Appointment of Courtney Walsh is a master stroke by Nazmul Hassan

Life has never been easy for Nazmul Hassan since he overtook from Mustafa Kamal as the President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in 2012. As soon as he started his work, stifling challenges cropped up one after another. Bangladesh cricket was not quiet on and off the field and sadly, a group of people made things worse for him.

Since 2013 till now, his abilities as the Board President had been challenged several times, but to the astonishment of all, he handled each critical issue smartly and at times, in a stubborn fashion.  

One cannot deny the fact, under his regime and due to some of his bold initiatives, Bangladesh cricket has advanced a lot. He was instrumental behind appointing Chandika Hathurusingha and Heath Streak as the head and bowling coach when Bangladesh cricket was at a loss two years back and he played a vital role in making Mashrafe Mortaza as the captain of the limited-overs team.

There were many who questioned the appointment of Chandika and Streak and kept on criticising Mr. Hassan. But the hullabaloo of a bunch of sheep cannot frighten a lion. Mr. Hassan kept his faith in Chandika and Streak and within a few months, everyone could witness the dynamic change of Bangladesh cricket.

The world could hear the roar of the Tigers.

Sadly, the fans and critics hardly gave Mr. Hassan any credits for all the bold steps he took to change the face of Bangladesh cricket.

The job Mr. Hassan has been a thankless one, but he never stepped back from doing his work.

One of Bangladesh cricket’s agents of change, Heath Streak denied to extend his contract this year and thus, Bangladesh lost a very competent bowling coach. Streak had been fantastic as a bowling coach, because, he injected the aggressive intent among the Bangladeshi pacers and even on dead tracks, the pacers could extract bounce and movement – which was a rarity before Streak’s appointment. Bangladesh are now known to be a team more dependent of their pace bowlers rather than spinners.

So the loss of Streak was handy.

BCB kept on searching for the ideal replacement of Streak. Some of the big names of world cricket rejected the offer and as the time passed, the voices of Mr. Hassan’s critics raised high. They kept on dishing out their own demands while a group of people added fuel to make things tough for the Board President.

But, Mr. Hassan is a guy whose love for Bangladesh cricket is very much and no matter how tough the challenges and vociferous his harshest critics are, Mr. Hassan will not melt down, but will take those steps which will only benefit Bangladesh cricket.

The BCB boss outsmart and outthought his critics and appointed the legendary Courtney Walsh as the replacement of Heath Streak. Very few can question about the abilities of Courtney Walsh and his mentoring capabilities. His enormous experience and sharp knowledge about the game is expected to benefit the Bangladeshi pacers a lot.

The appointment of Courtney Walsh is a smart move by Nazmul Hassan. Only time will tell, whether Walsh will be successful or not, but one must not forget, so far, Nazmul Hassan’s moves have hardly met a sad end.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar