Bangladesh compensate trio for choosing national team over IPL

 

Bangladesh's cricket authorities said Monday they had compensated three senior cricketers a total of $65,000 for choosing to play for the national team rather than in the lucrative Indian Premier League this season.

"This is just a small gesture on our part," Bangladesh Cricket Board cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told AFP, with the cash to be split three ways between Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed and Liton Das.

"They did not demand any money from us formally, but we felt they should be at least partially compensated, if not fully".

Jalal said this would not be a regular practice.

"We believe playing for the national team should be unconditional," he added. "But our board will consider it case-by-case, as players' well-being is also one of our priorities".

Shakib Al Hasan was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for this year's IPL, but the all-rounder pulled out of the competition, which clashed with Bangladesh's series against Ireland at home and away.

The BCB denied clearance to Test captain Shakib and vice-captain Liton until they played the one-off Test against Ireland in Dhaka from April 4 to 8.

Liton, who got his maiden call-up in the IPL this season, also from the Knight Riders, joined the franchise after the Test match but returned home having played just one game.

Taskin was unsold in the IPL players' auction, but Jalal said he had been offered a place as an injury replacement.

Mustafizur Rahman was the only Bangladeshi player to have the opportunity to play for an extended stint with his IPL team this season, but ended up only appearing in two matches for the Delhi Capitals.

Shahzad, Zazai return to Afghanistan side

Afghanistan have recalled batsmen Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai to their 16-man squad for the two-match Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh later this month.

Uncapped fast bowler Wafadar Momand has also been called up to the squad, which will play its matches in Bangladesh's northern city of Sylhet on July 14 and 16.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Shahzad played the last of his 70 T20Is against New Zealand in November 2021 in the United Arab Emirates, while Zazai missed out on the recent 2-1 series against Pakistan, also in the UAE.

The squad, announced late on Sunday, had no room for Afsar Zazai, Usman Ghani, Sharafuddin Ashraf, and former national skipper Gulbadin Naib, who were part of the Pakistan series in March at Sharjah.

"We have consulted T20I captain Rashid Khan and Head Coach Jonathon Trott in finalising the squad for the upcoming T20I series," chief national selector Asadullah Khan said, according to an Afghanistan Cricket Board statement.

"We have achieved decent results in T20Is in recent months, and our focus remains on further strengthening our performance in this format. The upcoming series presents a great opportunity for us to showcase our abilities and further accomplish our goals in T20 cricket."

The Afghanistan cricket team is currently in Chittagong to play a three-match One Day International series against Bangladesh.

All three ODIs will be played in the port city on July 5, 8, and 11.

Bangladesh won the only Test match of the series by a record 546 runs in June.

Afghanistan T20 Squad for Bangladesh: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shahzad, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, and Wafadar Momand.