The Bangladesh Cricket Board held a formal farewell ceremony for fast bowler Rubel Hossain at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on April 20, 2026, ahead of the second ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand. BCB President Tamim Iqbal and board director Rafiqul Islam Babu presented Rubel with a commemorative crest and framed jerseys from all three formats.
Players and support staff gathered on the field, and Rubel arrived at the ceremony with his son. The tribute came less than a week after the 36-year-old announced his retirement from international cricket on April 15 through a Facebook post.
BCB Marks Special Tribute in Match-Day Ceremony
The ceremony took place shortly after the toss. BCB President Tamim Iqbal had personally called Rubel following the retirement announcement, telling him the board wanted to honour him properly. That phone call set the event in motion.
On the morning of the match, Rubel arrived with his young son Ayan. The pair walked onto the field together once the toss was done. Players from both Bangladesh and New Zealand were present, along with coaching and support staff. BCB ad hoc committee members Rafiqul Islam Babu and Fahim Sinha, along with board chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, stood alongside Tamim Iqbal as the formal part of the ceremony got underway.
Rubel was presented with a three-piece framed jersey from each international format he had played in, along with a commemorative crest carrying his bowling statistics. He touched the surface of the ground as he prepared to leave the field — a quiet, personal moment that drew a strong response from the crowd in the stands. The formalities concluded shortly before play began, with both teams returning to their dressing rooms as the match took over.
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Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh’s current leading pace bowler, spoke briefly during the ceremony and referenced the 2015 World Cup match against England in Adelaide, the moment most associated with Rubel’s international career. Taskin recalled how Rubel had sealed Bangladesh’s place in the quarterfinals by taking two wickets in three balls in the final over, a moment that still carries significance within the squad.
Rubel came through a national pace talent hunt programme in 2009, identified by coach Sarwar Imran, and made an immediate impression on his ODI debut against Sri Lanka with four wickets. Over the next 12 years, he took 193 international wickets across all three formats 129 of them in ODIs, placing him fifth on Bangladesh’s all-time list in that format. The peaks of his career came against New Zealand. His 6 for 26 at Mirpur in 2013, which included a hat-trick, remains the joint-best bowling figures by a Bangladesh bowler in ODIs. He also claimed the final wicket in the 4-0 series whitewash against the same opponents in 2010.
Retirement and Final Years
The last and final year of Rubel’s retirement was in April 2021, when he played his last international game vs. New Zealand in a T20 International match in Auckland, New Zealand. He retired from Test cricket officially at the end of September 2022. Rubel then took his retirement from international cricket (all forms) on April 15th, 2026, by making a Facebook post. He expressed how passionate he was about representing his country, but felt it was time to retire after a very successful career.
His final competitive cricket came during the 2025 Bangladesh Premier League with Khulna Tigers. He went unsold in the most recent BPL auction and had been absent from the Dhaka Premier League in the period leading up to the farewell. At 36, reduced playing opportunities and fitness considerations shaped the timing of the decision.
The BCB’s decision to mark his retirement with a formal ceremony at Mirpur, against the same New Zealand side that featured so prominently across his career, gave the send-off a fitting symmetry that the occasion deserved.
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