Former national opener Javed Omar received an emotional goodbye during his farewell Twenty20 match, played between legendary Bangladeshi cricketers and the Bangladesh Sports Journalist Association at the BCB-NCA ground in Mirpur on Friday. Javed showed glimpses of his stroke-making calibre in front of family and friends, hitting 40 off 19 balls as the Legends-XI won comfortably by 93 runs. Javed’s side amassed 281-6 in 20 overs before restricting BSJA to 188-6 in the friendly match to celebrate the batsman’s career.
The venue saw a huge gathering of former and current national cricketers, and a festive mood had taken over the place since morning to officially end the career of Javed, who had remained an example of hard work and strong determination since his debut with Nirman School XI in the 1997-98 season of the Dhaka Premier League.
Former national skipper Aminul Islam hailed Javed’s effort and extreme determination, which he believed was the outgoing batsman’s trademark in a career filled with ups and downs.
‘Javed will always remain a special character for his undying enthusiasm,’ Aminul told reporters at the break.
‘Despite being pushed by our international opponents during those days, he always backed our bowlers vocally and that kept us moving.’
‘He had a very conventional batting approach and never looked to give away his wicket.’
Javed was expected to be Test match material due to his slow approach to batting but was nevertheless left out of Bangladesh’s inaugural Test against India in November, 2000. However, he lived up to his reputation when he was included for the second Test match against Zimbabwe, hitting half-centuries in both innings.
Pace bowler Mashrafee bin Murtaza thanked Javed for being a close friend since his first tour of New Zealand, where the two were roommates.
‘He was a fun-loving character and always helped the juniors to be comfortable after they arrived in the national team,’ said Mashrafee.
‘He was my roommate on my debut tour, and since then we have become close and remained that way even today. It was really a great honour to be present in his farewell match.’
National chief selector Faruk Ahmed joked that he was relieved that Javed had decided to quit.
‘He saved me with this retirement. I don’t have to consider him,’ Faruk laughed.
Javed has yet to decide on his immediate future but he indicated that he would be keen to be associated with cricket.
‘I am yet to decide on my immediate future. But it would be hard to leave cricket totally, as it has been my only passion for the major part of my life so far,’ said Javed, who played 40 Test matches and 59 one-day internationals in his career.
‘There is a possibility of returning as a coach, but somehow I am not too sure about it because it will be just as energy-sapping, both mentally and physically,’ said Javed.
‘I feel that it would be more comfortable for me to act as a batting consultant. I am extremely thankful to everyone who has supported me so far.’
-With New Age input
