What the new set of BCB’s central contracts tell us
Nayeem Hasan's exclusion came as a bit of surprise as he has done reasonably well so far in his short Test career.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), on Wednesday, announced the annual player contracts for Bangladesh Men's team. Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the mix after he missed out in 2020 because of a one-year suspension by the ICC. 24 players have been given a central contract this year.
Major exclusions
Mohammad Mithun and Nayeem Hasan have got themselves out of the annual contracts. Mithun has been part of the team's white-ball set-up for three years now and delivered a few good performances with the bat. But the middle-order batter's been too inconsistent, averaging only 27.5 in ODIs and 10.6 in T20Is.
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Nayeem Hasan's exclusion came as a bit of surprise as he has done reasonably well so far in his short Test career. The tall off-spinner last played a Test match earlier this year against the West Indies. The 21-year old has a terrific first-class record as well. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, another off-spinner, has developed himself as a tremendous performer especially at home and his batting prowess has also worked in his favour.
Taskin and Shoriful given all-format contracts
Shoriful Islam, who was a key part of the 2020 Under-19 World Cup winning squad, made his international debut earlier this year and has already made a name for himself especially in white-ball cricket. The left-arm seamer has also made his Test debut. Shoriful impressed one and all in the Zimbabwe tour and Australia series last month and is earmarked as a long-race horse.
After a sensational start to his international career, Taskin Ahmed's promise soon fizzled out. But he worked hard, made a comeback and rediscovered his form in the Test series against Sri Lanka this year. Taskin bowled with a lot of heart and was the highest wicket taker for Bangladesh in that series. The right-arm fast bowler has improved his fitness too and has been a revelation since his return to international cricket.
Tamim not in T20Is despite not retiring
Tamim Iqbal, on Thursday, said that he wouldn't participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup owing to his lack of game time. Tamim hasn't played a T20I since March 2020 and the southpaw said that it would be unfair on the youngsters fighting for the opening spot if Tamim made himself available. Tamim clarified that he is not retiring from the format.
The left-hander said that he has the desire to play more T20Is for Bangladesh and he would play in franchise T20 leagues to prepare himself for this. Tamim is reportedly going to play in the Everest Premier League. So, Tamim not getting a T20 contract is very surprising.
Nurul and Soumya offered T20-only contract
Nurul Hasan has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket for some time now and is one of the finest wicketkeepers in the country right now. He hasn't played much international cricket but in whatever little he has played, he has shown a lot of promise. With an ability to improvise and change gears quickly, Nurul is a handy white-ball cricketer. He has a first-class average of 38 and an unquestionable keeping ability. Nurul is in top form now and he could've been awarded an all-format contract.
There is absolutely no doubt about the talent of Soumya Sarkar but he has continuously failed to translate the talent into performances. He has played a few decent knocks in T20Is in the recent past and given crucial breakthroughs with the ball too. Soumya has been given a lot of opportunities but he couldn't make the most of them especially in ODIs and hence he has been left out of the ODI contracts.
Maiden contracts for six players
Apart from Nurul Hasan and Shoriful Islam, four other players- Saif Hassan, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain and Mahedi Hasan- have been offered maiden annual contracts. Saif Hassan has bagged a Test-only contract while Nasum, Shamim and Mahedi have been given T20 contracts.
List of contracted players:
Tests, ODIs, T20Is: Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam
Tests & ODIs: Tamim Iqbal, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam
ODI and T20Is: Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Afif Hossain
Tests only: Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Abu Jayed, Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Ebadat Hossain
T20Is only: Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain
