Tigers call in psychologist

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) once again felt the need for a psychologist for cricketers and decided to call in sports psychologist Ali Azhar Khan, who will conduct a few sessions with the players ahead of the Zimbabwe series that starts with the first ODI in Mirpur next Sunday.

The need for a psychologist in the Tigers camp has been discussed for quite some time with many cricketers suffering from off-field problems and family issues that have been made public. It is also believed that a psychologist can help cricketers absorb pressure in crunch situations in big matches.

Earlier BCB president Nazmul Hassan and Tigers ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had talked about the need for a psychologist.

"A psychologist will join the Bangladesh team and conduct a few sessions for six to seven days. Ali Azhar Khan will join the team on October 17 and as he is a Bangladeshi it will help the cricketers to understand. He will start conducting sessions with the cricketers from October 17 or 18," chairman of cricket operations commitee Akram Khan told reporters yesterday.

A Bangladesh-born Canadian sports psychologist, Azhar has previously worked with the Bangladesh team back in 2014 after the disastrous ICC World T20 at home. Akram informed that the cricketers were benefited after conducting sessions with him.

Apart from Azhar, Australian performance psychologist Phil Jauncey had also worked with the Bangladesh cricketers during the tenure of coach Chandika Hathurusingha. Before that, sports psychologist Dr Soumendra Saha worked with the Tigers ahead of the 2011 ICC World Cup.