BCB chief unsure Shakib will go to India
DHAKA: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan has alleged there have been attempts at sabotaging the team’s tour of India starting next week and a strike by the nation’s top players over a 11-point demand was part of it.
Bangladesh players called off the strike after BCB agreed to their key demand of better pay at international and first-class levels. The tour of three T20s and two Tests starts in New Delhi on November 3.
“You people (media) haven’t seen anything about the India tour. Just wait and watch. If I am saying I had specific information that this was a conspiracy to sabotage India tour, you should believe me,” Hasan said in an interview to the country’s leading Bengali daily ‘Prothom Aalo’.
Asked to explain, Hasan said his suspicion rose after opener Tamim Iqbal pulled out of the tour to be at his wife’s delivery.
“Tamim had initially told me he will only skip the second Test (Kolkata, November 22-26) for the birth of his second child. However, after the meeting with players, Tamim comes to my room and says he wants to opt out of the whole tour. I asked him, ‘why?’ He simply said he won’t go,” Hasan said.
MORE PULL-OUTS?
Bangladesh are due to arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday, but Hasan is concerned there could be more pull-outs.
“I have called Shakib to have a chat. Now, if he also pulls out, where do I even find a captain? I might have to change the whole combination,” he said.
Hasan said: “I feel it was my mistake to have agreed to their demands. I should never have done that. I should have told the players, ‘unless you call off the strike, we will not sit with you guys across the negotiation table’. Speaking to various member boards, I felt this should have been our approach, but the media also created pressure on us.”
SHOWCAUSE TO SHAKIB
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan is unlikely to face legal action from the cricket Board for spearheading a strike last week but will have to reply to a showcause notice served for violation of the central contract, CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.
Shakib is the brand ambassador for Bangladesh telecom major Grameenphone, a direct competitor to mobile operator Robi, the team’s sponsor.
Chowdhury was quoted by ‘Prothom Aalo’ as saying, “it’s an internal matter of the Board and that’s why there is no need to take any legal action against Shakib. He certainly has to explain why he signed an endorsement deal, which is in violation of the central contract.”
There were suggestions Shakib-bcb relations had soured with cricket website Cricinfo reporting on Monday that he had skipped the national team’s training two out of three days.