‘I’m fighting for Bangladesh in my way’

Khaled Mahmud Sujon, Bangladesh team director and former national cricketer,  stated that he still holds on to his stance taken during a verbal war triggered by Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka during the Asia Cup.

Shanaka had opined that Bangladesh have no world-class bowlers apart from Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, further stating that Bangladesh to be a relatively easier opposition than Afghanistan.   

In the pre-match press conference ahead of Bangladesh's group stage game against Sri Lanka, Sujon had claimed that the Lankans do not even have bowlers of the quality of the aforementioned bowlers in their ranks.

The war of words afterwards was not confined within Sujon and Shanaka as former Sri Lanka cricketer Mahela Jayawardene and Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan Sohan involved themselves in the mix through social media posts.

Following return to the country, the Tigers' team director clarified his stance, taken in the verbal war, on Sunday as a guest in NON STRIKER'S END, a talk show hosted by The Daily Star.

"It was a very normal press conference like every other day. On the closing end of the conference, they [reporters] started to ask me these kinds of questions. I'm not sure if everyone had watched my entire press conference but I said Sri Lanka is always a very respectable team and a very competitive side in any format," Sujon said.

"And what their captain said about Bangladesh being a weaker opposition than Afghanistan, I agreed with him. I myself said in the press conference that Bangladesh is a weaker team than Afghanistan in this [T20] format. Although I have a very good relationship with Dasun [Shanaka], when he said we only have two world-class bowlers, I couldn't take that very well. I felt that they should look into their own squad instead of talking about ours," he added.

Sujon gave further reasons to why he couldn't ignore Shanaka's remarks about the Bangladesh team.    

 "I'll not say this is a 'war of words' or anything. I just replied to what he said. But if someone from outside says anything about my players, to be honest, I can't take it lightly. My press conference was four-five days after Dasun's, but it was in my mind throughout.

 "I'm a Bengali, and my heart bleeds for my country. At the end of the day, Dasun plays for his country and even though I'm not playing anymore, I'm always with the team and I'm fighting for Bangladesh in my way. I stand by every word I've said," Sujon further said.