test Runs: 530

• ODIs Played: 39

• ODI Runs: 794

• Captain of Bangladesh in their first-ever Test match

Aminul Islam has become the new president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, who knows Bulbul who knows Bangladesh cricket. Bangladesh played the first World Cup under his leadership, and got the first win. Bangladesh made a century in the debut Test of Bangladesh. Aminul saw almost the entire career of the first light of the first light, Utpal Shuvra. Aminul Islam is also one of the characters in the book 'eleven' written by Utpal Shubhra about the story of the cricketer of Bangladesh. In writing about him, people can recognize Aminul with Aminul.

In the suburbs of Melbourne, I was a little surprised standing in front of the house. I was surprised to see the house number. 1!

If the number of the house is '1', why be surprised? Because the homeowner's name is Aminul Islam. Bangladesh cricket whom Bulbul knows more. I went to Melbourne to cover the World Cup and took the hospitality of a friend for two days before going to the hotel. I do not know then that Aminul Islam Bulbul is his neighbor. Only two or three home intervals in the middle.

Meet the first day. Aminul Islam Bulbul invited to visit his house. Not only did I go from the responsibility of protecting the invitation, they also have a lot of interest. Aminul's cricket-life and my journalism life proceeded in parallel. How many memories of acid! minul Islam Bulbul is also great as a chat companion. The chat that started with the house number.

What is the reason for the surprise to see '5'? That means Aminul's immortality in the history of centuries and cricket is because of a century. When Aminul Islam heard the name Bulbul, everything else does not seem to be the first to print! Aminul Islam Bulbul means Bangladesh's debut Test century.

When he found the number 5 house, you could find '5' with a little more trouble! Aminul smiled and said, 'It would not be bad. However, I do not know if you believe, the house number 1 is accidentally. I bought it online. I did not know then, the number of the house. '

The number of home numbers and surprises had to be explained. Do you need an explanation for '5'? Only the cricket fans of Bangladesh should be known. Aminul Islam is the epic of Bulbul in the debut Test of Bangladesh. The epic! In my innings, Aminul's last line with Aminul was the last line: 5 runs, 5 balls, 5 minutes, 4 fours - the first epic in Bangladesh's Test history is written in this figure.

To recognize minul Islam Bulbul, so you need to know about 1. Those who know the statistics, will tell them about a general Test cricketer at an average of 20.25 in 5 Tests. But Aminul is not ordinary, and not ten Test cricketers. His only century in the Test. That century of 5 runs has put a label of extraordinary label on him. The immortality in the history of cricket has also confirmed.

Because, that century is in Bangladesh's debut Test. How many people in Test cricket! But on one of these pages was the name except Aminul Islam and only the two. Charles Bannerman of Australia scored a century in the first Test in history in the 5th. David Honton in Zimbabwe's debut Test in 2002. The record is to break or break. But this is a record that is never broken. Can just be adding to someone.

That is why Dave Honton was so upset to meet Aminul. Bangladesh's first visit to Zimbabwe in the 21st. Interviewed Dave Hotton. He showed his car to Harare, took him to his academy. He said goodbye, 'Let me introduce me to Aminul! It would have been nice if the three men could chat. But Charles Bannerman will not get it anymore. We both chat together. '

Now, of course, no more than three. Kevin O'Brien, Ireland, has joined the Bannerman-Hatton-Aminul in the binny yarn. With whom Aminul was already friendly. Aminul also invited Kevin O'Brien to his squad before the Ireland debut Test. Kevin O'Brien also recalled it after making a century.

In the middle of the Malaysia, Aminul Islam, who was spit in Charles Bannerman's country, was not surprised. His Australian connection is very old. Victoria has been playing in the league almost regularly in her career life. A good job in the IT sector is studied in Australia. What is surprising is that you are reluctant to discuss your career. Before Melbourne lived in Sydney. I also visited Aminul's Sydney's house while covering the ICC Super Series in the 21st. Then I saw that Aminul replied in a face, "I have forgotten them."

What else did you really forget! What can be forgotten! If you forget cricket, what else is there Aminul! Cricket is his life even after leaving the game. He has been responsible for globalization of cricket standing in the flag of the Asian Cricket Council. He has also coached the country in the gap. Coaching in Australia too.

