The current Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president, Faruque Ahmed, became the first member of the role to have played cricket at the international level, as he featured for the Tigers for seven years between 1998 and 1999. He was also the chairman of the selection committee for a long period.
Faruque Ahmed highlights that the focus of their cricket has been at their grassroots, as it’s nowadays a necessity to have equipped grounds these days. He also touched on the importance of having an improved infrastructure in the game to make progress.
“Look at the way India has developed its cricketing structure to become one of the finest teams in the world; it needed a lot of hard work. We also want to focus on those areas. Things won’t change overnight, but with the right intention, we can make things happen.” The Dhaka-born expressed in a recent interview with ‘Sportstar.’
A few reports claimed that the experienced member of the board had some issues with their current head coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, despite winning the Pakistan Test series by a 2-0 margin.
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“We are closing in on another important series against India, and now the team should remain stress-free and play their natural game. But let me make it clear that I have not changed my stance and I don’t want to assess anyone going by a particular series.” Faruque Ahmed remarked during the conversation.
Faruque Ahmed wants Tamim Iqbal to be part of the cricket board
On September 13, before the departure of the Bangladesh side to India for the upcoming two-match Test series, the BCB president had a meeting with some of the senior players of the side, where their former opening batter, Tamim Iqbal was also present.
“Tamim needs to decide whether he wants to continue as a player or he wants to take up a different role. He has done so much for Bangladesh cricket, and it would be wonderful to get him involved in the BCB.” Faruque Ahmed told the ‘Sportstar’ reporter.
With the political disturbance in the country, there were reports of the Kanpur Test being under threat. The BCB has, however, shared a very strong relationship with the BCCI over the years, the 58-year-old doesn’t see any reason to extend the relationship.
“I had a fruitful discussion with the officials of the BCCI during the ACC meeting in Kuala Lumpur recently and secretary Jay Shah invited me for the first Test in Chennai. Even though I have some prior commitments, I am trying to see if I can visit Chennai for a couple of days to watch the game and also meet the BCCI officials.” Faruque Ahmed shared his view.
“The BCCI has assured us, and at this point, we are happy with the conversations we had with the Board officials. The team is flying out to Chennai in a couple of days and we are not planning to send any additional security cover from our end.” He admitted that the newly made ICC chair has assured him the highest security.
Along with Tamim, it will be interesting to see the future of Shakib Al Hasan on the Bangladesh side, and the president outlined that the veteran still wants to keep on playing for more years.
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“Shakib is mature enough to take a call on his future and he is still one of the best players in the world, and just like Tamim, he needs to decide the future course of action. But for now, he has conveyed to us that he wants to play in all three formats.” Faruque Ahmed reflected.
The BCB president concluded by saying that they always keep a specific window for the Indian Premier League, and manage their Future Tours Programme around that. He also vows to avoid those issues where the players have to miss the tournament due to the board’s indecisiveness.