Hassan’s concerns only on team combination!

"I have not heard anything like this (that Bangladesh will arrange the Asia Cup). Pakistan will decide where the tournament will take place. They have not said anything to us so they will decide."

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan over the recent news that Pakistan had offered Bangladesh to host the upcoming Asia Cup.

Bangladesh cricket, especially the senior team, is not in good shape.

The Tigers’ performance in the T20I series in Pakistan once again exposed cracks but that was just an extension of the multifaceted problem the country’s cricket has been facing since the World Cup in England.

Since the showpiece event, the national team has lurched from one failure after another. They even managed to hit a new low by losing the home Test against Afghanistan in September 2018.

While many have identified the poor showing in Pakistan as an ominous sign, it was expected that the custodian of Bangladesh cricket, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan, would make some bold statements providing solutions to the lingering problems.

However, the BCB boss himself was searching for answers. But when he spoke to reporters yesterday, Hassan’s concerns, as usual, lay with technical issues like the batting order and decisions regarding the toss, which he thought was a very serious issue.

He said that the way Bangladesh played in Pakistan was a new experience for him as he believed it was ‘unlike Bangladesh’ in terms of T20 performance.

The most vital question was: What is the reason behind the national team’s continuous failures since the World Cup?

The BCB president’s observation was: “You have to understand one thing. We are facing few issues too. Whether you are talking about team management or the board, we are also struggling with some issues. It was a big setback when we were informed just before the India tour that Shakib [Al Hasan] would not be available. It’s difficult to find a replacement for Shakib. On the other hand, Tamim [Iqbal] also said that he would not go to India which was also a setback. We gave Naim [Mohammad Naim] the opening slot on the India tour. After Tamim’s return we had to change the opening combination from the earlier setup. Mushfiqur [Rahim] did not go there [Pakistan], so we had a problem with the number four position. It could have been possible to manage if we learnt about it earlier.

“Let me give you a simple example: we have a Test in our next schedule and there is no one who can be more dependable than Mushfiqur. Suppose we pick a new player, what he will do? He will not get a chance even if he does well and his career will be over if he fails to do so. One cannot play with such tension. You have to at least give him three matches. There are so many changes and there is a scope for us to think about it.”

So the problems lie with the unavailability of senior players!