One of the best captains ever for Bangladesh, Habibul Bashar will be remembered as the person who ushered in good times for Bangladesh. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh challenged the world for a brief period before plunging into the murky depths of inconsistency.

Bashar started out in the U-19 team for the U-19 Asia Cup. He performed consistently for Biman Bangladesh airlines and he made his debut in the 1995 Asia Cup. Injuries took a toll on Bashar and he missed the 1997 ICC Trophy as well as the Asia Cup. After being left out of the 1999 World Cup squad, Bashar worked hard on his batting and under the guidance of Eddie Barlow, he made a comeback into the team.

Before the start of Bangladesh's inaugural Test match in 2000, Bashar was dropped from the squad. He had performed consistently before the start of the Test and the Bangladeshi press heavily criticized the decision of the selectors. This forced the selectors to include him in the squad and he responded by scoring a gritty fifty against India. From then on, Bashar did not look back and performed consistently at this level.

His inability to convert half centuries into big scores plagued him throughout his career. He scored only three tons but racked up 24 fifties. His most memorable contribution came against the West Indies at Gros Islet in 2004. His wonderful 113 gave Bangladesh a chance but the match ended in a draw. He was a vital cog in the middle order and is among the few Bangladesh batsmen to average over 30 in Tests. He took up captaincy in 2004 and was rewarded with success. Bangladesh achieved their first Test win in January 2005 by defeating Zimbabwe by 226 runs at Chittagong. Bashar contributed brilliantly to the victory by scoring a pair of fifties. Later in 2005, Bangladesh achieved an earth shattering victory by defeating Australia in Cardiff by five wickets.

Bashar had a poor 2007 World Cup with the bat but his leadership skills were excellent. Bangladesh made it to the super-eight stage for the first time ever and their victories over India and South Africa gave the nation plenty to cheer about. After the end of the World Cup, Bashar relinquished the ODI captaincy but expressed his desire to be captain of the Test side. The selectors refused and Bashar announced his retirement from international cricket in 2007.

Following his retirement, he captained the Dhaka Warriors side in the ICL in 2007. After two seasons, he retired from the ICL in 2009 but continued playing domestic cricket for Khulna division. He announced his retirement from all forms after the 2009/10 season. He is one of the three selectors for the Bangladesh Cricket Board as well as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in Bangladesh.

By Siddharth Vishwanathan