Kirsten's first day of business

All eyes were on the Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in the capital, where former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten -- who arrived in Dhaka on Sunday night -- was to sit with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials along with senior members of the national team yesterday.

Opener Tamim Iqbal first arrived at the hotel and had a meeting with Kirsten, which lasted around an hour and half, after which the dashing left-hander walked out without making any comment about the discussion.

In came Mushfiqur Rahim and the former Tigers captain also spoke to the former South African opener and he too was unwilling to reveal the contents of the meeting as he headed to the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was the last among the senior players to have a talk with the South African and said just this before leaving: "We are not permitted to comment about the meeting."

Kirsten has been appointed as a consultant by the BCB to advise on the coaches Bangladesh can target and to identify areas that will need particular focus through his assessment, which will continue over the next couple of days.

It was learned that Kirsten wanted to know the demands of the senior players and that he asked the players about the kind of head coach they wanted, their aspirations for the upcoming 2019 World Cup, the areas they needed to work on to become a better team and to play well overseas.

The 50-year-old also had a meeting with BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and the selectors. He will also sit with BCB president Nazmul Hassan over the next two days. His departure date is not yet confirmed.

According Chowdhury, the South African is undertaking an internal audit for the upcoming ICC tournaments, including the World Cup in 2019.

"Actually, Gary Kirsten is undertaking an internal audit on how to improve Bangladesh as a team and the areas Bangladesh need to work on keeping the upcoming ICC events like the World Cup and the T20 World Cup in mind.

"He is also working on appointing coaches and we have already shortlisted a few names for the head coach's role and Kirsten also has a few names. At the moment, he will give his suggestions after assessing which area we should work more on and then he will tell us which coach should be more effective for us," Chowdhury told reporters yesterday.

Chowdhury seemed to lay to rest speculation about exactly how long Kirsten's role would be by saying that the South African will only work for a short period.

"He is working as a consultant. Earlier we had plans to appoint him for a longer period, till the World Cup in 2019, which he also agreed to initially. But since he has a busy schedule and other engagements Kirsten informed that he will only stay with us till the coach appointing process," he said.

Kirsten, who coached India to the World Cup triumph in 2011, has expressed a wish to work with freedom and the BCB is providing him the logistical support.