The magnificent turnaround of Bangladesh and Nazmul Hassan's meeting

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan (C) with his team

The back-to-back one-day international series victory against India and Pakistan has helped Bangladesh earn respect throughout the World cricket and the current team is a very competitive unit. They are capable of giving any teams a tough test in the limited-overs format and for which, the expectations were high against South Africa.

But, Bangladesh’s start against South Africa had been nightmarish. In the first Twenty20 international, they were literally blown away by the Proteas while, in the second match, they did show signs of improvement, but the result was the same.

In the first ODI, the Tigers were found wanting again. The old habit of getting out cheaply by executing rash strokes was evident and resulted in pathetic display, which created doubts about the temperament of Bangladesh – whether the Tigers are good enough while playing against professional teams like South Africa or Australia remained a moot question.

Meeting with the BCB’s president

Bangladesh’s lackluster attitude didn’t get unnoticed from the President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and for which, a day before the start of the second ODI, he summoned an immediate meeting with the Bangladesh team. Mr Hassan first talked with the BCB technical committee and this was followed by a couple of more meetings with the cricketers, ODI and Twenty20 captain Mashrafe Mortaza and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

While talking with the cricketers, Nazmul Hassan acted like a true guardian. He criticized the lackluster attitude of the cricketers and conveyed encouraging words to boost the morale of the players.

He said to the journalists, “I always try to keep the players boosted. They have done so well since the World Cup so I do not see a reason why they cannot put up some competition against South Africa, that too at our home ground. I just told the players that there is nothing to worry. You guys have done well, which means you are capable. So, throw away all sorts of pressure and do your job well”.

He didn’t shy away from discussing the technical aspects of the game with the players and passed valuable advice to them. As, for example, Mushfiqur Rahim and Soumya Sarkar were advised to be a bit more responsible while shot selection. He said, “We just told them that there's nothing to fear, that they are a good team, but it isn't happening for them now. I told Mushfiqur that you could have played that shot later. You have a lot of responsibility. I told Soumya Sarkar that a batsman has a lot more responsibility after getting set”.

Regarding the meeting with the President Nasir Hossain said, “Mr. President always gives us courage. It was not a formal meeting. He always speaks positively to us. He is always with us. When we do badly people will talk, it is quite normal. He didn't really warn us. He told us to be serious about our game."

Even Hassan advised the technical committee about the team selection and expressed his disinterest about selecting eight batsmen. He said, “If you ask me personally, I do not like playing eight batsmen. It looks very defensive”.

Then, there is a school thought that Nazmul Hassan indirectly played a role in the selection of Rubel Hossain who proved to be a brilliant pick in the second ODI. He said, “The coach wants it one way, the captain wants it the other way. We heard everyone's version. It could be Rubel or they could pick a spinner”.

This sudden meeting delayed the practice session of Tigers, and when Nazmul Hassan was questioned about the importance of such meeting in the middle of a series he answered, “There are areas which require my caution. I have warned them. There are some discipline issues, some body language, and concentration issues as well. I have particularly talked to them about these things”.

Such an initiative is pretty rare from a Board President, and for which, Mr. President deserves accolades. But, a section of the press criticized Nazmul Hassan’s meeting with the players and technical committee, but they certainly are eating their humble pie after the result.

Thrashing the Proteas

In the second ODI against South Africa, a rejuvenated Bangladesh was found to dazzle at Mirpur. The pace bowlers bowled with an aggressive intent while the spinners made the ball talk to leave a strong Proteas batting line-up clueless. The visitors were booked for a paltry score and even though, Bangladesh’s start was shaky while chasing, they didn’t panic and ensured their place in the Champions Trophy.

Soumya Sarkar looked nervy at the start, but as the time progressed, he realized the value of keeping the ball on the ground and scripted a fluent 88 and one must not forget the contributions of Mahmudullah Riyad who provided the perfect foil to Soumya’s controlled aggression.

This victory was needed for the Tigers to prove a point and how effective and influential Nazmul Hassan’s meeting with the cricketers had been, it can be understood by the body language of the players. Hassan’s advices worked as a tonic and it helped Bangladesh to fight with enough vigor. The team is lucky to have a Board President like him.