Nazmul Hassan criticises Bangladesh batters over ‘very ugly’ dismissals in opening ODI

Nazmul Hassan Papon, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president, criticised the Tigers’ batters for their poor shot selection in the opening ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday, May 23. At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mahmudullah notched half-centuries.

In fact, Mushfiqur went on to become the Player of the Match after his 87-ball 84 with four fours and one six. However, Papon reckoned that the Bangladesh batters threw their wickets away and felt that the hosts’ batsmen could’ve avoided playing rash strokes.

There was no need to play those shots in that situation: Nazmul Hassan

“The BCB is trying to find out what’s happening, and why it is happening. Winning and losing today is not important. How many good balls or brilliant fielding got us out? Was our shot selection right? There’s no point bringing a good coach if this is their shot selection.

“We will talk about the coach later. First, we have to sit with the players to find out their mentality. Some of the outs [dismissals] were very ugly. There was no need to play those shots in that situation,” Papon was quoted as saying during the innings break, reported ESPNcricinfo.

Amidst the criticism, Hasan said that Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, and Soumya Sarkar are more than capable of scoring runs at the highest level. The BCB president mentioned that proper communication with the players is necessary.

“Liton Das, Soumya [Sarkar] and [Mohammad] Mithun are capable players. People go through bad times. We will have to talk to the players and coaches. I can’t just take a sweeping decision from the top. It will become negative,” he added.

Both Liton and Mithun couldn’t open their account on Sunday and have been a recipient of brickbats for their inconsistent shows. Even Shakib Al Hasan threw his wicket away to part-time Danushka Gunathilaka after getting his eyes in.

The dismissals didn’t cost them as they won the game by 33 runs and took a crucial 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Mehidy Hasan Miraz contributed with a four-wicket haul to go with two maidens. The second ODI is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 25 in Dhaka itself.