Shakib, Rahim deliver incredible win

Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan delivered an improbable win for Bangladesh that left Sachin Tendulkar's record 100th international century in the shade and threw the Asia Cup wide open. As the focus remained on Tendulkar's achievement for most of the match, Bangladesh did what they had threatened to do in the tournament opener against Pakistan - they showed that they could chase big totals under pressure against Test opposition. 

Bangladesh had asked India to bat knowing that chasing has been easier on the Mirpur pitch in this tournament than batting first. Though the strategy had not worked against Pakistan, India did not have an Umar Gul or a Saeed Ajmal to stop a side hungrier than they were for success. 

Shakib and Mushfiqur did not succumb to the gnawing tension that an asking-rate of above eight runs an over brings. Instead, India's bowlers crumbled against their aggression. Shakib blitzed 49 off 31 deliveries and were it not for a close stumping decision going against him, might have finished the game on his own. 

With 66 needed off 50 deliveries, Shakib was adjudged stumped off R Ashwin with replays showing enough doubt for the benefit to have gone to the batsman. Mushfiqur, who had said yesterday that India's thin bowling unit gave Bangladesh confidence, slammed 46 off 25 as Bangladesh won with four deliveries left. 

A steady build-up from Tamim Iqbal and Jahurul Islam had left Bangladesh with a climbing asking-rate. With Nasir Hossain in control at one end, Shakib gave Bangladesh hope with hitting that was as uninhibited as it was daring. He took 18 runs off the 37th over, bowled by Ashok Dinda, with a couple of swings over midwicket and thick edge to third man. R Ashwin dropped it short, and was punched and pulled for boundaries. It was now Irfan Pathan's turn. A slash followed another pull, and the momentum had shifted in Bangladesh's favour. 

India managed to sneak in some quiet overs after Shakib fell. It came down to 37 needed off 24. India's quick bowlers were having problems in controlling their deliveries and full tosses had been dished out often. The 48th over was when it fell apart for them. Irfan bowled a wide outside off stump. MS Dhoni ran upto him with some advice. Irfan bowled a length ball on Mushfiqur's pads next. Flicked over deep square leg for six. A stern-looking Dhoni had more words for Irfan. A high full toss followed from around the wicket. Swung over deep midwicket for six more. 

With 16 needed off 12, Praveen began the 49th over with a waist-high no-ball. Sliced over point for four. A length delivery followed. Mushfiqur wound up and dispatched it over long-on. Game over. Mushfiqur roared on the field; Shakib did an encore in the dressing room. Bangladesh had only their third ODI win over their big neighbours. 

When Tamim and Jahurul were ensuring that Bangladesh did not lose too many wickets during the middle overs, it had seemed that Bangladesh were not far away from coming short against the stiff asking-rate. 

Tamim again displayed his recent penchant for buckling down to play a long innings while Jahurul picked up the scoring after a slow start. The duo kept getting the odd boundary but could not really dominate. They fell after reaching their fifties, trying to keep up with the requirement, but Shakib and Mushfiqur stunned India with their refusal to give in.

Defeat would have been the last thing on India's minds when, after a year of hype and expectation, Tendulkar got his 100th international century in the country where he had equalled Sunil Gavaskar's then-record 34 Test centuries in 2004 on way to his highest Test score. It wasn't one of Tendulkar's better hundreds and will ultimately be remembered only for being the one that brought up the unprecedented landmark. In fact, it was his second-slowest innings of 100-plus in ODIs and ended up restricting India's progress. They ended up on 289 for 5, an underwhelming outcome considering their power-packed batting line-up had had a platform of 173 for 1 in the 36th over. 

Bangladesh's attack was persevering but limited. Tendulkar duly milked them to finally go past a landmark that hardly anyone knew existed before he got close to it, but put tremendous pressure on the player himself in a frenzied build-up that lasted a year. 

