BC HISTORY
Saved by @SteveeRogerr

Raqibul Hasan Sr (also spelled Roqibul, Raquibul, Roquibul) was born on this day, 1953.

He was the first international captain of a representative Bangladesh side.

And his heroics in 1971 on a cricket field, in the face of fire, have been matched by almost no one.
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 Let me provide the backdrop first. This was 1970-71. Threats of Civil War loomed over East Pakistan.

Yahya Khan was making a last-ditch attempt to have control on East Pakistan, and cricket was going to be his tool.

An International XI was touring Pakistan.
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Their second match was scheduled at Dacca.

In the 1970 Pakistan General Elections, Awami League had won 160 seats out of 300, but were still not allowed to form the Government.

And now Raqibul was roped in, probably as the ruling party's poster boy.
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A year ago, they had named him twelfth man in the final Test against New Zealand.

Like his teammates, he was given a Gray-Nicolls bat that bore the symbol of the Pakistan People's Party.

There was no way Raqibul, staunch supporter of the Awami League, would agree to that.
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He sneaked out of Hotel Purbani that night to meet his friend Sheikh Kamal.

They decided that the PPP symbol would be covered with a sticker with the message Joy Bangla (viva Bengal).

The Mukti Bahini used the slogan during the Bangladesh Liberation War later that year.
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Intikhab Alam won the toss for Pakistan and batted. Raqibul walked out to bat with Azmat Rana.

Somehow the news of the sticker had become public.

Chants of Joy Bangla reverberated across Dacca Stadium (later Bangabandhu Stadium).

Raqibul scored only 1 in each innings.
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But it did not matter, for he had sent the message he wanted to.

He had used the occasion to provide the movement a significant boost.

Meanwhile, Yahya Khan had officially postponed the Assembly.

This led to a full-fledged civil war.
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The students attacked the stadium. The marquees were set on fire.

Touring captain Micky Stewart had not grasped the gravity of the situation.

He requested them to wait until the match was over.

They were polite to him, but he was probably fortunate to survive that day.
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Sarfraz Nawaz was at the crease, trying to save the match.

As the crowd approached, he asked a soldier to fire at them.

The soldier aimed at Sarfraz instead.

Both teams were hurriedly taken to a cantonment in a military vehicle, and later, to the Purbani.
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En route, they noticed corpses lying on the streets.

The International XI players took the last flight to Lahore.

The Pakistan cricketers were held back in the hotel, and could leave only due to Intikhab's frantic efforts and timely intervention of Brigadier Haider.
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It usually took fifteen minutes to the airport from the Purbani.

The felled trees and blockades stretched that to three hours that day.

Raqibul stayed back. Before parting ways, Zaheer Abbas bade farewell to Raqibul, assuring they would meet again in Karachi.
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Raqibul's response was prompt: "Zaheer, the next time I come to Pakistan, I might have to come with a new passport."

Mujibur Rahman declared Civil Disobedience six days after this, on March 7.

Yahya Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto initiated Operation Searchlight on March 25.
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I shall not get into details about the bloody episodes that followed.

I shall stick to Raqibul, who took active part in the civil war.

A shoot-at-sight order was issued on him.
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As his family escaped to Gopalganj, Raqibul and his brother joined the movement.

He lost six family members; and Mushtaq, his cricket mentor.

But he managed to escape to Calcutta.

And he worked towards building a cricketing structure in Bangladesh, almost from scratch.
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Almost six years after the match mentioned above, another International XI toured Pakistan.

Raqibul played for the *tourists* – for he was now a citizen of Bangladesh, a new nation.

At Karachi, he was up against Zaheer Abbas.

Raqibul had kept his promise.
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MCC toured Bangladesh in 1976-77. Their first match was against North Zone at Rajshahi.

When he walked out to toss, Raqibul created history by becoming the first man to lead a representative Bangladesh side. He scored 15 and 73 in the match.
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They became an ICC Associate nation next year. Raqibul played in three editions of the ICC Trophy.

In 1983-84, Bangladesh won the South-East Asian Championship under him.

He also played in the 1986 Asia Cup. These were Bangladesh's first ODIs.

More from Abhishek Mukherjee

Abhishek Mukherjee
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India and West Indies met for the first time on Australian soil on this day, 1991, at Perth.

And they produced one of the greatest ODIs of all time.

In those days the WACA pitch used to produce incredible pace and bounce (it still does, but not as much).
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So West Indies picked Marshall, Patterson, Ambrose, and Cummins.

India went in with Kapil, Prabhakar, Srinath, and debutant Subroto Banerjee.

Richardson opted to field, and Srikkanth was out caught in the fifth over.

Now Manjrekar joined Shastri.
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Both had scored hundreds on West Indian soil three seasons ago.

But while they did not throw it away, runs did not come either.

Manjrekar did not look particularly pleased when he was given out caught behind off Cummins. 35/2. 18th over.

