Minhajul stresses restricting cricketers from playing football
A new issue has emerged recently regarding this country’s cricketers and that is, they are getting injured during their football warm-up sessions. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin looks determined to do something about this matter.
“There will have to be a restriction on this, because maximum players are injured while playing soccer. It’s something the team management will have to look into,” Minhajul reportedly said.
After torn knee ligaments ruled Nasir Hossain out for six months, Mushfiqur Rahim also got injured on the fourth day of the fourth round in BCL. He collided with teammate Nazmul Hasan Shanto while playing football.
Minhajul also announced that they are merging the training camps for the HP and A team set to start on May 23. He said that there will be a mixture of experience and youth in the A team ahead of their home-series against Sri Lanka A.
He said, “We are merging the HP with the A team. We will choose a 20-22 member squad for the HP, and add a few A team players to that. The HP program will start from the 23rd of next month, and we will start the A team work with that as well.”
“Of course, we will take those who are playing well in domestic cricket. But we look at two criteria when forming the A team – immediate replacements for the national team and those who can represent the national team in the next one or two years.
“It will be a combination of seniors and juniors. I can’t say the names. Let us ready the team first, we will sit and decide after the BCL who will go to HP and who will go to A team. Two weeks later there is a national training camp, and we will have to choose a preliminary squad for that as well. We can give the details next week,” he added.
South Zone batsman Tushar Imran, the sole Bangladeshi to score 10,000 first-class runs, has been in a good run recently and has clubbed three centuries on the trot in the BCL.
When asked if BCB is considering to get him back in the team after 11 years, Minhajul said no good performer has been deprived of an opportunity and the capability of one’s playing in the international area is something what really matters.
“Those who have performed well so far, they have not been deprived. And with certain players, you also have to take into consideration how capable they are in the international arena, and how capable they are technically to defend in the international arena. Playing well on home soil is one thing, and playing abroad is another,” Minhajul explained.
