2024-05-14 09:02:26
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has sent the T20 World Cup team as per the rules set by the ICC at the beginning of May. BCB did not officially announce it due to the time of change. Finally, the team was announced on Tuesday (May 14), the day before the flight to the United States.
There has been a change from the team initially sent to the ICC. Mohammad Saifuddin was dropped at the last minute as he failed to live up to expectations in the Zimbabwe series. Young pacer Tanjim Hasan Shakib was called up instead.
In the 36-minute press conference, chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu had to answer the most questions about Saifuddin’s exclusion and Tanzeem’s inclusion. The other two selectors Abdur Razzak and Hannan Sarkar were present with the chief selector.
Answering a question, Lipu said, ‘Everyone fought very closely here. The group I gave on the 30th was given in a context. There were two thoughts about making the team with current cricketers. Another thought was to see how cricketers like Saifuddin do when they come back from injury. So our place of trust. There, Tanzim was slightly ahead of Saifuddin. That’s why we kept him in the team.’
Saifuddin played 4 matches in the recently concluded Zimbabwe series. The first three in Chittagong and the last match in Dhaka. He was excellent in the first match in Chittagong, taking 3 wickets for 15 runs. Saifuddin’s performances in the next three matches were 37 for 1, 42 for 3 and 55 for 1 respectively.
It was Saifuddin’s fault that he gave runs at a crucial time in the last match. Bangladesh lost this match in the end. On the other hand, Tanjim Hasan Shakib played two matches. He took 1 wicket with 26 runs in the 1st match in Chittagong, he did not get any wicket with 42 runs in the 4th match in Dhaka.
Why Saifuddin 8 wickets in 4 matches left? On the other hand, why the selectors’ confidence in Tanjim who took only 1 wicket? The chief selector also gave that explanation, ‘We saw Shakib (Tanjim) in the Sri Lanka series too. His concentration, his efforts on the field put him slightly ahead of Saifuddin.
“The reason we were looking at Saifuddin to bowl a yorker in the death overs is a bit different in international cricket than it was in domestic cricket. So we thought a little differently. Only this place has changed from the team I gave on the 30th. We were actually fighting with Saifuddin and Shakib’ – added the chief selector.
Saifuddin, who struggled with injuries, came to the attention of the selectors by performing brilliantly in the BPL. Along with 15 wickets in 9 matches, he scored 63 runs with the bat. Fortune played a big role in the champion of Barisal. However, Zimbabwe could not maintain that performance in the series. So he disappeared from the team in the end.