Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan’s thought-provoking interview in a vernacular daily had irked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as the cricket body found few comments from Shakib to be offensive and discussed the issue in an urgent BCB meeting held yesterday.
The BCB president Nazmul Hasan informed that the board has asked for an explanation from Shakib over some particular comments made in the personal interview. Whether the leading Bangladesh all-rounder had taken permission from the team management was another query the BCB made.
“According to the bylaws, a player is not supposed to give a personal interview without the permission of the manager during an ongoing tournament. We have asked him to explain some parts of the comments that he made. Today (yesterday) is the last day for Shakib to reply back. We can only reach a position over the issue once we get his explanation,” informed Nazmul to the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Nazmul further informed that it won’t be right to discuss on the issue or what punishment Shakib might have to face until the board gets the explanation and at the same time also learn what the team management thinks of the comments. “I want to know whether the team management found his comments right or wrong and what is to be done if they finds the comments offensive,” said Nazmul.
Nazmul was confident that Shakib violated the BCB code of conduct – not one but many.
“The disciplinary committee will get busy once we get his explanation. The committee will take four to five days to ready their recommendation and will sit with the board directors once I return,” he said.
Shakib in his interview questioned patriotism of the common people. He further stated ‘people's expectations, the journalists' reporting and board's pressure’ as the reasons behind Bangladesh's poor showings in the ICC World Twenty20. He further indicated that the BCB's practice facilities were not good enough.
Nazmul was not ready to accept what Shakib had said and replied, “It was the cricket crazy fans from Bangladesh that made the event so successful which I think is enough to show patriotism. Even the ICC admitted that there is no other country except Bangladesh that loves the game more.”
Bangladesh’s poor performance in the World T20 was also an issue in the urgent board meeting. The BCB president informed, “We have asked the head coach (Shane Jurgensen) and the team manager to submit a detailed report within a week so that we can discuss on it once we are back.”
Nazmul informed that the national dressing room might see several changes in the coming month. “We are more concerned of the team staff than the players. The decisions will depend a lot on the report and the board will also see if the explanations in the report are good enough to accept,” said Namul.
He further added that the board is aiming for a long-term plan, but not delay much as the ICC World Cup 2015 is not far away. The BCB boss informed that the board will also look for new players to fit in the important spots in the team.