China was the main workplace as an ACC development officer. There was also all the fun experiences in teaching the Chinese cricket. There was a lot of laughter about it in his house in Melbourne. Is there really any future for China in cricket? 'A very bright future. The oldest, most unfit student of the class, the most donkey student comes to cricket ” - the first thing said in such a serious manner that it took a while to understand the next word. It was a little late to join Aminul's smile

I also know the reason for his reluctance to talk about his career and achievements even after being with cricket. Intense pride! In an interview given to me after his debut Test century, he said, ‘I want to play at least 20 Tests, 60-65 ODIs.’ He has managed to play 13 Tests and 39 ODIs. The pain of not fulfilling his dream still eats away at him after so many years. He cannot shake the regret that he had so much more to give to Bangladesh for a moment. He has not even officially retired from this pride.

How strange, he blames me for the ‘premature’ end of his career! When I heard this, I once said to him, ‘You are giving me a big compliment without realizing it. You are the legend of Bangladeshi cricket, and I, a petty journalist, have ended your career!’ Aminul did not seem convinced. Otherwise, he would not have unfriended me on Facebook. I also realized that incidentally. During the 2001 Zimbabwe tour with the Bangladesh team, I took a picture of Mehrab Hossain Opie and Aminul on either side of the Victoria Falls. Thinking of the historical value of the picture. On one side is Bangladesh's first ODI centurion, on the other side is the first in Test cricket. It is a matter of great pride for me to be able to be hyphenated between the two.

When I uploaded that picture to Facebook and tagged Aminul, I couldn't. To my surprise, Aminul was no longer on my friend list. Thinking that there must have been some mistake, I sent him a new friend request. Instead of receiving a response, I received a message from Aminul in my inbox. I did not delete it, so I can quote it exactly, 'Shubhrada, I have no personal conflict with you. You have written a lot about me. I still carefully kept one of his "Bulbul should be remembered not only for his playing skills". But when I remember the irreparable damage that Bangladeshi cricket suffered during 2001 to 2003, the burden of which Bangladesh is still carrying, then all my anger falls on you. I remember very well that just after my century in my first Test, you and Al Amin (Daily Star journalist) declared war on the Young team in Harare, much like Bush. I will give you one small example among many examples. How could I forget all this? What does it matter if I am not your friend? You will be fine.’

This message is from 2011. Aminul is still not my friend on Facebook. In the meantime, we have met many times. We have chatted. I told him about going to Aminul’s house in Sydney and Melbourne. I did not go to Aminul just to answer that ‘what does it matter...’ question. I did not say that if you are not my friend, many things matter to me. How many memories of my journalism career are the gifts you have given me. I have forgotten them! And there was friendship. It's okay if you don't return a friend's book to read. Just like I didn't return Ian Chappell's autobiography from you!

I'm writing 'Aminul' as 'Aminul', how uncomfortable it is! I have to write 'Bulbul' repeatedly and give a back space. Then I'll write 'Bulbul' in the rest of the writing. I clearly remember the day when Bulbul's batting first caught my eye. I saw it on television. The match against Sri Lanka in Dhaka in the 1988 Asia Cup. Bangladesh, trembling under Rumesh Ratnayake's fast bowling, lost 6 wickets for 62 runs. A small batsman wearing a white helmet came down next. Immediately after coming down, he was hit by Rumesh Ratnayake's bouncer. Bulbul scored 27 runs in that match. The runs are not important here, although these 27 were the second highest in Bangladesh's innings (the highest was 30 by Athar Ali Khan). What caught my eye was Bulbul's batting style. Who knows, maybe it was the way Rumesh Ratnaik responded to him. These things are no longer the case, Shakib and Tamim often do this. But at that time, Bangladeshi cricket was in a state of flux, and even small things like that would leave a mark on my mind.

Bulbul also knows about that first memory of being mesmerized by his batting. The article he wrote on Facebook titled ‘Bulbul should be remembered not only for his playing’ started with that incident. Although the subject of the article was cricketer Bulbul, I wanted to say that Bulbul should be remembered not only for his playing but also for his conduct on and off the field, his studies of cricket, his interest in learning about cricketers from other countries. If I had written only about cricketer Bulbul, his mother would certainly not have called and given an emotional response.

At that time, Bangladesh got the opportunity to play international cricket in Kalebhadra. Basically, in the Asia Cup, which came every two years, sometimes with a longer break. In the meantime, Bulbul had become the 'face of Bangladesh cricket' in the international arena. Before winning the ICC trophy and getting ODI status, Bangladesh had only one opportunity to play ODIs outside the Asia Cup. In the Australasia Cup in Sharjah in 1990.

