BCB to discuss T20 WC debacle in its meeting tomorrow

The national team’s T20 World Cup performance is expected to be discussed elaborately as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) holds a ‘board of directors’ meeting tomorrow at its headquarters at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

The progress of the Sheikh Hasina International Cricket Stadium in Purbachal and the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup which Bangladesh will host in October will be also in the discussion.

“The board’s meeting will be held tomorrow where a number of issues will be discussed. The progress of the Sheikh Hasina International Cricket Stadium is on the agenda,” BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said here today.

“Generally when any of our team plays in any ICC or ACC tournament, their performance is discussed in the meeting. So it’s normal that there will be a discussion about the national team’s performance. Besides, some financial issues will also be discussed.”

Bangladesh won three matches in the just concluded T20 World Cup, making it their most successful campaign statistically. Two of their victories came against associate nations – Netherlands and Nepal. They also won a match against Sri Lanka and it’s their first win against a top- flight nation since their victory against West Indies in the inaugural edition in 2007.

Bangladesh also moved to the next round (Super 8) for the first time since 2007 but lost all of the three matches in this phase. Despite surrendering to India and Australia meekly, they still got a chance to make it the semifinal due to the latter’s stunning defeat against Afghanistan.

However while Bangladesh needed to chase down 116 in just 12.1 overs against Afghanistan to book semifinal berth, the Tigers, as it is adorably called, didn’t show any desperate attempt to make it last four stage. Instead they played safe cricket for a victory but they ended up losing the game by 8 runs on DLS method eventually.

Bangladesh’s strategy to play safe cricket created a huge uproar in on and off the country. While the fans lashed at out the cricketers vehemently for their negative approach, the former cricketers and cricket experts were also left stunned.

Meanwhile, BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Younus though praised the national team because of three victories, director Khaled Mahmud Sujon criticized head coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s strategy in the World Cup publicly. So a long discussion with the coach and the performance of the national team is highly expected.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon, however, still didn’t talk about the team’s performance even though the T20 World Cup is over.

The BCB formed a fact-finding committee after the 2023 ODI World Cup debacle but the findings are yet to come into the light. (BSS)