2024-05-01 16:23:55
Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) has postponed the ongoing Dhaka League Super League match due to shortage of players for the initial preparation camp of the Zimbabwe series. But the club is in trouble as Abahani Limited has 10 cricketers in the 15-man squad announced for the first three T20Is against the team.
The two rounds of the Super League ended on April 22 with a two-day break. A four-day break is given for the camp before the start of the third round. Even though the camp is over, the club is not getting any cricketer who is in the squad for the third round of the Super League on April 30. The Cricket Operations Committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not given a green light to Abahani to give any cricketer till the writing of this report.
On Monday afternoon, Abahani manager Masum Iqbal Mamun told RisingBD over the phone, ‘I have asked for three-four players who will be kept out of the eleven in the first match against Zimbabwe. I don’t think it will. We have not received a response so far.’
Abahani formed a team with 20 cricketers before the start of the season. Most of them are regular faces of the national team. The manager of the club said that 10 players are struggling to form the XI after getting a call-up against Zimbabwe.
“I don’t have 10 players. One of the remaining 10 people is injured. Once the two are new. I have to find a cricketer. If no one is found, outside cricketers should be registered. There is no other way than this,’ said Mamun.
The 10 Abahani players who were called up against Zimbabwe are Nazmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Liton Kumar Das, Tawheed Hriday, Zaker Ali Anik, Taskin Ahmed, Shariful Islam, Tanjim Hasan Shakib, Tanveer Islam, Afif Hossain and Saif Uddin.
This official of Abahani said that they had applied to BCB before forming the team. He was a bit surprised after the announcement of the team.
Mamun said, ‘We did not think that we will have only 10 players. I thought it would be 6/7. But all 10 of us were taken. I told them 10 as Nahi added 10 more and made Abahani’s team play against Zimbabwe.’
Abahani is out of touch this season with 26 points in 13 games. Mohammedan Sporting Club points 20 in a draw. If they win the next three matches and Abahani lose all of them, the two teams will have 26 points. Then head to head calculation will come. If two teams win one match each, the head to head will be even. But Abahani is far ahead in run rate. So there is no obstacle to get the title of Abahani.
When asked whether any cricketer will be released by the selector Hannan Sarkar for April 30, he told RisingBD that it is a matter of cricket operations. However, no response was received despite contacting Cricket Operations.