Where Australia and New Zealand were in Bangladesh's group. The other group was the three Test-playing countries of Asia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In that tournament, among so many charioteers and greats, only two batsmen had no batting average. They were not out at all! The name of one of them, Pakistani leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed (21 runs in two innings), is not to be taken lightly. Bulbul's case is not like that. After being unbeaten on 30 runs against New Zealand, he was unbeaten on 41 in the next match against Australia. At that time, to understand that run of any Bangladeshi batsman against Australia-New Zealand in the current context, one has to multiply it by two, or even three.

Bulbul was a cricketer who was far ahead of his time. His call to the Youth World Cup in Australia in 1988 is a proof of this. The tournament's eighth team was formed with players from the ICC's associate member countries along with the seven Test-playing nations at that time. That Youth World Cup heralded the arrival of cricketers like Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mike Atherton, and Nasser Hussain. In which Aminul Islam Bulbul was the only representative of Bangladesh. He could not do anything memorable in batting. However, he took 6 wickets in off-spin bowling. One of them has become more memorable as time has passed. The wicket belonged to Brian Lara.

When the 'war' between Abahani and Mohammedan broke out in Bangladesh, at that time Gazi Ashraf Hossain was the captain of Lipu Abahani, while Bulbul was the captain of Mohammedan. To bring a little variety to the traditional preview, I started publishing columns of the two captains before this match. I had to rewrite Gazi Ashraf's writing a couple of times, but Bulbul always wrote his own.

I also remember another 'first' of Bulbul. It must have been 1991. Bulbul returned home after playing in Australia. He met many Australian cricketers there. Among them, he spent a long time with Graham Yellop. Hearing Bulbul's story of Yellop playing 39 Tests for Australia, I thought to myself, 'Don't write about this experience!' Bulbul wrote it. I was working at the now-defunct Ajker Kagoj newspaper at the time. Bulbul's writing was also published. Such a neat piece of writing that it didn't even need editing. To my knowledge, this is the first column by a Bangladeshi cricketer to be published in a newspaper. Later, he wrote it regularly. When the 'war' between Abahani and Mohammedan broke out in Bangladesh, at that time Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu was the captain of Abahani, while Bulbul was a Mohammedan. To bring a little variety to the traditional preview, I started publishing columns of the two captains before this match. I had to rewrite Gazi Ashraf's writing a couple of times, but Bulbul always wrote his own.

The bittersweet relationship I mentioned with Bulbul also started with this Abahani-Mohammedan match. The nineties of the last century witnessed the awakening of cricket in this country. The torch of that awakening was in the hands of Abahani-Mohammedan. The big stars of world cricket were regular guests at Dhaka cricket then. Raman Lamba, Atula Samarasekhara, Neil Fairbrother, Richard Illingworth, Ajay Jadeja, Sanath Jayasuriya, Wasim Akram... an endless procession of all the stars. Fifteen to twenty thousand spectators attend the Abahani-Mohammedan match. Electricity plays on the field. In a sense, the atmosphere is more electrified than the matches in Bangladesh today. In Bangladesh matches, the spectators are all on the same team. Abahani-Mohammedan is a clear two-way match. Keeping in tune with that atmosphere, Abahani-Mohammedan matches regularly gave classic gifts. The endings of four consecutive Abahani-Mohammedan matches in 1995-96 were so similar that it was as if the cricket god had written their manuscripts with his own hands.

All four matches were decided in the last over. Mohammedan, who had previously lost to Abahani in six consecutive matches, won all four. The win-loss margin in the first was 2 wickets. In the last three, 1 wicket. Another incredible similarity in these three matches, Bulbul won the match each time with the number 11 batsman Morshed Ali Khan Suman. 75 not out off 58 balls, 63 not out off 64 balls, 99 not out off 116 balls—there was another similarity in the three innings that Bulbul won the match, he was caught early in all three. In the last match, before he had scored any runs. So, inevitably, the title of my match report was: Bulbul gets ‘life’ again, Mohammedan wins again. In the afternoon, I called Bulbul for some reason. I started the conversation with a joke, ‘What, how much do you pay the fielders? Just throw your catches.’ Instead of the expected laughter and counter-jokes from the other end, Bulbul’s voice was incredibly serious. He didn’t say anything beyond a ‘ha-hu.’ Later, I heard that after Mohammedan went to the club in the afternoon, the officials had turned a deaf ear to him, ‘They are very kind to you. Look, what they wrote! You score runs at the mercy of the fielders.’

