A Bangladesh Cricket Board official said on Saturday that they were yet to take the final decision of excluding local coaches from the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League adding that qualified coaches might still get a chance.
‘There is no such kind of talks [regarding all foreign coaches in BPL teams]. Those [the local coaches] who are doing well, they may get chance here,’ BCB’s cricket operation committee chairman Akram Khan told reporters in Mirpur.
‘The final decision will be taken after the meeting. Those, who are doing well, we will discuss about them,’ he added.
The BPL governing council earlier informed that all the seven participating teams in the forthcoming edition would be coached by foreign coaches and local coaches can only work as their assistant.
The move was widely criticised as it was believed to be an act that would discourage the local coaches.
Renowned Bangladeshi coach Mohammad Salahuddin, who guided Comilla Victorians to the title in the last edition, led the criticism suggesting that the BCB should also bring foreign directors to guide their organisation.
‘Today one thing is realised, if the standard of local coaches is not good, the trainers and physios are not doing their job properly and they will bring all foreign things then why don’t you also bring foreign directors?’ Salauddin said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
‘If the coaches, trainers, physios and players are not of the international standard then why do you [the directors] think you have the same standard? You are also like us. You also should bring foreign directors,’ he added.
Salahuddin is the most successful Bangladeshi coach in BPL, winning the tournament twice for Comilla Victorians in 2015 and 2018 respectively while Khaled Mahmud won it once with Dhaka Dynamites in 2016.
Among the foreign coaches, Ian Pont won it twice for Dhaka Gladiators while Tom Moody helped Rangpur Riders win the 2017 edition of the BPL.
Last year in BPL, both the finalist teams – Dhaka and Comilla – were coached by Bangladeshi coaches.
Akram said that they would make the best decision regarding the coaches for the betterment of the tournament.
‘We will discuss the matter. We will decide what will be best [for the tournament],’ he said.
Akram also explained the BCB decision of one mandatory 140-km pacer for each BPL team.
The BPL authorities sprang a surprise on Thursday when they said that they were considering a mandatory inclusion of pacers, who can bowl at 140km speed, in each BPL team.
‘Many people are saying many things like they are talking about 140km-plus pacers. Actually, we want to bring good foreign pacers,’ said Akram.
The BPL is scheduled to begin on December 6, though officials indicated that it might get delayed by eight to 10 days due to a change in format.
The BCB deiced to hold the upcoming edition of the tournament with the help of sponsor-partners and without any franchise.
The upcoming edition was also renamed as Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League to mark the birth centenary of country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which will be celebrated next year.
Akram said there was no decision of sending the cricket team for forthcoming SA games, scheduled from December 1-10 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
‘We are not aware of the matter. BPL will be held at that time. We will see what type of team they [Bangladesh Olympic Association] want. Sometimes we see that national team does not go to SA games,’ he added.
Source: New Age.
