Bangladesh Cricket Board’s chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury on Tuesday dismissed the fear that the planned tri-series in Zimbabwe could create any obstacle to Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy qualification. Pakistan, West Indies will join Zimbabwe in the tri-series in August hoping to overtake Bangladesh in one-day rankings and qualify for the tournament in 2017.But Nizamuddin, who attended the International Cricket Council’s annual conference in Barbados, said ‘as per the current scenario, the chances for any other team to come up are very slim’.
‘Because we are ranked seventh, we are hopeful of playing the trophy unless something big happens,’ he told reporters at his office on Tuesday.
‘The difference between rank 7 and 8 is around five points, that’s why we think that the chances are very slim,’ he added.
England along with seven next highest-ranked sides as on 30 September 2015 will be eligible to qualify for the tournament.
Nizamuddin described that only in theoretical probabilities can make Tigers incapable of taking part in the coveted tournament.
‘There is no such thing as a guarantee,’ he said. ‘The chances [of us missing the tournament] are very slim in the sense that Pakistan will have to win many matches. They are below West Indies so they will have to win many matches.’
Pakistan will play a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka before going to play the tri-series. The format of the tournament is yet to be announced but it is expected that the teams will take each other twice before the final.
Nizamuddin said following a calculation by seasoned statisticians, they came to conclusion that Pakistan almost need to win every game if they are to go ahead of Bangladesh.
The BCB chief executive dismissed the idea of joining the tournament as fourth team as they will gain hardly anything from it.
‘Its [ranking system] complicated but the easy calculation is that if you play with a lower ranked side the point variation isn’t much,’ he said.
Regarding the tri-series was not in the calendar and was hastily arranged raising quite a few eyebrows. BCB’s media committee chief Jalal Yunus on Monday branded the competition for a Champions Trophy spot as ‘ not very healthy,’ but Nizamuddin was mostly diplomatic on the issue.
‘There is no specific deadline for arranging any tournament,’ he said.
‘ICC’s role here is limited all they need to do is giving match officials, if they are available, then ICC doesn’t have to do anything.’
-With New Age input