I was so upset after hearing the whole thing that I wrote an article in the next day’s newspaper. The end of the headline ‘Some Coincidences and Strange Misunderstandings’ was addressed to Bulbul, getting ‘life’ is part of cricket. The vice-captain of the national team has used all three lives and because he used them, these things come back again and again. Getting a 'life' in cricket is not a rare occurrence, but in most cases, the batsman wastes it, which is why it is erased from people's memories very quickly. But when someone like Bulbul gives such a severe punishment to the opponent for a mistake, then the discussion goes on for a long time. However, many people also understand that this is a mistake that makes the batsman look younger.

The writing was done. The easy relationship of laughter and jokes with Bulbul was back again. However, I still found evidence of his excessive sensitivity several times. The writing protested the exclusion of Habibul Bashar from the debut Test team and relevantly mentioned his recent past performance. A few days ago, Bulbul was run out by mistake while batting well in a match against England in Kenya. Then, I met Bulbul for the first time at BKSP. The debut Test camp was going on there. He jumped on the spot as soon as we met. Master Bulbul for speaking sarcastically. He has just lost the captaincy. The poor guy is already upset. So I digested it in silence. I have not received such a strong reaction to the writing from any other cricketer of Bangladesh before or since.

He is the first World Cup captain of Bangladesh. In the World Cup, he stepped on the ladder of Test status by defeating Pakistan. It was natural to dream of captaining the debut Test. Due to his lack of form, he was dropped and Naimur Rahman was made the captain. Bulbul received the news while in England. I later heard from him about that very upsetting day. The house he rented in England was owned by a television journalist. He brought some video cassettes of Ian Botham's games for Bulbul. He gave them to Bulbul and said, "Watch these. Botham has played better since he left the captaincy."

There were questions about his performance in his debut Test match as he had not scored runs for a long time. Captain Naimur Rahman was the happiest after Bulbul scored a century. He had to fight to keep Bulbul in the XI. He almost scored a century in the second Test as well. He was out for 84 runs against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. The Test mood that was completely absent among the Bangladesh batsmen, who were unused to long-range cricket, was evident only in Bulbul's batting in that innings. He batted for about five and a half hours, playing exactly 200 balls.

On the one hand, it was not surprising. Even in limited-overs matches, Bulbul's batting showed such a neatness that can be called classical batsmanship. That is why, when Bangladesh was not even close to getting Test status, Athar Ali Khan would say, 'He is Test class' whenever Bulbul was mentioned. Apart from a slight weakness in genuine pace, Bulbul's batting was flawless. He had all the traditional shots. Among them, my favorite was his extra cover drive, which came out of the wicket and hit the spinners. I also saw him hit the paddle sweep regularly among Bangladesh batsmen. Just playing these two shots would show that Bulbul is in rhythm today. In that innings of his debut Test, his half-century was an extra cover drive off the bowling of Bangladesh's current spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi. The next day, after the century, I went to the team hotel to congratulate him. I went to Bulbul's room and met Gordon Greenidge, the former coach of Bangladesh who was invited to that Test.

Greenidge also spoke about that shot separately, saying, 'That shot shows that you have regained your confidence.'

I said, 'That's Bulbul's stomach shot.'

Greenidge's answer explained the burning period of Bulbul's bat before that Test, 'Stomach shot! I doubt he played this shot for the last year and a half!'

At the end of the first day of the Test, Bulbul was unbeaten on 70 runs. There was a huge difference between him and the trembling batsman who walked towards the wicket at around 11 am. After returning to the hotel, I met Sourav Ganguly in the elevator. The Indian captain said in a threatening tone, 'I will get a new ball tomorrow morning.' Bulbul replied, 'Do whatever you want. I will score a century.’

About 24 hours after coming out to bat—at 11:04 AM on Thursday, November 11, 2000—he did it by sweeping left-arm spinner Murali Karthik to the square leg boundary. There is a reason why the day, date, and time are recorded so precisely. This is a historical claim. This is not like ten other centuries. It will be searched for many years from now. So let me tell you a little more. That century took 6 hours and 29 minutes, played 282 balls. Ian Chappell, who was uncertain about playing in that Test, said after watching his batting, ‘It feels like the boy is playing his 50th Test!’

