December 4, 2021 – Bangladesh had played visitors Pakistan in day 1 of the second Test match at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan along with his close associates in the board interacted with the media where the BCB chief vented his frustration at the below par performance of the players and the team at that point of time.
Bangladesh were approaching the end of the series against Pakistan after a string of defeats – whitewash in the three-game Twenty20 International series and a loss in the ensuing first Test.
These results came on the back of Bangladesh’s substandard display in the just concluded T20 World Cup 2021 in Oman and the United Arab Emirates under the captaincy of Mahmudullah.
The cricketing arena was furious, and so were Nazmul and the influentials in the board.
None could accept the fact that Bangladesh started the tournament with a shocking defeat to Scotland and somehow managed to sneak into the Super 12s, beating lowly Oman and Papua New Guinea.
In the Super 12s, they produced their worst performance, losing all five matches, including getting all out for just 84 and 73 against South Africa and Australia respectively.
Explaining the work of the committee that was formed to find out “what went wrong” in the T20 World Cup, Nazmul said: “None could perform in so many games. This is not normal to me. Players can be off form but that should be temporary. A player can fail in one or two games but then has to bounce back. If you look at the tournament, no one seemed to play to their potential. For sure there is some issue. So, to know the issue we have formed a committee with officials who do not deal with the players on a regular basis.
“The work of this committee is to identify the things that have gone wrong. We tried to keep it as independent as possible, giving charge to Jalal bhai [Younus] and Enayet Husain Siraj bhai.”
Such scenarios were common of Nazmul going public and taking a swipe at the national team management and players whenever the team failed.
The practice of the BCB boss however, was widely criticized.
Fast forward to October-November 2023, and Bangladesh team yet again are a shambles.
They have failed miserably in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup despite going into the tournament with the expectation of making it to the semi-finals, and in spite of claims that this was the “best possible Bangladesh squad ever” for the tournament.
The side in India have lost six out of eight matches played, and with a game to spare, have their fingers crossed that they would avoid the ignominy of not qualifying for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
This shambolic run of results has followed a series of drama, most notably the omission of former One Day International captain Tamim Iqbal, which was preceded by an established rift between Tamim and the current skipper Shakib al Hasan and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Leading upto the World Cup, Bangladesh also had an underwhelming Asia Cup campaign that was marred by inconsistent performances.
In the last decade or so, Bangladesh had qualified for the final three times but this year, they were never in the running for a place in the grand finale, losing to Sri Lanka twice – once in the group stage and the other in the Super Four – Pakistan and only beating India in an inconsequential clash.
To add to the woes, news is spilling out from the dressing room of a clear dispute between Hathurusingha and his close ally Nic Pothas (assistant coach) against the rest of the coaching panel who are about to end the contract with BCB following the world event.
Fingers have also been raised at the discipline of the dressing room.
With so much happening, BCB supremo Nazmul however, is nowhere to be found as far as interacting with the media is concerned.
A quarter of the cricketing fraternity is praising the change in Nazmul; that he has finally understood the need to keep office matters within its walls.
There is however, also a section who believe Nazmul is off because he is a major part of the drama that has built up within the team going into the mega event.
The only time Nazmul spoke in public this time was after Bangladesh’s humiliating 87-run humbling to the Netherlands at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
He had arrived to the team hotel with his directors and went on to have individual meetings with various players, including captain Shakib, asking how the board could be of help.
Afterwards, Nazmul said everyone was baffled by the loss in batting form, but could not pinpoint what had gone wrong.
Nazmul later briefed the media and surprised everyone through his composure.
The BCB president pressed on the importance of giving the team mental support and for a change, did not direct his ire at any individual.
Words are making the rounds in the cricket arena in Mirpur, of the board’s intention to form a fact-finding committee following the World Cup.
According to media reports, not everyone is happy with how head coach Hathurusingha and skipper Shakib have operated the team.
But none from the top brass of the BCB has spoken of it on record yet.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune requesting anonymity, a BCB official admitted the need for fact-finding.
“Of course, there is a need to find out the things that went wrong in this World Cup. We had qualified for the tournament after finishing third in the Super League but failed drastically. In order to move with a better plan, we do need to investigate the mistakes so that those are not repeated,” he said.
