Bangladesh skipper Sakib al Hasan will be summoned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to give his account of the team’s debacle in the ongoing tour of Zimbabwe, said BCB officials on Wednesday.
Bangladesh have failed to win a single match in the tour so far, succumbing to a 130-run defeat in the only Test match before losing their first one-day series in five years against Zimbabwe on Monday.
BCB is deeply concerned by the team’s below-par showings and have called an emergency meeting on August 20 to discuss the matter.
Recent media reports suggest that the team’s downfall has been caused by an internal feud which has divided the squad with Sakib and his deputy Tamim Iqbal becoming alienated from the rest of the players.
‘Sakib will be called to explain his position and why he thinks we had done so badly,’ Manzur
‘I cannot say anything now but we will decide what would be our next course of action during the next meeting,’ he added.
Manzur remained coy about the purported internal feud in the squad, stating that the board will first verify the reports through coach Stuart Law and the team’s head of delegation before taking any measures.
‘We have to go through the reports of the coach and the head of the delegation before we can say anything. It is hard to say whether there is any feud in the team from here,’ said Manzur.
‘We have to know what went wrong and must work accordingly to redress it,’ he added.
Media committee chairman Jalal Younus largely echoed Manzur’s views and reiterated the importance of addressing the reasons behind the debacle to prevent its recurrence.
‘It is undoubtedly disappointing and we need to find out the reason so that it does not reoccur,’ said Jalal.
‘We cannot say anything now but we will ask for a full report and only after receiving that can we say anything,’ said Jalal.
Whether the board will launch a full-scale investigation into the dispute will only be decided after perusing the team management’s report, according to Jalal.
‘Why the performance has dipped is a big question and it’s very difficult to answer it from here. There could be a feud or the players could just be low on confidence,’ said Jalal.
National selectors Akram Khan and Minhajul Abedin refused to be drawn into the matter despite being asked repeatedly about the team’s underperformance.
Former captain Khaled Mahmud lamented the team’s preparation for the tour, citing its inadequacy as reason for Bangladesh’s recent shortcomings.
‘You reap what you sow, it is as simple as that,’ said Khaled Mahmud.
Faruque Ahmed meanwhile believes that Sakib must communicate better with his troops if the Tigers are to stem the rot.
‘Sakib is an introvert person but he needs to mix with his teammates more if he wants to bring the best out of them,’ he said.
Courtesy of New Age