Tendulkar had motored to 80 off 102 deliveries but took another 36 before he took his hundredth run, off Shakib Al Hasan. The monkey off his back, he belatedly took charge, hitting consecutive boundaries off Shahadat Hossain before a slog ended up in the keeper's hands. Tendulkar's departure came immediately after Suresh Raina's brisk innings had ended after having kept India going amid his senior partner's quest for the century. Raina hit 51 off 38 and built on a 148-run second-wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Kohli, who looked set to become the first India batsman to score three consecutive ODI hundreds until he played on for a breezy 66. 

The hosts should have had Kohli with the first ball of the sixth over, when Shafiul Islam struck him on the back leg in front of middle stump, but umpire Paul Reiffel remained unmoved. Kohli's form took over after that, and with Tendulkar batting as safely as he does during some of his long Test innings, India motored along without giving Bangladesh half a chance more. 

Bangladesh had themselves to blame for allowing Tendulkar to settle with a generous sprinkling of wide deliveries from their fast bowlers. His first four scoring shots were all boundaries, as he cashed in on width to drive and punch through the off side. 

Shafiul had Gautam Gambhir playing on early off a forcing flat-footed drive, but Kohli did not take long to get going after his reprieve. The field hardly moved as he flicked and cover-drove for fours in consecutive overs.

Spin was expected to be a major factor on a dry-looking pitch but Tendulkar and Kohli negotiated Bangladesh's slow army without any problems. The scoring-rate did take a slight beating as singles dominated but Tendulkar soon found the freedom to slog sweep Shakib Al Hasan over wide long-on. With his feet moving precisely now, he made room to cart Shakib inside-out over extra cover to reach his first international fifty in 13 innings. As he passed 80, Tendulkar took his time amid some nerves. Meanwhile, after having contemptuously worked his way to another fifty, Kohli played on against Abdur Razzak. 

Raina's slog sweeps and lofted shots over extra cover kept the runs coming, though, but Tendulkar was clearly feeling the pressure at the other end. He played out a maiden to Mashrafe Mortaza on 83, and on several occasions took off for non-existent singles before being sent back. The century arrived in the 44th over, and Tendulkar's relief was evident. With the innings in need of a final burst, Dhoni slammed 16 off the 50th over to get India to 289, but for once Bangladesh chased with as much faith as their fans have in their team. 

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Sachin Tendulkar gets his ton of tons

It's here at last. After a year of keeping India waiting, Sachin Tendulkar has scored his 100th international ton. 

An entire nation heaved a collective sigh and uncrossed its fingers.

The 100th Sachin ton came against Bangladesh during the fourth match of the Asia Cup on Friday. Fittingly, or perhaps sensing that history could be made today, a huge crowd gathered at the Shere Bangla National Stadium to witness the master blaster go where no cricketer has gone before.

He took his time as everyone stopped breathing. Especially at 99. First a Suresh Raina single took him to the non-batting end as an over ended. Ten runs came off that over before Sachin got strike. He played two balls for no runs and the over changed again. No one exhaled. So it was Raina on strike again, who took a single on the third ball to give strike to Sachin. The stadium roared. Shakib Al Hasan, now a firm part of history, came in to bowl and Sachin took a single to score his ton of tons.

Then the quintessential Sachin moment. Sachin took off his helmet looked at his bat, then heavenwards.

Of his 100 international tons, Sachin has scored 51 in Tests and 49 ODIs. It took Sachin 188 Tests and 462 ODIs to get to this landmark. Sachin, who is now 38-years-old, made his debut at the age of 16 in 1989.

It has been a classic Sachin innings so far; easy strokes as he has piled on the runs. The veteran batsman took on the Bangladeshi bowling with confidence and reached the milestone using 138 balls and smashing 10 boundaries and a six en route. During the knock he also became the first batsman to hit over 2,000 boundaries in One Day Internationals.

