BCB sparks another fire
While teams around the world begin preparing months in advance of touring India, who have emerged as the undisputed powerhouses of Test cricket on their home soil, Bangladesh will be playing their first full-fledged series with less than a week of preparations due to off-field issues.
Following a commanding whitewash in the Test series against South Africa which gave them a record 11th consecutive series win at home, Virat Kohli's side will play Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, starting November 3, and a two-match Test series.
India may be flying high, but Bangladesh cricket is still recovering from being rocked by the players' strike, led by senior members of the national team, on Monday.
Despite the issues being resolved after a dramatic 72 hours, another issue came to the fore as skipper Shakib Al Hasan signed a deal with a mobile operator without informing the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
While the board's job at such a time would be to douse fires and ensure an atmosphere of calm prevails, board president Nazmul Hassan has, naturally, done exactly the opposite, airing all of the board's dirty laundry out in public by going to the media and telling them that "there is no scope to spare anyone".
"According to our laws, he was not in any way supposed to do that [sign a deal with Telenor]. The telecom company and the player, both parties are aware of it. So, at first, we need to give him a chance to clarify why he did it and that's why we are serving him with an official letter. But one thing we know is that in no way could he do that -- it is completely illegal," the BCB boss told reporters in Mirpur yesterday.
Even if Shakib did breach his contract, the question on everyone's mind is why the BCB president did not deal with the matter internally instead of informing the media of their course of action and creating yet another sensation.
Considering the current situation in the cricket fraternity, with even Hassan himself landing in hot water, the board president perhaps should have tried to calm things down after the restless past week.
Being the guardian of the country's cricket, it was expected that Hassan would deal with the situation more maturely, especially given that Shakib was a pivotal proponent of the players' strike and going after the champion all-rounder now would raise questions about the move being personally-motivated.
Tamim Iqbal pulled out of the crucial upcoming series as his wife is expecting their second child some time in November while young all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin was also ruled out through injury.
With pressure mounting on Shakib ahead of the coveted tour of India, where good performances from any visiting side are praised worldwide, the BCB's handling of this situation ensures that off-the-field incidents continue to be highlighted more than the actual cricket.
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