Is Bangladesh discriminating against Hindu cricketers: Only 11 players have played so far, before 1971 Pakistan did not allow Bengali Muslims to play

29th February, 1969. A test match was going on between Pakistan and England in Dhaka. Pakistan, batting first, lost their eighth wicket and Niaz Ahmed came to bat. When he came in, the audience welcomed him as if a top order batsman had arrived.

Niaz Ahmed was not a very good player, nor was he a Bengali. He was born in Uttar Pradesh, his family moved to Pakistan after independence. He was getting so much support in Dhaka because till 1971 no Bangladeshi got a chance to play for Pakistan. Therefore, seeing a Bengali cricketer in the playing-11, the support of Bangladeshi fans increased.

Bangladesh became independent in 1971, the team started playing ODI cricket in 1986 and discrimination against Bengali Muslims in the country ended. But then this discrimination against Hindus started again.

We will know 3 things in the story… 1. How were Bangladeshi cricketers treated in Pakistan before 1971. 2. What was the status of Hindu cricketers in Bangladesh after independence. 3. What have been other famous stories of discrimination on the basis of race or religion in international cricket.

Pakistanis considered Bengalis as weak

India started playing international cricket even before independence. India played its first Test match in 1932. The country became independent in 1947. India’s Test status remained intact, but the new country Pakistan started playing international cricket from 1952. From then till 1971, the Pakistan team was dominated by players from West Pakistan (now Pakistan). There was a common perception in Pakistan that Bengalis are physically weak and do not do very well in cricket. Therefore, they did not get a chance in the team.

Players were included as tokens

Before 1971, whenever Pakistan played a match in any city of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), a cricketer from that region was included in the team as a token. This was done so that the spectators coming to the stadium would not get upset. Only those players were included in the team as tokens who were not Bengalis. Niaz Ahmed, Mohammad Ul Hasan, Nasim Ul Ghani were such cricketers who were not Bengalis. But they were able to make a place in the Pakistan team due to playing for East Bengal in domestic cricket.

Rakibul Hasan (receiving the trophy) was the first Bengali cricketer to be selected in the Pakistan team. However, he never became a part of Pakistan’s playing-11.

A Bengali was selected for the first time in 1970, but he could only become the 12th player

Pakistan selected a Bengali cricketer for the first time for the 1969-70 tour of New Zealand. His name was Rakibul Hasan. Rakibul was an opening batsman and was only 16 years old then. However, he was not included in the playing-11 of any match and he could only become the 12th man. Rakibul played for Pakistan in an unofficial test match against the Commonwealth team in February 1971. After this, Bangladesh became independent and Rakibul later played for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has been playing international cricket since 1986, a Hindu got a chance for the first time in 2000

It took a long time for Bangladesh to return to international cricket after independence. The team started playing ODI cricket in 1986. After independence, discrimination against Hindu cricketers of Bengal started. Even for the first time a Hindu cricketer got a chance for Bangladesh in the year 2000.

Bangladesh got Test status only in 2000 and a cricketer named Ranjan Das was fielded in the first Test against India. Ranjan could never play for Bangladesh after this. He later changed his religion and became a Muslim. He did not get a chance even after this.

6 Hindu cricketers played in the last 10 years

So far 174 players from Bangladesh have played international cricket, out of which only 11 i.e. less than 7% Hindus could make it to the playing-11. Whereas the population of Hindus in Bangladesh is 9%. Out of 11, only 6 got a chance in the last 10 years, because Sheikh Hasina’s government has been in power in Bangladesh since 2014. Before that, only 5 Hindus from the team could play international cricket in 28 years.

Now here are 2 big examples of international cricket in the world where discrimination prevailed…

1. Pakistan: Discrimination against non-Muslims

Players were able to play by changing their religion

When Pakistan separated from India in 1947, the population of non-Muslims there was 23%. But with the rise of Islamic extremism, the population of non-Muslims started decreasing continuously. Its effect is also visible on the cricket ecosystem there. Till now 350 players from Pakistan have played international cricket, out of which only 7 were non-Muslims.

Till now only 2 Hindus (Anil Dalpat and Danish Kaneria) and 5 Christians (Wallis Mathias, Duncan Sharpe, Anato D’Souza, Sohail Fazal and Yousuf Yohana) from Pakistan have been able to play international cricket. Among them also Yousuf Yohana later changed his religion and became Mohammad Yousuf.

2. South Africa: Blacks did not get a chance, started getting reservation after 21 years of ban

South Africa started playing international cricket in 1889. Until 1970, not a single black player got a chance in the team. Apartheid was in force in South Africa and blacks had to face discrimination not only in cricket but also in other sports and departments. South Africa did not play even with those teams which had even a single black player. Therefore, until 1970, the team did not play any match with India, Pakistan and West Indies.

In 1970, England selected a black player (Basil de Olivera) in their team for the South Africa tour. South Africa then refused to play against England as well. Due to this, the International Cricket Council (ICC) imposed a 21-year ban on the country. In 1991, South Africa returned to international cricket. Since then, the apartheid policy has been abolished there and reservation in cricket has been implemented for black players.

Graphics: Ankit Pathak

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