Mohammed Rafique ( bn, মোহাম্মদ রফিক), born 5 September 1970 was a Bangladeshi cricket coach and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He was the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 100 wickets in Test matches. Rafique is known his contribution to the cricket world with positions in both the World XI for the Super Series against Australia in 2005 and the Asia XI for the exhibition series against Africa XI in 2007. He was named captain of Bangladesh Legends cricket team in 2020-21 Road Safety World Series. On 20 January 2022, Rafique joined Asia Lions along with Habibul Bashar in Legends League Cricket, where he took 2 wickets against India Maharajas.

Domestic career

He started his career as a left arm seamer with the 2nd Division side, Bangladesh Sporting, in 1985. In 1988, he joined Bangladesh Biman cricket team. There, under the influence of the Pakistani allrounder Wasim Haider he converted to slow orthodox spin bowling. In December 1994, he played for the Bangladesh team in the 2nd

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan ...

cricket tournament where he had a 3/25 in the Bangladesh win against India "A". He was a member of the Bangladesh team that won the 1997

ICC Trophy The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualifi ...

. Overall, in 9 matches, he took 19 wickets at an average of 10.68. His best 4/25 came in the semi-final against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. With his spinning partner Enamul Haque Moni taking 12 wickets in the tournament. In the final against

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he had scored valuable 26 of 15 deliveries. Rafique was banned—with 13 professional players—for ten years from all forms of cricket by the

Bangladesh Cricket Board The Bangladesh Cricket board ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ক্রিকেট বোর্ড; abbreviated as BCB) is the governing body of cricket in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Cricket Board first became an associate member of the Inter ...

following his enrolment in the

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India. Its two seasons included tournaments between four international teams (World XI, India, Pakistan ...

(ICL) in August 2008, but renounced his ties with the ICL a year later and has since been accepted back into the fold. He is still playing first-class cricket for

Dhaka Division Dhaka Division ( bn, ঢাকা বিভাগ, ''Ḑhaka Bibhag'') is an administrative division within Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of the Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a populatio ...

and recently starred in the Big Boss T20 Premier League with a match-winning performance for Abahani Limited in the final.

International career

A slow-left-arm orthodox bowler, Rafique was one of the few

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when th ...

players in the ICC bowler rankings' top fifty. He became a permanent fixture in the national team, and was a household name in Bangladesh. He achieved the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs in both formats. One of the most senior players in the Bangladesh team, Rafique was better known for his abilities in ODIs early in his career. He was nevertheless selected to play in Bangladesh's inaugural Test against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and showed his promise with three wickets. His career was almost derailed soon afterwards, when he was reported to the ICC for a suspect action. He was tardy in taking remedial action, and was out of the national team until 2002, when he was picked for the home series against South Africa. His return to cricket was promising, with a six-wicket haul in the second Test against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He was the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the home Test series against

, and the second highest during the away tour to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Rafique is also known as a handy, hard-hitting lower-order batsman. His 77 versus

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

in May 1998 at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

was instrumental in Bangladesh's first ever ODI win against Kenya. With the ball, he took 3/56, and was adjudged the man of the match. He also scored a Test century against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

in Bangladesh's drawn Test. Also he scored 65 against Australia in 2005–6, including six sixes. He was instrumental in steering Bangladesh to a series whitewash against the Kenyans, and recorded his best match figures in Tests against Australia in a match they only narrowly lost. Rafique had a successful 2007 World Cup, taking eight wickets and helping Bangladesh to win games against India and South Africa. Rafique announced his international retirement on 7 February 2008. Bangladesh's home series against South Africa was his last for the national team. He became the first Bangladeshi to ever take the milestone of 100 test wickets by having

Robin Peterson Robin John Peterson (born 4 August 1979) is a former South African cricketer who bowls left arm spin and is a capable batsman. He has played 14 Tests and over 70 ODIs for South Africa. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on ...

caught at first slip by

Junaid Siddique Mohammad Junaid Siddique (born 30 October 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname Imrose. A left-handed batsman and occasional right arm off break bowler, he made his debut for Rajshahi Division in 2003/04 ...

on 1 March during the second test. Out of 53 players who have scored 1,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in Test cricket, Rafique was the first to have represented Bangladesh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafique, Mohammad 1970 births Living people Bangladesh One Day International cricketers Bangladeshi cricketers Bangladesh Test cricketers Bangladesh Twenty20 International cricketers 20th-century Bangladeshi cricketers 21st-century Bangladeshi cricketers ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Sylhet Division cricketers Dhaka Division cricketers Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Bangladeshi cricket coaches ICL Bangladesh XI cricketers Dhaka Warriors cricketers Abahani Limited cricketers Mohammedan Sporting Club cricketers Partex Sporting Club cricketers Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award Commonwealth Games competitors for Bangladesh Cricketers from Dhaka