BCB to focus on issues held up by polls

Major issues like assessment of the ODI World Cup disaster, decision on captaincy and forming the new national selection panel had been put on hold by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) during the national elections.

Board president Nazmul Hassan Papon was contesting in the polls, hence the decisions on such important issues were put on pause till the elections.

But with the election now in the rearview mirror, it's time for the board to press unpause and solve the pending issues.

The three-member special committee to assess the World Cup disaster, which was formed on November 29, is yet to publish its findings.

There is also some ambiguity about the captaincy situation of the national team.

Regular captain Shakib Al Hasan, who also contested in the polls, missed successive home and away series against New Zealand due to injury, allowing Najmul Hossain Shanto to take over as captain.

Bangladesh went on to clinch their maiden ODI and T20I win in New Zealand against the hosts under Shanto's captaincy where the 25-year-old showed great promise as a leader.

Before the polls, BCB's cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus had previously said that the board will take a decision on the captaincy issue after discussing it with the all-rounder.

The national selection panel of Minhajul Abedin, Habibul Bashar and Abdur Razzaq has also completed their term on December 31, 2023.

The board needs to finalise the next selection panel, and Papon had hinted to the media that some changes may happen.

With the election over, Jalal said these issues will be discussed in the next board meeting which according to sources is expected to take place later this month.

"The elections just ended yesterday (Sunday) and I think it will take a few more days for everything to settle down. We have a few agendas in our hand and we are looking to finalise the date for the upcoming board meeting," Jalal told The Daily Star yesterday.