Then Tendulkar was caught mid off.
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Then Shastri flicked Cummins for the first over of the match.

Ambrose had Azhar caught behind, but Shastri stepped out to drive Hooper straight for four.

I described the two fours because these were the only ones in the 284-ball Indian innings.
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Then one Brian Lara took a flying catch off a Shastri edge.

His 33 had taken Shastri 110 balls. It would remain the highest score of the match.

Kapil holed out to mid wicket, but Amre and Prabhakar added a crucial 23 for the seventh wicket.
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CRICKET
Abhishek Mukherjee
Abhishek Mukherjee
@ovshake42
The Boxing Day Test match is two days away, so I suppose it is better to tell the tale of the greatest Boxing Day cricket the world has ever seen.

That happened in 1953, at Ellis Park, Johannesburg (the photograph is from another match).

Warning:
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I often get carried away even while reading this, let alone writing. There may be overdose of emotions.

First, as usual, some context.

Despite playing Test cricket for over two decades, New Zealand were yet to win their first Test match.
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Jack Cheetham, on the other hand, was turning South African cricket around.

They had drawn the 2-2 in Australia and had won 1-0 in New Zealand.

And they won the first Test of this series, at Durban, by an innings.
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The South African attack already consisted of swing bowler David Ironside, the untiring Anton Murray, Hugh Tayfield.

Arguably the greatest South African spinner, Tayfield still holds the record for the most consecutive dot balls in a Test (Bapu Nadkarni does not hold this).
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And in Durban, they had drafted in Neil Adcock.

Standing at six foot six and gifted with long arms, Adcock could make the ball take off even from a good length.

And he was quick.

The first South African to take 100 Test wickets, he would finish with a bowling average of 21.
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HISTORY
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Abhishek Mukherjee
Abhishek Mukherjee
@ovshake42
I often come across gobbledygook like "Spirit of Cricket" or "Gentleman's Game" or "That's Not Cricket".

These comments often remind me of what Archie McLaren did to Charlie McLeod (in photo).

And that happened on this day, 1897-98, at Sydney.
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In those days, SoC and GG were often defined based on whether MCC were the enforcers or victim.

Before getting into the incident, a bit on McLeod.

McLeod's name never comes up when cricketers who overcame disabilities are listed.

He was hearing impaired.
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So he could not hear snicks, appeals, even the non-striker's call.

Yet he had 3,321 runs at 21 and 335 wickets at 24 in First-Class cricket.

His numbers were not great in Test cricket (17 Tests, 573 runs at 24, 33 wickets at 40), but he had one great series.
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The series in question.

McLeod was playing his second Test match, three years after his debut.

McLaren, on the other hand, was filling in for Andrew Stoddart, whose mother passed away just before the Test match.

England amassed 551 before bowling out Australia for 237.
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McLaren enforced the follow-on.

Till this point, McLeod had 3/80 and 50 not out (from #9).

He was promoted to #3 in the second innings. At stumps on Day 3 he was unbeaten on 20.

He added 6 more the next morning when it happened.

Tom Richardson bowled a full-toss.
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CRICKET
Abhishek Mukherjee
Abhishek Mukherjee
@ovshake42
I suppose a lot of us are still upset, so let me share something amusing.

This concerns this book, one that I had been unaware of until I came across a report by Andrew Lang in The Times.

In a piece in 1922, EV Lucas hailed the author as the Indian Nyren.
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.@sumitganguly14 got a scan of the cover for me from an acquaintance in Lucknow.

I shall share some snippets here.

I shall share more if and when I ever get the entire book.

But first, a word or two on cricket books in India.
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Calcutta Cricket Club Scores 1844-54, the first known book of scores outside the British Isles, was published in 1854.

In 1867 a Hindi coaching book was published in Agra. It was translated in Urdu in 1868.

In 1889, a Marathi coaching book was published in Baroda.
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JM Framjee Patel's famous Stray Thoughts on Indian Cricket was published in 1905.

In between all this, this book came out in 1891. As you can see, it has a long name.

I shall refer to this as Cricket Guide.

Here are the promised excerpts, mostly taken from Lang's piece.
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I am trying to add some comments. I also have some questions. See whether you can answer them.

Excerpt 1:
"Even those who are very good and noble turn so rash and inconsiderate at certain moments that their brains lose the balance and begin to take fallacious fancies."
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BOOK
Abhishek Mukherjee
Abhishek Mukherjee
@ovshake42
On this day, 1950, a bizarre Test match on a ridiculous pitch got over at The Gabba.

The match lasted only 129.2 eight-ball overs (172.2 six-ball overs), and involved two of the most extraordinary declarations, on 68 and 32.

Here is what happened.
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Hassett won the all-important toss.

Australia were 66/1 at lunch. 166/6 at tea, and bowled out for 228 just before stumps.

Nothing spectacular so far.

