Cricket operations chairman Akram Khan makes claim after Shakib hits out at criticism
The BCB may reconsider the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for Shakib Al Hasan to play in this year’s IPL, according to Akram Khan, the board’s cricket operations chairman. The news comes less than 24 hours after Shakib had accused the BCB, and particularly Khan, of misrepresenting him about his decision to skip the Tests against Sri Lanka.
Khan, who spoke shortly after a meeting at the BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s residence in Dhaka, said that discussions about Shakib’s NOC will be held in the next couple of days, after Shakib had said in an interview on Friday that he never wrote in his letter to the BCB that he didn’t want to play Tests.
“I heard that he said that I didn’t read his letter,” Khan said. “Perhaps I misunderstood his letter. He wants to play Tests, from what he has said. In the next couple of days we will discuss about his NOC. If he has interest, he will play Tests in Sri Lanka. We will decide about the rest after hearing the whole interview.”
Khan confirmed that he read Shakib’s letter where it was mentioned that he wanted to skip the Sri Lanka series to play in the IPL. “Shakib wrote in the letter that he wants to play the IPL instead of the Test series in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Shakib said on Friday that Khan has continued to mention his desire not to play the Test series even though he wrote to the board that he wants to play in the IPL – where he has an Rs 3.2 crore ($438,000 approx) contract with Kolkata Knight Riders – to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“Those who keep saying that I don’t want to play Tests, I am sure they didn’t read my letter,” he said. “I didn’t mention anywhere in my letter to the BCB that I don’t want to play Tests. I wrote that I want to play the IPL to prepare myself for the World Cup.
“Akram bhai especially has repeatedly said that I don’t want to play Tests. I think he said it again in an interview yesterday. I guess he never read the letter. People should have a clear idea that I wanted to play the IPL even if ODIs were scheduled during this time.
“I want to take advantage of playing in the same grounds and against the same players who I will face in the World Cup T20 four months later. I can share the same experience with my Bangladesh team-mates,” Shakib said.
Shakib also pointed the finger at the former cricketers who are in the BCB currently, and said that the BCB’s player development process, particularly the high performance programme, hasn’t produced enough good cricketers in the last five years.
Naimur Rahman, the high performance programme’s chairman and a former Bangladesh captain, said that Shakib’s comments were surprising.
“In the last five years, a number of our Under-19 cricketers have come through the HP to play for the senior team,” Rahman said. “They recently beat Ireland Wolves. So this is a surprising comment. I don’t know if there’s anything behind it.”
Rahman added that Shakib’s point about respecting Bangladeshi cricketers was contradictory as he himself isn’t respecting the former cricketers in the board. “He also spoke about respecting players, so did he respect the former cricketers in the board?” he said.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84