The buzz around Sachin's record ton of tons had begun as early as the World Cup last year, but despite numerous opportunities, he was unable to reach the three-figure mark. Sachin opted to play the Asia Cup after a less than average outing in the CB Series in Australia.

His last international century came during the World Cup against South Africa on March 12, 2011.  It took him 34 innings, include thirteen ODI innings, to get to his most awaited century.

Mirpur, Bangladesh got lucky that Sachin chose to play his 462nd ODI here.

On Friday, he made use of both singles and the occasional boundary to pulverise the Bangladesh bowlers. 

The bowling was ordinary and the ground fielding was equally ordinary as the home crowd battled with mixed emotions - watching a master at work with his willow and looking at the host team suffering on the field. Shahadat Hossain was dispatched to mid-wicket fence while Mahmudullah found out bowling short to a legend in the game, even if close on the heels of a milestone, will not be spared.

Tendulkar opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir (11) and despite losing him early, the veteran batsman negotiated the attack with characteristic ease.

This after Mushfiqur Rahim asked the opposition to bat again after winning his second toss of the tournament on a dry-looking pitch that was expected to aid spin.

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'Why no intellectuals killing charge for Nizami?'

The war crimes tribunal has wondered why the prosecution had not charged Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami with killing intellectuals, even though there are volumes of references to his widely alleged role.

After the prosecution finished presenting its formal charge on Thursday, proposing to indict Nizami on 15 counts at the war crimes tribunal, chairman Justice Nizamul Huq still wondered the killing of intellectuals was not included in the formal charge.

He had agreed that the formal charge had "touched" upon the matter when prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said it was there and would be shown convincingly in the evidences.

The prosecution will begin its arguments on Mar 21 in support of the formal charges.

The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to deal with crimes against humanity during the Liberation War, also saw the prosecution submit formal charges against Abdul Alim, a former MP and minister in late president Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, on Thursday.

The tribunal said it would give cognisance order on Mar 22 and extended Alim's bail until then. Alim was also ordered to be present at the court on that date.

'COME PREPARED'

The tribunal chairman noted that the defence had requested to be present when the prosecution would present its arguments. Nonetheless he asked prosecutor Altaf Uddin Ahmed whether he was prepared.

The prosecutor said he was ready to argue the case.

Justice Nizamul Huq told the prosecutor that he would have to substantiate the charges brought against Nizami in his argument. Justice Huq suggested the prosecutor come prepared on the Mar 21 for this arguments.

Tribunal member Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed asked him again, "Are you ready?"

Prosecutor Ahmed: "Yes, my lord."

"Are you sure you are ready?" judge Ahmed asked again, as the chairman and another tribunal member Justice A T M Fazle Kabir had a hint of smile on their faces.

Prosecutor Ahmed: "Yes I am."

Judge Zaheer Ahmed: "Alright then, I will just begin with the last charge and we can keep the rest for later."

He then asked the prosecutor to read the charges, which essentially stated that Matiur Rahman Nizami, then head of Jamaat-e-Islami's East Pakistan student wing the Islami Chhatra Sangha, discussed and conspired with one 'Samad', a Razakar commander at a local school in Pabna district.

Judge Zaheer Ahmed asked the prosecutor why he proposed charging Nizami for crimes against humanity — which includes murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, abduction, confinement, torture, rape, etc — for mere planning and conspiracy.

After the prosecutor evidently failed to make any headway with the judges, Syed Haider Ali, who has been conducting a case against another Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, argued that the prosecution wanted to bring those charges in the 15th count because, "It was a result of his conspiracy that those crimes had taken place."

Judge Zaheer Ahmed: "But the description of the charge does not state that. It does not say anywhere that he planned and conspired and as a result of his plan these other crimes took place."

Prosecutor Haider Ali: "It is not mentioned in so many words but one has to take this charge in the larger context. The other charges also point to these crimes. This is not really an independent charge."

Justice Fazle Kabir: "Every single charge is an independent charge. You cannot say one charge is not so."

