Bangladesh cricket team resumed their training on Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium ahead of their West Indies tour after eight days of break for Eid-ul-Fitr.
All eyes, however, were on one player who was not the member of the West Indies-bound squad and trained separately at the gymnasium. Suspended all-rounder Sakib al Hasan participated in the two-hour long meeting at the National Cricket Academy building but was not allowed to play football with the remaining players inside the SBNS.
The all-rounder, who is serving a six-month ban for what the Bangladesh Cricket Board said because of his ‘attitude problem,’ opted to sit in the gallery and watched his team-mates enjoying the game.
Sakib, whose appeal against the ban is pending with the BCB, was limited to practicing at the gymnasium under the guidance of national trainer Mario Villavarayan.
Earlier in the meeting coach Chandika Hathuruisinghe asked all the members of the preliminary squad for the West Indies to give their
input and demonstrated the next course of action planned by the Sri Lankan.
‘We discussed many aspects of the game,’ said a national team member, without preferring to be named. ‘The meeting was arranged to discuss about our immediate and future goal and how we go after it.’
Bangladesh need to revive their fortune in the upcoming tour of West Indies compromising three one-day internationals and two Test matches along with a Twenty20 International.
In a disappointing year of 2014, Bangladesh lost all the nine ODIs they played so far.
In the ICC World Twenty20 at home they only managed to defeat Afghanistan and Nepal while being embarrassed by minnows Hong Kong.
In order to enhance their confidence level, Hathurusinghe had initiated to appoint an Australian sports psychologist Phil Jauncey.
Jauncey was expected to arrive on Saturday night to host a two-day programme with the national players.
Earlier a Canada-based Bangladeshi Ali Azhar Khan held a similar programme with the Tigers in June.
-With New Age input
