Chandika defends Mominul’s exclusion

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said no one is bigger than the team.

The Sri Lankan, who is also member of the selection panel made this remark while explaining the reason behind the exclusion of one-down batsman Mominul Haque from the 14-member squad for the first Test against Australia.

He said that the diminutive right-hander could not make it to the squad because of his poor batting performance for the last one year. Hathurusingha, who also attended the press briefing with chief selector Minhazul Abedin at the BCB headquarters this afternoon, also said that no player is bigger than the team, and his prime objective was to strike the best side against Australia.

Mominul's exclusion dominated the briefing and at one stage chief selector Minhazul said: "You can ask this question to the coach". He however did not say whether Mominul's exclusion was coach's call.

But when asked about the inclusion of all-rounder Nasir Hossain, which the coach deemed as a call of the selectors, Minhazul said: "He has been performing well in the domestic cricket. Besides, we deemed it necessary to have a back-up for young off-spinner Mehedi Hasan. Nasir is a good off-spinner who can also bat down the order.