It was natural to think so. Bulbul’s innings is actually beyond all logic and reason. He lost the record for the highest score for Bangladesh in four years. But it took him almost 13 years to break his record of playing 380 balls. And the record for the longest innings in terms of time was broken that day. Mushfiqur Rahim's second double century innings in November 2018. In an old interview of Bulbul that I conducted in 1999, when asked if he dreams of playing Test cricket, he says, "Let's play a few three/four-day matches first." I still can't believe how Bulbul, after stepping into the unknown world of Test cricket, managed to bat for almost nine hours in just a few years!

Bulbul's century was unique in another way. The day he scored his century, the newspapers were closed on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat. Such a feat was accomplished, and there will be no trace of it! The journalists in the press box immediately decided to take out a special bulletin. The bulletin, which was composed of articles by domestic and foreign journalists, was called 'Pressbox'.

Bulbul can look for a 'conspiracy' behind the end of his international career in 13 Tests and 39 ODIs, but the reality says otherwise. After 145 and 84 in the first two Tests, he had only one half-century in the next 11 Tests. That was in the Test that made history on Mohammad Ashraful's debut. The following year, in Sri Lanka, he was dropped from the Test team for the first time after getting 'pair' in the first Test. After that, he got the opportunity to play only one more Test. After scoring 5 and 12 runs in two innings against the West Indies in Dhaka in December 2002, the selectors never looked back at him.

He got the opportunity to play that Test as well after the ‘trial’. Before the West Indies series, the ‘Challenge Cup’ at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium was an unwritten selection tournament, the brainchild of the then chief selector Aliul Islam. In the three-team tournament, the development squad, which was made up of young players, played only the role of ‘sparring partners’. The main fight was between the national team, which had returned from South Africa a few days earlier, and the Bangladesh ‘A’ team. The ‘A’ team included all the cricketers who were claiming to return to the national team, the most notable of whom were Bulbul, Akram and Ashraful. Nannu, who was still hoping to play Tests, was also in the ‘A’ team. Basically, everyone’s eyes were on these four. In Bangladeshi cricket, it was a head-on battle between the ‘young’ and the ‘old’. That’s what I wrote in the preview of that tournament, the question about Akram-Bulbul and the test they have to take to return to the national team was not because of their age, but because of their recent performance. Relevantly, the runs of the last 7/8 Test innings of both were also mentioned.

The tournament was held at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium adjacent to the Abahani ground. Before the start of the first match, I went to say ‘hi-hello’ with the cricketers before going to the temporary tent set up for the journalists on the opposite side of the dressing room. Bulbul was unpacking his kit bag on the dressing room balcony and getting ready. On seeing me, he said, ‘I should thank you. I had no idea how many runs I had scored in any innings in the past few days. Thanks for reminding me.’

The tone of the conversation was sharp sarcasm.

I didn’t take it personally and instead laughed and said, ‘The writing is not printed in my name. Anyone else can write it too.’

Bulbul said with a wry smile, ‘I know, who can write these!’

I said in a conciliatory tone, ‘I have only presented pure statistics. I didn't make any comments.'

Bulbul's smile didn't change, 'Yes, you always do that.'

I didn't say anything more and walked towards the journalists' tent.

The chief selector had said before the tournament that only someone returning to South Africa could get into the national team if they did something 'extraordinary'. Bulbul, the captain of the 'A' team, had fulfilled that condition by scoring 135 runs against the national team and returned to the team. Who knew, he had already been dropped from the list of cancellations in just one Test

ODI. The last one was in January 2002, but it started in 2001 in Zimbabwe, the first tour of Bangladesh after getting Test status. For which Bulbul still blames me. The real story is different. The idea of ​​​​building an ODI team with young players instead of the old ones was the brainchild of coach Trevor Chappell. On that tour, Bangladesh team manager Mahbubul Anam also agreed with it. He called journalists to his room at the team hotel and explained his plan to move in that direction, and gave reasons for it. To understand more, I interviewed Trevor Chappell the next day. I went through the old files of the newspaper and found the relevant part of that interview. Where Trevor Chappell says, 'From an ODI perspective, we are thinking about the 2003 World Cup. At least in ODIs, we are thinking of fielding the best fielding side. If we have to sacrifice experience for that, we will do it.'

