Players, officials put on their serious faces
The day after a shocking defeat to the West Indies in the first Test inflicted by Kyle Mayers' record-breaking unbeaten double ton in chase of 395 in Chattogram, the Bangladesh Cricket Board higher-ups, including president Nazmul Hassan, sat at a meeting at his residence.
There was a sense of shock and disbelief from the BCB president after the hosts had dominated the visitors till the fourth day.
Hassan, chief selector Minhajul Abedin, selector Habibul Bashar, cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan and a few directors were present at the meeting, where discussion about a possible replacement for Shakib Al Hasan for the second Test also took place.
There was also talk about the pitch at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, where the three Bangladesh spinners — Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, and Nayeem Hasan — failed to find any favours.
Some also raised questions about Mominul Haque's captaincy and spoke of the Tigers' poor body language.
But it was learned that the BCB was willing to give Mominul more time as his tenure of five games does not provide an adequate sample size.
Meanwhile, Shakib has asked for leave and given a letter to the board, asking to be allowed to stay beside his family during the birth of his third child, which will coincide with the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
That would effectively rule the age all-rounder out of the three-match ODI and three-match T20I series.
Ahead of the start of the series on March 20, the Tigers will also hold a training camp.
"Shakib has given a letter to the board asking for leave during the upcoming New Zealand tour to stay beside his wife for the birth of his child. We will make a decision over the issue in the next few days," Akram said.
Shakib is also recovering from a thigh injury sustained on the second day of the first Test. He has been ruled out of the second Test and Soumya Sarkar has been brought in as the replacement for injured all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in the squad for the second Test, starting from February 11.
Cricketers returned to the field yesterday for the first time since the defeat in Chattogram and the atmosphere in the Tigers camp remained serious. Pacer Al Amin Hossain was seen in training yesterday after he was called into the camp to bowl in the nets.
Miraz, who struck his maiden Test ton in the first innings and scalped eight wickets in the first Test, informed that the Tigers were looking to play better cricket in the second Test and making a comeback.
"Obviously they played beyond expectation and played well on the fifth day. Despite dominating the first four days, we had a bad day on the final day which proved costly for us. I think if we can play better cricket, we will be able to come back strongly in the second Test," Miraz said yesterday.
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