India supported us in getting Test and ODI status BCB chief Akram Khan

Former Bangladesh skipper Akram Khan and now the chairman of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has travelled with the team to Hyderabad on their short tour to India where they play their first ever Test match on Indian soil. The Bangladeshi team wasn’t expected to beat Team India since they are ranked No.9 and the hosts are at the top.

In an interview with Indian Express, the BCB chairman said the emotional state of the Bangladesh fans, it is fairly termed a bit immature. The groans of a single defeat are louder than they should be but the cheers of the wins are too high as well. When asked about the same Akram agreed and stated that cricket is the number 1 sport in Bangladesh.

“It still is. The fans get angry and emotional if we lose. And grow joyous when we win. Cricket is No.1 now. It used to be football in the 90s but that has changed. In cricket, we win, you see. There is nothing to feel proud about in other sports more often than not. So the emotional connect with cricket has only grown further. Players become superstars because they do well on the field,” he said Akram while talking to Indian Express.

Bangladesh have appointed a lot of Sri Lankan coaches over the years. Currently, Thilan Samaraweera and Chandika Hathurusingha are working with the Bangladesh team. BCB is also planning to hire Indian veteran spinner, Sunil Joshi.

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Akram Khan explained the situation of all the subcontinental coaches. He said, “There is a reason. Initially, we were bringing in a lot of coaches from Australia and we found that, after a year or so, they would cite some family problem or something and want to go back. Our cricket was getting affected. So we thought, ‘let us forget them, and bring some people from close to our culture’. We are now getting Sunil Joshi as a bowling coach.”

The structure of Bangladesh cricket has changed a lot. It hardly had any domestic cricket before but things look better now, with a lot of A team tournaments and age-group competitions. Akram talked about the same and said that infrastructure has gotten better.

“The structure is a lot better. We have age-group tournaments, ‘A’ teams, club cricket continues to be good, and our newly started first-class cricket is improving, but while we are getting more players, the quality can be better.” He said.

Though, the former skipper believes that it will still take time for the players to come through as the process has just started. He said, “We also have changed the pitches in domestic cricket. It used to be flat in the past, now we are trying to get some bounce, pace and more sporting tracks. Of course, quality players are yet to come through, though.”

When asked about India and the fascination Bangladesh have, Akram explained it well. He said that the India have had a hand to play in the tigers getting their Test status. India have helped them even before the eastern country got their ODI status. “Before we got the ODI status, we got a lot of help from India. There is a lot at stake. India supported our Test status also. India is our neighbour. If we can do good performances against India, we would get more opportunities elsewhere also. People tend to notice.” The BCB boss concluded.