The prosecutor did not quite agree and continued to argue his point, to which Zaheer Ahmed said, "If that is indeed the case, that these are not independent charges, then you have broadly two charges against Nizami."

The judge then mentioned conspiracy and command responsibility. Prosecutor Haider Ali said there would be two more, which the judge did not appear willing to accept since they were lacking in merit. Judge Zaheer Ahmed mentioned in a fleeting manner and said, "We will see about the other charges later then."

The charges proposed against Nizami mainly include crimes against humanity, genocide, conspiracy and command responsibility.

NO INTELLECTUAL IN 15 COUNTS

The tribunal chairman then asked both the prosecutors — Altaf Uddin and Haider Ali — why they had not charged Nizami for the killing of intellectuals.

Count 13 of the formal mentions the infamous Mohammad Physical Training Institute, where Al Badr cadres, many of whom were Chhatra Sangha members, would bring the intellectuals bound and blindfolded.

According to a host of publications and references this was where the intellectuals were tortured and mutilated before being dumped at Rayer Bazaar, said Justice Nizamul Huq.

But charge 13 brings a far more generalised charge against Nizami, holding him responsible for all the atrocities that went on at the institute throughout the 9 months that the Liberation War lasted (between Mar 26 and Dec 16 of 1971).

Prosecutor Haider Ali said the formal charge did mention the killing of intellectuals, to which Justice Huq agreed. He said, "You have merely touched upon it. Why not bring a charge?"

The prosecutor mumbled that the evidences would clearly show Nizami's involvement in the case.

Later, however, when asked, Haider Ali kept telling reporters that the formal charges did include killing of intellectuals. "It is there, it is there," Haider Ali kept saying before going off.

Prosecutor Altaf Uddin Ahmed, later, went through each formal charge when asked which count charged Nizami for the murder of intellectuals.

He pointed to a paragraph that mentioned Nizami's role in organising the murders that would eventually cripple Bangladesh. When asked if that paragraph was part of the formal charges, he said, "You think 15 counts include all the crimes that he has committed?"

Not even once did Altaf Uddin Ahmed utter the word intellectual while reading out the 15 counts before the tribunal.

However, according to the rules of the tribunal, it is the panel of judges who frame the charges based on what the prosecution supplies. Thus the 15 counts are only what are called 'proposed charges'.

It will be up to tribunal to decide whether the prosecution has been able to collect enough evidence to frame a certain charge, whether or not proposed by the prosecution.

NIZAMI'S BACKGROUND

Matiur Rahman Nizami, headed Jamaat's student wing, that used to be called Islami Chhatra Sangha, in 1971.

Later that year, Nizami was replaced by his current number two, Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, also behind bars on war crimes charges.

Nizami is also said to have headed the Al Badr which had a lead role in many of the atrocities during 1971.

The Islamist party's student cadres are said to have been instrumental in mobilising several fronts like the Razakars, Al Badr and Al Shams that actively engaged against the freedom fighters to thwart the liberation forces.

These fronts were notorious for ruthlessly trying to subdue resistance against Pakistani occupation forces and full fledged collaboration with the Pakistani Army.

It is through these militia fronts that Nizami is said to have masterminded the murder of pro-liberation intellectuals of Bangladesh days before the Pakistani occupation army surrendered on Dec 16, 1971.

The tribunal took charges into cognisance against Nizami on Jan 9. 

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U.S. May Sanction India Over Level of Iran-Oil Imports

Obama administration officials say they are concerned India may run afoul of a new U.S. law restricting payments for Iranian oil, forcing the White House to impose sanctions on one of its most important allies in Asia. 

So far this year, India is failing to cut back its purchases of Iranian oil, which may force President Barack Obama to impose penalties as early as June 28, according to several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. 

