Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) head Nazmul Hassan Papon told media at his home on Friday, just before announcing Bangladesh’s new ODI leader for the upcoming Asia Cup and World Cup, “If you ask anyone, they will tell you who it is going to be. It was clear what to do.”
After former ODI leader Tamim Iqbal quit because of an injury, everyone knew that Shakib Al Hasan was in the best situation to lead Bangladesh in the upcoming Asia Cup and ICC World Cup.
The way the command will be announced to the media, on the other hand, was not at all clear.
It looks like Bangladesh cricket and the unnecessary drama going on around it are strangely linked, almost as if one couldn’t exist without the other.
Even the easiest choices can turn out to be hard, and sometimes things happen in a way that makes it seem like the rules of cause and effect have been turned upside down, and the most basic sense of routine has to take a back seat.
And it’s interesting that you don’t have to look too far back in time to prove the above ideas; sometimes just a week’s worth of events is enough.
First, BCB called an emergency board meeting on Tuesday to make the ”obvious” choice, but in the end, they gave the final decision-making power to the board head. Even though it may seem strange, the candidates for leadership were not in touch with the BCB before the emergency meeting.
So, the ball was in Papon’s court, and he had to make a decision before the deadline on August 12.
The BCB president, on the other hand, couldn’t help telling reporters about the ”obvious” choice before he was done with his Friday prayers.
The Daily Star called Tanvir Ahmed Titu, who is in charge of the BCB’s media committee, to find out what went wrong when a “obvious” big choice about big events like the Asia Cup and the World Cup was made in front of a few media houses.
“Everyone should have heard the news at the same time, but Papan ended up saying a few things at the request of reporters who had been at his house since the morning. He said he would tell us in the afternoon. Titu told The Daily Star yesterday, “We are working on the official press release so that everyone knows that Shakib is the new ODI captain.”
To BCB’s credit, it did send out a news release a few hours after Papon’s announcement.
Buzzwords like “protocol” and “process” have been used a lot for a while now. When BCB says that its players don’t always act right or follow rules, does the board also look at how it treats its assets and the media? If you don’t, it’s like the pot calling the kettle black.
Overall, the way some off-field things happen in the country’s cricket does not show the attitude of a country that has been playing Test cricket for over 20 years.