To provide stability to the frail middle-order, England had decided to push Hutton – their best batsman – down the order.
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Simpson walked out with Washbrook and appealed for bad light before a ball were bowled. It was accepted.

It rained that night. And then for the next day and the rest day.

And for part of Day 3.

Then, against all expectations, play started at 1 PM.

But first, some context.
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We know that pitches used to remain uncovered back in the 1950s and play began when rain stopped.

So the matches were played on sticky wickets.

Every footmark, every spot where the ball pitched, left an imprint.

These dried in the sun. A drying wicket could be dangerous.
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And The Gabba had probably the worst of these "gluepots".

The roller tried its best, but not enough.

The first over, from Lindwall, was eventless.

Johnston bowled from the other end. By now the sun was already out.
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CRICKET

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@KshatriyaItihas
**Thread on Bravery of Sikhs**
(I am forced to do this due to continuous hounding of Sikh Extremists since yesterday)

Rani Jindan Kaur, wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had illegitimate relations with Lal Singh (PM of Ranjit Singh). Along with Lal Singh, she attacked Jammu, burnt - https://t.co/EfjAq59AyI


Hindu villages of Jasrota, caused rebellion in Jammu, attacked Kishtwar.

Ancestors of Raja Ranjit Singh, The Sansi Tribe used to give daughters as concubines to Jahangir.


The Ludhiana Political Agency (Later NW Fronties Prov) was formed by less than 4000 British soldiers who advanced from Delhi and reached Ludhiana, receiving submissions of all sikh chiefs along the way. The submission of the troops of Raja of Lahore (Ranjit Singh) at Ambala.

Dabistan a contemporary book on Sikh History tells us that Guru Hargobind broke Naina devi Idol Same source describes Guru Hargobind serving a eunuch
YarKhan. (ref was proudly shared by a sikh on twitter)
Gobind Singh followed Bahadur Shah to Deccan to fight for him.


In Zafarnama, Guru Gobind Singh states that the reason he was in conflict with the Hill Rajas was that while they were worshiping idols, while he was an idol-breaker.

And idiot Hindus place him along Maharana, Prithviraj and Shivaji as saviours of Dharma.
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Thread!
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Sarah May
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@Sarah_May1
So. I loved #TheDig. Despite being set in the 30's it evoked a lot of my early fieldwork experience in the 80's and some of the things archaeologists were gushing about are still pay of the experience today. And it also evoked the fantasy that I became an archaeologist to chase>

If you just want to enjoy it, and bask in the glow of archaeologists being happy for once, stop reading here >

Because, being aware of that fantasy, I'm also aware of corrosive elements, things that structure how archaeology works, both practically & in the collective imagination which work against that other fantasy, that my work can 'make a difference' contribute to progressive change>

The primary driver of the story is class & it's connection to skill & to land. EP has the right to the land, the choice to dig, the ownership of the artefacts because she is the landowner. We are meant to cheer along when the coroner decides in her favour>

BB is a man of the land, he literally knows the soil of Suffolk by feel. His skill & sense are central to the story. And they are credited with the discovery, which is the most important part of the process, not the analysis, care or interpretation>
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In 1928, the American holdings of IG Farben, the American branches of Bayer Company, General Aniline Works, Agfa Ansco and Winthrop Chemical Company, were organized into a Swiss holding company, the Internationale Gesellschaft für Chemische Unternehmungen AG or IG Chemie in short
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1/ ISSA AREMU: THE IRREPRESSIBLE COMRADE 60

It was sometime in October 1984. I had just been admitted to study Economics at the University of Port Harcourt. After processing my papers and having been registered, [...]

#OutsideTheBox


2/ I proceeded to the Students Affairs Office where the halls of residence were allotted. After the fairly long process, I ended up at the Nelson Mandela Hall. My new hall of residence had 6 blocks: A to F, and each block comprised 4 floors with multiple rooms.

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4/ On arriving the hall, I was assigned to block C, Room 308 by the Hall Warden. I knocked and entered the room where I met this young final year Economics student who displayed a very good command of English language and radiated knowledge all over him.

5/ I was impressed by the way he welcomed and helped onboard me in the hostel. I was also happy that he was a senior Economics student and I immediately figured he would be helpful with settling down in my academic discipline.
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8 March 1679 - The date on which 300 saffron clad warriors gave their life to protect temples from mugal army. Thread➡️
Aurangzeb's huge army, which was adorned with artillery, elephant and horses, under the leadership of Commander Darab Khan had marched to punish the ruler of/1


Khandela Raja Bahadur Singh, who became a rebel due to the anti-Hindu policies of Aurangzeb, and to destroy the temples of Shekhawati. Bahadur Singh to compete with such a large army, vacated Khandela for the purpose of conducting guerilla warfare and went Kot Sakrai /2

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so soon the teams of self-sacrificing Dharma-protectors Shekhawat heroes started reaching Khandela to protect the Dev temples.

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कुल में है तो आव सुजाण, फोज देवरे आई ||

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