Cricket

‘Players will die from starvation’

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud, also a former director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), has seen all the corridors of BCB, club cricket and franchise cricket in the country. Mahmud, who is coaching Dhaka Capitals in what has been a lacklustre campaign in the Bangladesh Premier League so far, gave his insights about the ongoing payment issues in the BPL, the state of his team and their star batter Liton Das, and Dhaka's club cricket scenario in an interview with The Daily Star's Abdullah Al Mehdi. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

The Daily Star (DS): How do you see the conversation regarding Dhaka clubs' boycott of leagues and the reforms coming?

Khaled Mahmud (KM): Let's see the constitution first. But what has been heard is not very desirable. Bangladesh cricket survived this far due to clubs because the clubs pay the cricketers; that's how things run. It happened even before my time, and interest in cricket grew because of these reasons. If you deprive the clubs or the officials, at one time, Premier League would stop, and it would be very harmful for the country's cricket. Players will die from starvation at one point. How many players would BCB pay?

You will see that there is a turnover of 40 to 50 crore taka every year from [Dhaka] Premier League and first division to third division. They take care of players' payment and their allowances.

You are encouraging the divisions, but what do you get from the divisions? They don't run anything; there is no Premier League or even tournaments from there. You want to reward them, but those who have worked for Bangladesh, you deprive them. I think it's the wrong strategy. Only time will tell.

DS: A BPL governing council member secretary said they only learned about payment issues from the media. What's your take on that?

KM: Taking a team on board doesn't mean it's the end of responsibility [for BCB]. Bank guarantees were not paid, and why that didn't happen is a big question. If the franchises don't pay, BCB will have to pay. I think the BCB should, or else it would be a mistake. Let's see. They should call up the players from each franchise and ask what their condition is. It's bad for reputation, and foreign players don't want to come due to these payment issues.

DS: Are you disappointed with Dhaka Capitals' run of losses or perhaps angry?

KM: Performance isn't good but, as a team, it's [the outfit] definitely good. I don't get disappointed since, at the end of the day, it's a players' game. We can plan one way, and the opposition have counterplans they could execute. I don't create pressure. I always say we have to keep the process right, but that's not being found.

Local players have done well for us. The foreigners couldn't, but that's their failure. It's part of the game. Maybe outside the field, I couldn't back them. It could be my failure in that regard.

DS: What's your observation on Liton? Do you think he faced a specific problem in his batting?

KM: There is no cricketing problem. Mentally, there seems to be too much on the plate. It's not too much cricket because everyone is playing more now. I think he can't accept these things, like trolling on Facebook. Abuse was hurled at him when he arrived in Chattogram. It could be the case that he is affected by it. Even though maybe he hasn't seen anything on social media, someone is telling him about it.

DS: How do you see Liton's Champions Trophy exclusion?

KM: I understand that he was excluded and don't see anything wrong with the selectors' decision. Definitely, they have logic behind it. From my side, I am a Liton fan, and I tell him that 'I can never drop you.' Maybe it's a blessing in disguise for good reasons. It could be that it will strengthen him mentally and make him more determined. What I want is that he will return very quickly.

Breaks are useful. We dropped him in one of the games, and then he scored a brilliant hundred. So, definitely, his confidence is high. I won't be surprised if he gets another ton.

Comments

‘Players will die from starvation’

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud, also a former director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), has seen all the corridors of BCB, club cricket and franchise cricket in the country. Mahmud, who is coaching Dhaka Capitals in what has been a lacklustre campaign in the Bangladesh Premier League so far, gave his insights about the ongoing payment issues in the BPL, the state of his team and their star batter Liton Das, and Dhaka's club cricket scenario in an interview with The Daily Star's Abdullah Al Mehdi. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

The Daily Star (DS): How do you see the conversation regarding Dhaka clubs' boycott of leagues and the reforms coming?

Khaled Mahmud (KM): Let's see the constitution first. But what has been heard is not very desirable. Bangladesh cricket survived this far due to clubs because the clubs pay the cricketers; that's how things run. It happened even before my time, and interest in cricket grew because of these reasons. If you deprive the clubs or the officials, at one time, Premier League would stop, and it would be very harmful for the country's cricket. Players will die from starvation at one point. How many players would BCB pay?

You will see that there is a turnover of 40 to 50 crore taka every year from [Dhaka] Premier League and first division to third division. They take care of players' payment and their allowances.

You are encouraging the divisions, but what do you get from the divisions? They don't run anything; there is no Premier League or even tournaments from there. You want to reward them, but those who have worked for Bangladesh, you deprive them. I think it's the wrong strategy. Only time will tell.

DS: A BPL governing council member secretary said they only learned about payment issues from the media. What's your take on that?

KM: Taking a team on board doesn't mean it's the end of responsibility [for BCB]. Bank guarantees were not paid, and why that didn't happen is a big question. If the franchises don't pay, BCB will have to pay. I think the BCB should, or else it would be a mistake. Let's see. They should call up the players from each franchise and ask what their condition is. It's bad for reputation, and foreign players don't want to come due to these payment issues.

DS: Are you disappointed with Dhaka Capitals' run of losses or perhaps angry?

KM: Performance isn't good but, as a team, it's [the outfit] definitely good. I don't get disappointed since, at the end of the day, it's a players' game. We can plan one way, and the opposition have counterplans they could execute. I don't create pressure. I always say we have to keep the process right, but that's not being found.

Local players have done well for us. The foreigners couldn't, but that's their failure. It's part of the game. Maybe outside the field, I couldn't back them. It could be my failure in that regard.

DS: What's your observation on Liton? Do you think he faced a specific problem in his batting?

KM: There is no cricketing problem. Mentally, there seems to be too much on the plate. It's not too much cricket because everyone is playing more now. I think he can't accept these things, like trolling on Facebook. Abuse was hurled at him when he arrived in Chattogram. It could be the case that he is affected by it. Even though maybe he hasn't seen anything on social media, someone is telling him about it.

DS: How do you see Liton's Champions Trophy exclusion?

KM: I understand that he was excluded and don't see anything wrong with the selectors' decision. Definitely, they have logic behind it. From my side, I am a Liton fan, and I tell him that 'I can never drop you.' Maybe it's a blessing in disguise for good reasons. It could be that it will strengthen him mentally and make him more determined. What I want is that he will return very quickly.

Breaks are useful. We dropped him in one of the games, and then he scored a brilliant hundred. So, definitely, his confidence is high. I won't be surprised if he gets another ton.

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