Najmul Hossain Shanto has spoken openly about the mental strain on Bangladesh players. On Friday, the Test captain said the team is pretending that everything is fine. In reality, he said, players are mentally exhausted by the uncertainty around the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh players are going through a difficult phase. Their participation in the World Cup remains unclear. The situation became tense after the Bangladesh Cricket Board said it may skip the tournament if matches are not moved out of India. Najmul said this kind of uncertainty takes a toll on players.
“First of all, if you look at our World Cup results, we’ve never really played consistently good cricket. Last year, we did play well, but there were even better opportunities, and we couldn’t capitalise on them. But you’ll see that something always happens before every World Cup. I can say this from my experience of three World Cups – it does have an effect,” Najmul told reporters.
He said players try to act strong, but it is not easy. “Now, we act as if nothing affects us, that we are fully professional cricketers. You guys also understand that we are acting – it’s not easy,” he said.
Najmul said the players still try to focus on cricket. “I feel that players still try to keep those distractions aside and perform for the team. Of course, it would be better if these things didn’t happen, but this is partly beyond our control,” he said.
He admitted he does not know how the situation developed or how it could have been handled. “I don’t know the details of how it happened, or how it could have been controlled. Still, I’d say that even acting in such circumstances (is difficult),” he added.
Najmul said mindset will matter if the team travels for the World Cup. “With the right mindset if we go to the World Cup and play anywhere, we should focus on how to do our best for the team,” he said.
The Test captain also spoke about a recent social media post by a BCB director. The comment targeted former captain Tamim Iqbal and caused strong reactions. Najmul said the remark deeply hurt him and damaged the game.
“Very sad, very sad because such comments were made about a cricketer – a former captain, and in my opinion one of Bangladesh’s most successful cricketers whom we grew up watching,” Najmul said.
He stressed that respect matters to players. “As players, we expect respect – whether someone is a former captain, a regular player, successful or not. At the end of the day, a cricketer hopes for respect,” he said.
Najmul said the comment was even more painful because it came from within the board. “What hurts most is that the cricket board is supposed to be our guardian. We expect them to protect us. As a player, I cannot accept such a comment,” he said.
He ended with a message. “Parents should correct you at home, not in front of everyone. So such a comment from someone who is supposed to be our guardian is very difficult to accept. I completely reject it as a player,” he concluded.
