BCB to summon Rumana Ahmed following remarks on team management

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will hold talks with former skipper Rumana Ahmed to warn her over her recent remarks on the team management. For the unversed, Rumana had recently expressed her disappointment after not being named in the squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Monjurul Islam, BCB’s team selector, confirmed that the former skipper and Salma Khatun were rested from the 16-member squad for the upcoming series. However, Rumana claimed that she felt like she had been ‘dropped’ rather than ‘rested’, contrary to the statements made by the team selector.

"Certainly, I feel like I've been dropped. Look when you give rest to someone certainly you discuss it with that cricketer. It is entirely their (team management) thing what they have given me (rest or not) but they have not discussed with me so I felt (I am dropped)," she told Cricbuzz.

Following the statements, the BCB took heed of the remarks, and will issue a ‘verbal warning’ to the senior cricketer in a meeting scheduled after Eid. "We will call her (Rumana) after Eid for explanation and as this is the first time she did something like this, we will give her verbal warning,” BCB Women's wing chairman Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel said.

Notably, Rumana was dropped from the side for the first time since her debut in 2011 against Ireland.  The former skipper has featured in 84 T20Is and 50 ODIs, having got 854 and 963 runs, respectively. She has claimed 50 wickets in ODIs and 75 scalps in T20Is thus far.

Presently, the BCB is looking at making personnel changes and adding fresh faces in the squad. One of the senior board officials stated that the senior members will need to understand this process and ‘pave way’ for the youngsters in the setup.

"I am not saying her international career is over neither am I denying her contribution for us but at the same time we have to understand that we need to develop our next generation. And as a result seniors will have to pave ways at some point or the other," the official closely related with women's wing of BCB said.