That thought led to Aminul being dropped from the second ODI team of the series. He still remembers the night before that match in Harare. Bulbul is sitting in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It is almost eleven o'clock at night. He is waiting, only when Akram falls asleep will he return to his room. The tradition of single rooms in international cricket had not yet begun. Akram has been his roommate for almost thirteen years since his debut in the national team a day earlier or later. He has been dropped from the Bangladesh team for the first time. Akram will surely be uncomfortable facing him. Bulbul's wait is to save him from that discomfort. At such a time, asking for a reaction becomes cruel. Even then, the journalists have no choice but to be cruel. Bulbul only said, 'I don't understand why I was dropped. My performance in the first match was also uncertain.'

According to Trevor Chappell's new thinking about the ODI team, Akram Khan was also supposed to be dropped in the next match. How could he survive. The answer I got from one source to the question of ‘how’ was a phone call from Board President Saber Hossain Chowdhury. I have repeatedly examined my role during that controversy to find the reason for Bulbul’s strong reaction. I never felt like I did anything extra. As a journalist, my job was to highlight the coach and manager’s new thinking about the ODI team. That was all I did. I did not go into the discussion of whether the thinking was right or wrong. However, I found another reason for Bulbul’s confusion. After returning home, manager Mahbubul Anam claimed at a press conference that no plan to form a team with young players excluding Akram Khan and Bulbul was discussed in Zimbabwe. He also did not say anything like that to any journalist. I was not present at that press conference. After hearing this from a colleague who was there, I was so angry that I could not help but write a short article with the heading ‘Manager is not telling the truth’.

The manager’s digs may be one reason for Bulbul’s misunderstanding. I also assume another reason. The idea of ​​dropping Akram Khan-Aminul Islam Bulbul, who had been an integral part of the Bangladesh team for almost thirteen years, created such a stir that an expert column by Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu was published in the weekly stadium page of Prothom Alo with the title ‘What happened then?’. All in all, Bulbul may have felt that the journalist had made his dropping out his personal agenda.

If he thought so, Bulbul was wrong. Because, in protest against the double policy of dropping Bulbul and playing Akram Khan, I wrote in Prothom Alo, ‘Aminul Islam Bulbul was dropped while implementing the policy of “building a team for the future”. When that could not be done, Bulbul should be brought back after apologizing to him.’ I also raised the question, ‘Why Bulbul if you think about the future? Speaking of fielding, Aminul Islam Bulbul is the better fielder of the two. Why didn't Bulbul notice those things!

Now it seems that the incident in Multan may also have had an impact. After the tour to Zimbabwe, there was an Asian Test Championship match against Pakistan. Akram and Bulbul both failed. The way they got out was more impressive than not being able to score runs. After the Test match ended in three days, I was standing on the field talking to coach Trevor Chappell. Another journalist from Bangladesh was next to me. I asked Trevor Chappell, 'The way the seniors of the team are getting out, do you think it is better to give the youngsters a chance considering the future?'

Most people will understand from this question that the questioner seems to want this. It will be misunderstood. Journalists often have to ask questions that may be contrary to their own opinions. But what does their own opinion matter! In order to convey the team's thinking to the reader, they may be asking the opposite question of what they think is right. My question was the same. I don't remember what Trevor Chappell answered. However, I felt the side effects of this question when I arrived in Karachi. Bangladesh was going to Sri Lanka to play the next Test from Pakistan, but the team's flight was scheduled for a five-day Test match. Considering the facilities for practice, the Bangladesh team stayed in Karachi for two extra days. I was also in the same hotel. After checking in to the room and going down to the lobby, I met Akram Khan. He said with a laugh, 'What's the matter, you're trying to exclude us!' I understood that the news had gone to the right place by mixing colors. During the conversation with Trevor Chappell, there was only one person besides the two of us, so there was no problem in being suspicious about the identity of the correspondent. Akram has a knack for taking everything easily. There is no intensity in any of his reactions. Just as there is not now, there was not then. It seemed that he understood after explaining. Otherwise, why would you invite him to his room? As soon as I entered the room, I met Bulbul. In response to Kushal's question, Daisara said something and went into the bathroom. I was sitting there thinking I would talk to her, so I sat there. 'What's the matter, did Bulbul fall asleep in the bathroom?' Akram replied to my joke with an embarrassed expression, 'Never mind. You should leave today. Bulbul won't come out until you leave.'

Why is it that when I meet Aminul Islam Bulbul, the first thing I remember is that incident at the Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel, overshadowing all other memories? Bulbul, do you remember?