Reports: Bangladesh included 2 players bypassing selectors, captain

They had a good beginning to this Asia Cup as they hammered former champions Sri Lanka in their first game. But Bangladesh’s performance then dipped as they were annihilated by both Afghanistan and India in their next two games and now will have to win their remaining matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan if they aspire to qualify for the final to be played on September 28.

However, it seems that not all is well with Bangladesh cricket at the moment. It has been reported that two of the national selectors – Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar – both former players, were ignored from the decision making while including Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar in the Asia Cup squad. The question that is being asked hence: What’s the need of having selectors if players were picked without informing them?

According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, former Bangladesh captain and currently Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) cricket operations chairman Akram Khan said on Friday that the two were included in the squad after the team management asked board president Nazmul Hassan for an opener. Hassan is currently in the United Arab Emirates where Asia Cup is being played.

It was said that even captain Mashrafe Mortaza was not aware of the new additions to the squad, as he said after the defeat to India.

Tamim Iqbal’s absence made opening positions unstable

“Tamim’s absence has made the opening positions unstable. Team management wanted one opener but without taking any risk, we have brought in two openers. We have included Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar after discussions between team management and the board chief,” Akram was quoted as saying.

Ace Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal had a wrist fracture in the game against Sri Lanka but he came out to bat with it towards the end for the team’s sake and batted with one hand, earning accolades from all over.

“Liton [Das] and [Nazmul Hassan] Shanto haven’t scored runs, so naturally this is what we have had to come up with. We have to score 240-250 in these wickets. We have brought Soumya and Imrul because they couldn’t perform,” Akram said.

However, whatever be the cricketing needs, the media is not in a mood to spare Bangladesh cricket’s internal functioning over picking players.

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