Bangladesh plans to crack down on players who use “pretexts” to avoid playing domestic first-class cricket. (Source: File)
Bangladesh might have got a positive start in the ODI series against West Indies on Sunday but their Test record has gone from bad to worse. They failed to even touch the 200-run mark in their recent six innings including being bowled out for 43 – their lowest ever score in the long format.
According to a Bangladesh Cricket Board official, a major reason for the team’s dismal performance is the players’ lack of interest in playing Test cricket and First-Class cricket.
“We have got a long-standing policy that the players will not be considered for the national team unless they play domestic first-class cricket. But whenever it comes to playing National Cricket League or other first-class matches our players show family reason or other pretexts to avoid it,” said BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus.
“So far we have shown a soft attitude towards it. But now we will follow the policy strictly. Because we have noticed that a few players are not even interested in playing Test cricket,” he added.
Moreover, Hassan named big guns like Shakib Al Hasan and Mustfizur Rahman who are not interested in playing Test cricket because it is “very hard to play”.
“He (Shakib) does not want to play Test cricket. Mustafiz (Mustafizur Rahman) also does not want to play Test cricket,” Hassan told reporters on Friday. Hassan said some players “don’t want to play Test cricket because it is very hard to play.”
Bangladesh suffered a 2-0 defeat against West Indies in the two-match Test series. They lost the first Test by an innings and 219 runs while the second by 166 runs.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
2 min read
