Miscommunication led to Sabbir Rahman's recall in ODI team, says BCB President

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon has claimed that a miscommunication was the reason behind Sabbir Rahman’s surprising recall to the Bangladesh One-Day International side for their upcoming series against New Zealand. Sabbir’s selection had raised quite a few eyebrows and the reasons were pretty obvious.

The 27-year-old was suspended by the board for six months in September 2018 but the BCB had apparently reduced that sentence in order to make him eligible for selection. The BCB’s disciplinary committee had recommended Sabbir’s punishment on September 1 which meant that the 6-month ban would have ended by February 28 at the earliest. By that time, the ODI series in New Zealand would have already ended.

Meanwhile, the controversial selection made the differences between the selectors and the captain clear. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza had refuted chief selector Minhajl Abedin’s claim that he had asked for Sabbir to be part of the ODI series. The comment had come just a couple of days after Abedin had said: “Let me make one thing clear, he is totally the captain’s choice.”

But now Hassan has added another dimension to the story, claiming that miscommunication was the reason behind the selection blunder. “I asked about his suspension when I was about to sign off on the [squad] list. They told me that his suspension is over. Maybe they mis-spoke, but I didn’t ask them,” Papon stated on Monday.

“I have been completely off from involving myself in team and squad matters in the last three months. I am not interfering at all. I think the captain and coach wanted Sabbir in the squad,” he added. “They have been saying that if he does well [in New Zealand], he could have a chance to play in the World Cup.”

Sabbir’s record in New Zealand

Perhaps Sabbir’s performance in New Zealand had convinced the team-management to bat for his inclusion in the squad. While his average is not very eye-catching, he is definitely one of the few Bangladeshi batsmen who looked relatively comfortable on lively tracks. He averages 24.51 from 54 ODIs. However, in four ODIs in New Zealand, his average is 28.25.

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