‘Unfair to call Bangladesh weak without Shakib’

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha has said that it would ‘be unfair’ to call the Bangladesh team weak without the presence of ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Shakib, who has been suspended from international cricket for six months, will not be able to take part in Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies in August.

When asked if his suspension would affect the team Hathurusingha said, “It’s very unfair to think that way because there are another 10 players playing. It’s a team. For me it’s the Bangladesh team. Whoever replaces him or whoever comes into the team I expect them to do their best. For me it’s the Bangladesh team that is going forward.”

He however, did not provide a clear answer when asked if he would ask the board to reconsider their decision.

“That’s an internal matter. I don’t want to discuss it in public. What we are doing is what we are doing. It’s for the betterment of Bangladesh cricket as well as betterment of the individual players. We will do the best for Bangladesh team,” said the Sri Lankan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur today.

Bangladesh are yet to win an ODI this year. They lost nine out of the ten ODIs they played in 2014.

In order to tackle this problem, Hathurusingha said that the board has hired a mental conditioning coach in order to help the players prepare

“We have asked one of the mental conditioning coaches to come and work with us as well. That’s one area we are seriously considering to give the players some support. It’s all about starting new and starting fresh,” he said.