Bangladesh are confident the exodus of players to the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) will not cripple the national team in next month’s home series against New Zealand, a cricket official said yesterday.
Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar and 12 other leading players signed for the Twenty20 league on Tuesday. The board has said it will slap 10-year bans on those playing in unofficial tournaments.
“No doubt it is a setback for us,” Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media chief Ahmed Sazzadul Alam said. “But we are confident that we have enough players in the pipeline to fill the void.”
PHOTO: AFP
Bangladesh, who play three one-dayers and two Tests against New Zealand, have only won one of their previous 53 Tests (47 defeats) since making their debut in 2000.
“The players waiting in the pipeline are equally talented,” Alam said. “The only thing we will be missing is the experience of a few players.”
Among those who have signed up for the ICL, only Alok Kapali, Farhad Reza and Dhiman Ghosh were in the Bangladesh squad which played three one-dayers against Australia this month.
Batsmen Shariar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed played in the previous Test series, at home against South Africa in February.
Alam said many key players had not joined the ICL.
“Most of the players like Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Sakib Al Hassan, Tamim Iqbal, Abdur Razzak and Shahadat Hossain who are regulars in the national team, are still with us,” he said.
“Our bowling department is not at all affected with their departure,” Alam said.
Meanwhile Bashar was stunned by the bans, reports said yesterday.
The ICL on Tuesday unveiled a new Dhaka Warriors team for its upcoming season that includes 11 current or former internationals.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday banned all ICL signees for 10 years, in keeping with the policy of administrators in other countries who regard the ICL as a rebel organization.
“It is really unexpected,” Bashar told the Dhaka-based Daily Star. “The 10-year suspension is too harsh. I can’t believe it. We may try to meet with the board officials to explain everything.”
Media reports said the players had signed up for US$200,000 each for a three-year period, but the ICL declined to reveal the financial details.
Bashar, 36, who has played in 50 of Bangladesh’s 53 Tests said he did not want to be called a rebel player.
“I think the people in this country will not misunderstand us because we did not commit any crime, rather we just want to play cricket,” he said.
“It would be an unbearable pain for me to be cast as a banned cricketer after playing for my country for so many years,” Bashar said. “There were reasons for me to take such a decision. I didn’t consider only money because I know how big it is to represent the national team.”
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