Bangladesh Cricket Board and national team director Khaled Mahmud has urged the players to maintain a line between personal and professional life. Former Bangladesh captain Mahmud also spoke on the importance of the cricketer’s making opinion of their professional life in public.
Mahmud made his remarks following a lunch with the national team cricketers who are part of the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. The opinion from Mahmud has come at the back of experienced wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim’s recent social media posts.
Mushfiqur has been rested from the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe and the cricketer made two social media posts showing his frustrations that triggered controversy.
“I think it is a personal matter and I do not want to make a comment on it. But today [Monday], I told the players that we need to have professionalism. We need to act professionals and create a cricket culture. Yes, we can be upset for many reasons including if one gets dropped from the team. It is a natural thing to happen,” said Mahmud to the media following the lunch with the cricketers at a five-star hotel in Dhaka on Monday.
On Thursday last, the day before BCB declared Mushfiqur and captain Mahmudullah rested from the T20Is, Mushfiqur had triggered controversy as he posted a video of himself working out at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
In the clipping caption Mushfiqur wrote, “Assalamualaikum all. Happiness is this when most of them r [are] sleeping and u [you] do the dirty hard work.”
On Saturday Mushfiqur posted a photo of himself in the national dressing-room ‘sleeping’. Since the posts published many are assuming Mushfiqur has probably pointed it towards the board, the media and the critics who thinks he is no more capable of giving the needed service to Bangladesh T20I team.
“Cricket is a mental game. A cricketer needs to handle a lot of mental pressure. We fail to perform because we are not able to handle the pressure. We won’t be able to emerge as a good team until we develop a culture,” said Mahmud.
“Speaking of myself, I do not take my office at home and don’t bring my home matters to office. I won’t tell my office that I had a fight with my wife today. It is important to understand how one can be and act professional,” the former Bangladesh captain added.
Mahmud also spoke on the importance of maintaining privacy in the dressing room and not let everything out to the public.
“We are a family [in the dressing room]. It gives a wrong message when dressing room matters are revealed in public. It is not healthy at all irrespective whoever is doing it. We had a discussion on it too during the lunch today,” said Mahmud.
Bangladesh ODI and T20I team for the tour of Zimbabwe is scheduled to leave Dhaka in batches starting early Tuesday. The last batch, involving mostly the ODI players in shape of Tamim, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur are scheduled to leave on July 29.
The series will start with the three T20Is to be played on July 30, 31 and August 2 and will be followed by the ODIs on August 5, 7 and 10 respectively. All the matches will be held at the Harare Sports Club.
