3 major challenges for new BCB chief Faruque Ahmed
Former Bangladesh cricketer and selector Faruque Ahmed was appointed the new Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president on Wednesday, August 21, taking over the reins from incumbent Nazmul Hasan.
The latter was earlier reported as being ready to quit after serving four terms as the BCB's president. He had allegedly moved to London with his wife following the recent civic unrest in the country.
Ahmed played in seven ODIs for Bangladesh from 1988 to 1999 and also served as a national selector for two terms. The National Sports Council (NSC) appointed him to his post.
He will not have an easy task navigating the issues plaguing the country's cricket at the moment, and will have to face quite a few challenges. In this listicle, we take a look at three major ones awaiting Ahmed:
#1 Improving performances in overseas conditions
One of the biggest challenges that Ahmed will face is making sure that the team's performance improves in overseas conditions. Bangladesh have not done too well in foreign conditions in the recent past and this has to change.
At the moment, the Test side is touring Pakistan against whom they have not won a single match in this format in the past. This will be a burning issue that Ahmed will be keen on solving as soon as possible.
This also means that the BCB need to arrange a lot of overseas tours so that their players get acclimatised to those conditions and, in turn, are able to perform to the best of their potential when put under pressure.
#2 Building stability in domestic cricket
One of the ways that Ahmed can ensure that Bangladesh do well in overseas conditions is by building stability in domestic cricket. This can be achieved by regulating the older tournaments and introducing newer ones.
The players who do well in domestic cricket, be it in the Dhaka Premier League or the Bangladesh Premier League, must be rewarded with spots in the national team, and the BCB has a critical role to play in this.
Ahmed must make sure that the selectors appointed by the board are impartial and fair and that players are picked into the national team based solely on their merit and not on influence of any sort.
#3 Generating good team dynamics
Another major challenge that lies in wait for Ahmed is building good team dynamics, especially with the seniors. The likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim may need to be dealt with a little tenderness.
There have been too many issues of senior cricketers not getting along well with the officials of the BCB in the past, and Ahmed must make sure that he learns from all of that and tries to build a good environment.
If the Bangladesh team environment is filled with positivity, their performances will improve on their own and the supporters may not have to worry too much about how they are going to fare in challenging conditions.