A total of 67 players represented the East Pakistan cricket team in first-class matches between the team's debut in November 1954 and its final completed match in September 1969. Representing East Pakistan (East Bengal prior to 1955), a former provincial state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the team can be considered a direct predecessor to the present national cricket team of Bangladesh, which declared independence in 1971. Prior to the partition of India in August 1947, cricketers from the region that is now Bangladesh generally played for Bengal, which had been active in Ranji Trophy matches since the 1935–36 season.