‘Don’t take Zimbabwe lightly’

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan yesterday issued a warning to the national team ahead of the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe.

The BCB boss expressed his disappointment over the poor performances from the national team recently and urged the Tigers to not take Zimbabwe lightly and to go into the series with a new mindset.

"I have been seeing in the media over the past few days that things will be great after beating Zimbabwe. I don't see that happening. I have no hope. I told them, 'if you take them lightly, it will be a big disaster'. Zimbabwe are where Zimbabwe were. We are not where we were. They have performed better than us recently," Hassan told the media yesterday.

"If someone asks me what Bangladesh's worst performance was at home, I would say losing to Afghanistan. It was unacceptable. If we lose to Afghanistan, we can lose to Zimbabwe. We need to have a new mindset. Our seniors must take major responsibility and it has to be a team game."

Hassan also slammed the T20I side for losing 2-0 to Pakistan recently and also

branded Test captain Mominul Haque "soft" and "shy" and marked him as someone who would need help from senior cricketers like Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim. He also said that the Tigers must beat at least four or five teams in home conditions.

"I told them to not take Zimbabwe lightly. We must work in a planned way. Mominul is new, plus he is quite shy… soft. I said Tamim and Mushfiqur must be involved fully in charging up the team," he added.

Interestingly, Hassan had instructed the team management to provide him with all the team information, including the playing XI and even the batting order before the game.

"I want to know the game plan the day before the game and the playing XI," he said. "Why? It started from the World Cup and then the Afghanistan series, there is a total change; nothing has happened the way I expected. Those who had never played in the top order were given those roles. It was experimentation. In Pakistan too, what was told to me didn't happen," Hassan added.

"I have told them that they have to give me the batting sequence and that they cannot drop a player in one game and then pick him again. I understand that they want to try a few boys. Our coach, who is relatively new, wants to see the fast bowlers. But whatever happens, they have to let me know in advance."