Bangladesh are not favourites against Zimbabwe: Nazmul

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan has been critical of the Test team's recent performances and expressed that he does not see the home team, Bangladesh, as being favourites against Zimbabwe in the one-off Test match from Saturday.

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

"If someone asks me what was Bangladesh's worst performance at home, I'd 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 the major responsibilities, and it has to be a team game."

Hassan was also very unhappy with the way the team lost against Pakistan in the Twenty20 International series 2-0. He also called the Test captain Mominul Haque as "soft" and "shy", and someone who would need help from senior pros like Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.

"I told them that it was unacceptable to lose to Pakistan in the T20Is," he said. "Nobody would say that we played poorly in India, but I told them that I didn't like their approach and mindset in the Pakistan T20I series. I spoke to them about these things, ones that I had mentioned in the media but I wasn't finding time to speak to the players. I reinforced that we are almost unbeatable at home, and we must beat at least four or five teams in their home conditions.

"I told them, 'don't take Zimbabwe lightly'. We must work in a planned way. Mominul is new, plus he is quite shy. Soft. I told Tamim and Mushfiq must be involved fully to charge up the team."

Hassan also informed the media that he had ordered the Bangladesh players and management that they would have to inform him of the playing XI, down to the batting line-up, before the game.

"I want to know the game plan on 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.

"I have told them that they have to give me the batting sequence and 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."