BCB springs surprise with new selection panel

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) held the ninth board meeting of the incumbent board yesterday where changes made in captaincy and the selection panel were the biggest highlights. 

BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon, who attended his first meeting since becoming minister of youth and sports, came to the press conference after the meeting that lasted close for four hours.

Shakib Al Hasan's ongoing eye issue saw him relieved of captaincy in all three formats as Najmul Hossain Shanto was named the new skipper in all formats for this year.

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But the biggest surprise from the meeting was the wholesale changes in the selection panel with former national team captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu was appointed as chief selector.

Lipu, who served the board under various capacities in the past, replaced Minhajul Abedin while Hannan Sarkar was added to the selection panel to replace Habibul Bashar. Abdur Razzak is the only member of the previous selection panel to be retained.

Minhajul has been in the selection panel since 2011 and was appointed as the chief selector in 2016. Bashar was previously part of the the women's selection panel and got added to the men's panel in 2016.

The current selection committee will stay in office till the end of February, after which the new panel will take charge.

Lipu's appointment is a big surprise considering he was not a board director under this current board. BCB president said that the selection panel's tenure under Lipu will be for the usual period of two years.

"Among the names that were proposed, after we saw his [Lipu's] name, it was a straightforward decision. We felt that if he agrees to take up the role, he will be the best choice and there was not much debate about it. When we got the nod from him, we finalised it," Nazmul told the reporters yesterday during the press conference.

Lipu, who is a veteran in the cricketing circuit, has never served as a selector and the current panel's makeup is also a surprise given the age difference between him and the other two selectors.

Meanwhile, the BCB president said that Shakib's eye issue has created uncertainty regarding his availability for Bangladesh's upcoming Sri Lanka series.

The BCB also disclosed the fresh list of players under central contract with 21 making the cut.

Taskin Ahmed, who recently sought to skip Tests, has been dropped from the red-ball contract while Mahmudullah Riyad was only kept in the ODI contract.

Pacer Ebadot Hossain, who is still recovering from an ACL injury, has been left out of the central contract completely alongside Mosaddek Hossain and Afif Hossain.

It is also the first time that Tamim Iqbal is not part of the central contract.

The special committee to investigate the World Cup debacle, finally placed their report to the board yesterday.

Outcomes of the board meeting:

*Najmul Hossain Shanto made captain in all three formats

*Changes to selection panel with Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu made new chief selector and Hannan Sarkar also drafted in the panel alongside Abdur Razzaq.

*Twenty-one players' central contract finalised. Five cricketers -- Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain and Shoriful Islam -- have been given central contracts in all three formats. Six players have been handed Test contracts while Mushfiqur Rahim will carry on in Tests and ODIs. Three players -- Nasum Ahmed, Sheikh Mahedi and Nurul Hasan – have been kept in T20I contracts. Tanzim Shakib has been added to one-day central contract list while Tamim Iqbal has been left out.

*Central contract of 85 first-class cricketers finalised.

*Decision made on national team vice-captaincy but BCB to wait on announcements due to players' availability for series.