The U.S. law, which targets oil payments made through Iran’s central bank, applies in any country that doesn’t make a “significant” reduction in its Iranian crude oil purchases during the first half of this year. If India fails to sufficiently cut Iranian imports, Obama may be compelled to bar access to the U.S. banking system for any Indian bank processing oil payments through Iran’s central bank, the U.S. officials said. 

While India hasn’t asked its refiners to stop purchasing Iranian crude, the government has told processors in the South Asian nation to seek alternate supplies and gradually reduce their dependence on the Persian Gulf state due to increasing pressure from the U.S. in recent weeks, three Indian officials with direct knowledge of the situation said today. 

India hasn’t significantly cut imports this year because refiners’ annual crude term deals with Iran typically run from April to March, they said. The planned reductions will start only when new annual contracts begin next month, the Indian officials said, declining to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.

No. 3 Buyer

“Given the level of trade, and in particular oil, between Iran and India, targeting an Indian entity that facilitates Iran’s access to the international financial market should be top of mind for the U.S. Treasury,” Avi Jorisch, a former Treasury Department official who is now a Washington-based consultant on deterring illicit finance, said in an interview. 

India bought an average of 328,000 barrels a day of Iranian crude in the first six months of last year, making it the No. 3 buyer, behind China and Japan and ahead of South Korea, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iran is the No. 2 producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Mangalore Plans

The U.S. government may not be aware that India’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, state-owned Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), plans to import less from Iran starting next month, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak. 

Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai have said India will continue to buy Iranian oil to meet its growing energy needs. While the Indian government has an excellent record of enforcing United Nations sanctions on Iran, India has objected to unilateral U.S. sanctions, according to U.S. officials. 

“We abide scrupulously by UN authorized sanctions,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said in a phone interview. While restrictions imposed by individual countries “have an impact on commercial interactions, from a legal perspective there is nothing that binds us to follow them.”

Oil Purchases Rise

The latest shipping data shows India and South Korea sharply increased oil purchases from Iran in January, according to a report released yesterday by the International Energy Agency in Paris. China halved its imports from Iran, from 550,000 barrels a day in December to 275,000 barrels a day in January, following a dispute over pricing terms that has now been resolved, the report said. 

The new U.S. law targeting Iranian petroleum transactions doesn’t specify by what percentage a nation must reduce its Iranian oil imports to qualify for an exemption from sanctions. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they are looking for cuts of around 15 percent in volume, though they might consider whether buyers have extracted significant price discounts, thereby depriving Iran of revenue. 

Mangalore Refinery may cut its contract to 6 million metric tons, or 120,000 barrels a day, in the year ending March 2013, which would be a 15 percent cut from the previous year, one of the people with knowledge of the planned reductions said.

U.S. Offer

The U.S. has offered India help in brokering deals with alternative suppliers including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which has offered to replace any shortfall, according to U.S. and Indian officials. 

Envoys from the White House, State Department, Treasury Department and the U.S. Embassy in India have had numerous conversations with Indian counterparts since Congress began debating the sanctions measure that Obama signed into law Dec. 31. 

Nancy Powell, the Obama administration’s ambassador- designate to India, testified before Congress last month that, if confirmed, she would be “spending a great deal of time” working with India on Iran sanctions issues. She quoted Mathai, who came to Washington for meetings last month, as saying India is working to diversify its sources of petroleum and reduce its dependence on Iran to no more than 10 percent of its total oil imports. 

“That would be a very good sign,” Powell said.

Disrupting Shipments

U.S. and European Union sanctions are already disrupting Iranian crude shipments to global refiners, contributing to a 16 percent advance in London-traded Brent this year. Brent oil for April settlement fell $1.25, or 1 percent, to end the session at $124.97 yesterday on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. 

The EU decided two months ago to embargo Iranian oil imports, effective July 1. Last year, the 27-member EU was collectively the No. 2 importer of Iranian oil, taking 18 percent of Iran’s crude exports. Faced with a shrinking pool of buyers, Iran last month offered India additional crude supplies on revised terms. 

