Abdul Halim Chowdhury Jewel, mostly known as Shaheed Jewel, was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

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 str ...

er and a recipient of

Bir Bikrom Bir Bikrom ( bn, বীর বিক্রম, lit=Valiant hero, translit=) is the third highest gallantry award in Bangladesh. Like the other gallantry awards, this was introduced immediately after the Bangladeshi Liberation War. Bir Bikrom was ...

, Bangladesh's third highest gallantry award for his actions during the Liberation War of Bangladesh. He played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

regularly for different teams from East Pakistan during the latter half of the 1960s. In March 1971,

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

declared independence (and took the new name

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

).Hasan Babli "Antorjartik cricket Bangladesh". Khelar Bhuban Prakashani, November 1994. As an active member of the legendary

Crack Platoon The Crack Platoon was a special commando team of the Mukti Bahini which was formed in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was formed by young members of Mukti Bahini which carried out commando operations in Dhaka and its surroundings a ...

, he participated in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. On August 25, 1971, Pakistani Army detained and brutally killed him later. Since then he has enjoyed a folk-hero status in the annals of Bangladesh cricket history. He was a role model for the first generation of Bangladeshi cricketers.

First-class career

He made his first-class debut in May 1966, playing for Dacca against

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

. He scored 38 & 4 in the match. Overall, in 7 first-class matches, he scored 259 runs at an average of 21.58, His best performance in first-class cricket came in January 1971. Playing for East Pakistan Whites against Dacca University, he scored 47 & 65 in the match.

Opening partnerships

Shamim Kabir Anwarul Kabir Shamim (1944 – 29 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi cricketer. He led Bangladesh in its first international match, against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), in Dhaka, in January 1977. The tall and lanky opener had a successful m ...

was his opening partner in his debut match. The pair, however, failed in this match. In August 1969, he shared a 53 run opening partnership with WK Shafiq-ul-Haq against a strong Karachi Whites bowling attack. Just a week after that, he shared a 50 run stand with Raqibul Hasan. Young Raqibul was in uncharacteristic aggressive mood, and dominated the partnership with 40. In January 1971, he and his opening partner Rauf Ansari, completely dominated the Dacca University bowling, putting on 94 in the 1st innings and 123 in the 2nd.

References

Bangladeshi cricketers East Pakistan cricketers East Pakistan Whites cricketers Cricketers from Dhaka People killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 deaths Year of birth missing People of East Pakistan {{Bangladesh-cricket-bio-stub