Md Abu Talha Sarker:Bangladesh have a string of multilateral mega events in international circuit over a single format within short time in addition to their bilateral, trilateral, international and domestic commitments.
Those include the ICC T20 World Cup and ACC T20 Asia Cup, of which the extravaganza of the International Cricket Council (ICC) event is scheduled to take place in Australia in between October 15 and November 15.
But the showpiece event of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is yet to be finalised, which is slated to be hosted by Pakistan. Usually, the ACC members including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan move forward to play the ICC events after playing the Asia Cup.
However, the ACC now waits for the ICC decision to organise the T20 tournament this time.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan Papon, who is the incumbent president of the ACC, said they will settle the matter of the Asia Cup after the ICC decision.
Sources concerned say if those events are not postponed or delayed by the world cricket apex body and Asian cricket apex body following coronavirus pandemic across the world, Bangladesh have to play those games within the next five-six months.
Considering those flagship events in mind, some countries in Asia and out of the continent, meanwhile, have allowed their players to start preparation individually and in small groups to bring them back in cricket, which has brought to the fore some questions and matters relevant to Bangladesh cricket.
These include – as to how much aware we’re for those events? Are we poised to play those events? How much preparations we have for those events? And if these events are not postponed and a decision is made during the scheduled June 10 meeting, what will we do?
Asked, BCB Chief Selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu said they have planned a comprehensive training mechanism to bring players back in cricket.
“We’re thinking as to how we can bring players back in practice. We’re preparing three types of plans, where we’ll focus on practices in individual, small group and whole team combination. If we can start it, we’ll then go for the games,” said Nannu.
But, according to him, “the way the coronavirus is spreading its wings in the country day by day, is it possible to start it? And how can we allow players to start practicing in such a situation? How will we send our players to play the pre-World Cup bilateral series. For this, we’ve to wait for better time.”
Nannu thinks if ICC takes a final decision on hosting the T20 World Cup within scheduled time, the ACC will also take a decision to arrange the T20 Asia Cup. “And you can easily understand if the T20 World Cup starts on October 15, how much time we’ll have in hand to take our preparation for it.”
He concluded saying, “Even if ICC decides to hold the T20 World Cup, the T20 Asia Cup will also take place before the extravaganza, which is pretty normal. Although it’s unfortunate, it’s true that we’ve not started our preparations as yet.”
When asked, former national team captain Shafiqul Haq Heera expressed his unhappiness, stating that they are yet to form a good and well-balanced team despite having too many schedules for bilateral, tri-lateral and multilateral series, leagues and tournaments in international and domestic circuits.
“If the ICC decides to hold the T20 World Cup in October, then what we will do as we have not prepared our plan. In fact, we’re yet to start training whether in individual or group capacity,” he rued.
According to him, “We’ve a team, where Shakib is not included. We’ve no hard-hitting and pinch-hitting all-rounder in the lower-down order. What will we do with this team in the World Cup. I can’t expect better results in the T20 World Cup than the last year’s 50-over World Cup.”
While talking to The Independent, Heera said, “Bangladesh have a recognised tournament for the 20-over format called ‘Bangladesh Premier League (BPL),’ but we can’t take the full advantages it offers.”
A good number of star and globe-trotting players come to play here with the local players every season with the BCB organising the prestigious tournament since 2012.
“We could have comfortably brought out some potential young players from the tournament every edition. Keeping them under a quality coaching staff, they can nurture them round the year to help them prepare for the future T20 squad and tournament,” he said.
Citing the case of Afghanistan, Heera said the country despite coming onto the international cricket scene later than Bangladesh and without having any planned ground on home soil, made good and steady progress in international cricket – especially in T20 format. They’re now placed even above Bangladesh in ICC T20 rankings.
He posed a question as to why Bangladesh should lag behind Afghanistan in 20-over game despite having adequate grounds, T20 league and high–profile coaching staff in the repertoire of the country.
Former skipper Khaled Mahmud Pilot, too, echoed the sentiment.
He said, “Sabbir Rahman, for example, was a good stroke-making player in lower-down the order. He can be brought back to the national fold in a bid to strengthen the team combination.”
