Former sports adviser Asif Nazrul has come under fire from Bangladesh’s assistant coach, Muhammad Salahuddin, who claims that Nazrul changed his mind about the country’s participation in the current T20 World Cup and falsified facts.
Two members of the squad were left mentally shattered, Salahuddin continued, adding that it was very difficult for the players to accept their removal from the event.
Nazrul, who worked for Muhammad Yunus, the former interim leader of Bangladesh, had initially insisted that the administration had decided not to go to India because of security concerns. But just before leaving his position, he claimed that the players and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had made the decision.
“He told such blatant lies. I am a teacher myself, and teachers generally lie a bit less. That he would say such lies so openly – I honestly can’t even imagine it. How will I even show my face in front of the boys? He took such a U-turn,” PTI quoted Salahuddin telling reporters
Salahuddin implied that the players were not involved in making decisions.
“He is a teacher at Dhaka University. A person from the highest educational institution of my country saying such lies – we can’t accept this. How can we accept this? He said one thing earlier and later took a U-turn,” he added.
Scotland replaced Bangladesh in the competition because they declined to go to India for their matches. The ICC turned down the BCB’s proposal to move Bangladesh’s games in India to co-hosts Sri Lanka, choosing instead to replace the squad.
The players were saddened to learn of their disqualification from the T20 World Cup, Salahuddin continued.
“Look, when a boy goes to play in a World Cup, he carries his dream – his 27-year-old dream with him. You destroy that dream in one second. Fine, if it’s a country’s decision taken for national reasons, they will sacrifice for the country. But if you talk about loss, I will talk only about personal loss. Personally, you completely ended a boy’s dream. I know that two of my players went into coma mentally for five days, completely lost,” Mohammad Salahuddin added.
“For the sake of the country, I’m also ready to sacrifice many things, and the boys are ready too. But did I put my hand on a boy’s head and say, ‘Son, you couldn’t play because of this?’ If things had been communicated properly, I think many things could have been accepted,” he added.
