Former Bangladesh captain turned chief selector Akram Khan has voiced his concern over the so-called technical committee’s involvement in the selection procedure following the drama with the announcement of the national team for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.
Akram found no reason to share the views with the technical committee before the team selection rather he opined that if the selection panel was held accountable after the team’s performance, it would be helpful.
There have been a lot of questions about the existence and legitimacy of this committee which virtually is calling all the shots in recent times and it was for the first time that anyone from within the board has spoken out against this committee.
“We knew about this policy of talking with the technical committee when we signed the contract, so we have to abide by it. But it would have been better if they could evaluate our performance after we had selected the team,” said Akram.
“Because of pre-selection discussion with the technical committee there has been a lot of controversy about the issue and we have felt some sort of pressure. We discussed different issues with our president (AHM Mustafa Kamal) and he always helped us to do something for our cricket and we hope we will be able to convince him regarding this issue [not to speak with the technical committee before selection],” he added.
The former national skipper gave his opinion while he was talking with the media at his office at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Akram was apparently upset with media reports that suggested that the selection committee bent to the request of an influential member of the technical committee when they selected the final team for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour where the Tigers will play in one Test and five one-day internationals.
Akram has vehemently denied the allegation that they picked up one player under pressure, claiming that such allegations were untrue.
“It [the allegation] is hundred per cent wrong. I think it is necessary that we clear the air on this matter. We talked about it this morning and we feel very bad. I think such an incident never occurred during our [playing] career and it won’t happen in the future,” he said.
“There had been some opinions from them (technical committee members) which were not about team selection, rather opinions on how we can improve our performance. There were a lot of positive things in the discussion,” he added.
Since the formation of this committee, it has been a thorn for the selectors and there was widespread speculation that the technical committee interfered in the selection during the tenure of the Rafiqul Alam-led committee on several occasions, only failing to persuade a change in the World Cup squad and Akram, who was also a member of the Rafiqul-led committee.
Akram’s committee submitted the team to BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal (via the cricket operations committee) for approval on Wednesday evening but it was not clear when the team will be officially announced and after the announcement it will be clear whether the controversy will go on with the Akram Khan-led committee’s first assignment.
-With The Daily Star input
