Where’s the accountability?

Bangladesh entered the World Cup with the hopes of making the semi finals.

The Tigers finished eighth out of ten teams. Eighth, a step below their ODI ranking and very far off the mark from their targeted top-four spot. 

The result

In the aftermath, head coach Steve Rhodes got sacked, while fast bowling coach Courtney Walsh and physio Thihan Chandramohan did not have their contracts renewed. 

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon explained that the coaches did not do their jobs properly as players played with injuries.

Papon also added that the mini-break ahead of the two must-win games against India and Pakistan derailed the team’s momentum and focus. 

The big questions

One can easily ask why, as the president, Nazmul was not there to oversee these things too. 

Why he was not there to ensure things were kept under control at the biggest cricketing event in the world.

What is the plan now for the team moving forward and what are their goals. 

Nothing has been explained and with a lot of cricket coming up, a lot needs to be explained to the fans and the rest of the cricketing fraternity.

The ominous signs are there

Bangladesh A just lost against Afghanistan A in the first unofficial ODI by ten wickets at Chattagram on Friday.

This team had the likes of Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Abu Jayed Rahi and Rubel Hossain, that were part of the World Cup squad.

There were also players like Imrul Kayes and Anamul Haque Bijoy, that have been included in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour.

If the Afghanistan A team is beating such an experienced Bangladesh A team by such a big margin, questions need to be arised at the quality of the cricketers and their level of commitment outside the national team.

This is where they should be performing to get into the national team.

This is also where a stronger first class structure with a bigger pool of quality cricketers available to choose from would help keep the players in the A team at bay.

Tamim’s chance at redemption

After a lot of speculation that Bangladesh ODI captain might have been playing the World Cup with a grade one hamstring tear, he has been ruled out of the Sri Lanka tour. 

The other injury casualty is Mohammad Saifuddin and they have been replaced by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and all-rounder Farhad Reza (who was also part of the A team’s ten-wicket defeat).

With Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das also missing the tour due to personal reasons, the captaincy has gone to Tamim Iqbal for the first time in his career.

After a disappointing World Cup with the bat, especially by his standards where he scored just one half-century, Tamim will now have the opportunity to redeem himself and come up with the performances with the bat and also show his captaincy credentials. 

The left-handed opener has an excellent ODI record against Sri Lanka in their home turf as he has scored 362 runs from eight games with an average of 51.71, two hundreds, and a high score of 127.