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized sanctions on Iranian oil. China’s crude imports from Iran hit their lowest level in five months in January, customs data show, as the country’s biggest buyer, China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. (0119173D), known as Unipec, delayed signing a new contract because of a dispute over payment terms. Unipec cut its 2012 term contract purchases by 15 percent from 2011, though the payment dispute has since been resolved.

Japan, Korea

For their part, Japan and South Korea are seeking exemptions from the new U.S. sanctions. If both nations can demonstrate a significant reduction in their purchases by the end of June, their banks would escape penalties, according to two U.S. officials involved in the talks. 

Japan is seeking to reduce its crude purchases from Iran by at least 11 percent, according to a Japanese government official interviewed Feb. 21. The three largest Japanese buyers of Iranian crude are Showa Shell Sekiyu KK (5002), JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. and Cosmo Oil Co. (5007)

The South Korean government has said it will make a decision on cutting Iranian crude imports by the end of June. South Korean officials denied reports saying they had already proposed cutting imports by 15 percent to 20 percent. 

The White House doesn’t want to punish Japan, South Korea or India, critical U.S. partners in trade and security and important regional counterweights to the rise of China, U.S. officials said. Still, the president has limited leeway to grant exemptions under the law, and so far, India hasn’t demonstrated reductions, they said.

Free Pass

Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington who has advised the administration on sanctions, said India shouldn’t assume it will avoid sanctions unless its refiners demonstrably reduce imports over the next three months. 

There’s no reason “why India should be given a free pass as the EU, Japan and others significantly reduce the scale and scope of their Iranian trade,” Dubowitz said in an interview. “No country should be confident that it will not be the target of U.S. sanctions.” 

Other analysts said Indian officials have responded to U.S. pressure by quietly pressing state-run refiners to switch to alternative sources, and they expect the U.S. will reach an accommodation with the world’s most populous democracy. 

“It’s highly unlikely that the U.S. would sanction India on this issue. The Iran issue is an irritant at best,” Harsh V. Pant, a specialist on India and Iran at King’s College London, said in a telephone interview. 

The Iranian central bank sanctions that Obama signed into law Dec. 31 are part of a larger effort to deprive the Persian Gulf country of its leading source of revenue and complicate Iran’s commercial ties with the outside world. The U.S. and the EU have piled on new sanctions since November in an effort to pressure Iran to abandon any work it may be conducting to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. Iran insists it nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy and medical research. 

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Myanmar moves army to Bangladesh border

Myanmar massed its soldiers along the Tumbru and Ghundum border opposite Naikkongchhari upazila in Bangladesh, just as when the verdict of an international arbitration over the maritime boundary with the neighbouring country was going to be delivered.

Tensions ran high in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas after the news of army deployment by Myanmar spread.

Myanmar authorities suddenly began to build up troop deployment near zero line of the Bangladesh-Myanmar border since Tuesday morning.

Witnesses and inhabitants of Naikkongchhori upazila in Bandarban hill district said Myanmar increased the number of their soldiers Wednesday.

They put the number at over two thousand.

Union Parishad Chairman Dipak Barua of Ghundum Union under Naikkongchhori upazila told journalists that Myanmar amassed soldiers opposite his union.

“But the reason behind the deployment of army is yet to be known,” he said.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Commanding Officer of 17 Border Guard Battalion in Cox’sbazar Lt Col Mohammad Khalequzzaman acknowledged the fact of army deployment by Myanmar to this correspondent on Wednesday evening.

Myanmar has already brought together nearly five battalions of soldiers in Unciprang, Dhekibonia and Mehdai areas near Bangladesh border, he said.

Khalequzzaman said, “The matter was already brought to the notice of the Director- General of BGB Tuesday.”

After that, the BGB ordered its all officers and jawans to stay alert at Tumbru and Ghundum borders.

Witnesses said that the deployment of the Myanmar army opposite the Bangladesh border appears to be a war preparation.  Source :