Rajin Saleh named Tigers interim fielding coach

Rajin Saleh, former cricketer of the Bangladesh cricket team, has been appointed as the fielding coach of the team for the upcoming Afghanistan series. Rajin, who also captained Bangladesh in international cricket, was well-known for his fielding during his career. 

The news has been confirmed to the media by Jalal Yunus, chairman of the cricket operations department of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Rajin himself spoke to the media regarding his appointment. Initially the BCB planned to appoint him for the Afghanistan series and the upcoming South Africa tour. But he won't be able to travel with the team because of his contract with Prime Bank Cricket Club. "Rajin will be the fielding coach of the team in the Afghanistan series. We wanted to have him in South Africa as well but he is the current head coach of Prime Bank. We had him in our plans for the South Africa tour but he informed us of his contract with Prime Bank. It's his permanent job, that's why he does not want to go there," said Yunus. "The cricket operations department told me about the role of a fielding coach," said Rajim Saleh. It's really a matter of joy. I gained fame as a fielder in Bangladesh's debut Test match. I took the catches of Sachin Tendulkar and Murali Kartik as a substitute fielder. That's how I started. Fielding was something I loved. I always dreamt of becoming the fielding coach of the Bangladesh team and working with the players." "My goal was to work with the team for a longer period of time. This is a small assignment and I want to complete that perfectly and have a desire to work more in future," he added.

Selectors have work cut out

The eighth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is nearing its end but as with any domestic cricket platform, especially of the T20 order, performances of local stars are significant for national selectors. Over the years, selectors have not found what they were looking for from the country's premier T20 tournament but this edition of the BPL have been able to throw in some names that give the selectors room to maneuver ahead of the Afghanistan series. The performances of Munim Shahriar have garnered attention while Mahmudul Hasan Joy, having done well in the first New Zealand Test, has shown T20 merits. Youngsters such as Chattogram Challengers' Mrittunjoy flourished in his first BPL stint, bowling at the death while experienced domestic performer Nahidul Islam also made an impact so far. Along with the performances of some of the more experienced names in the Tigers' T20I unit in Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Afif Hossain, combined with influence of veterans such as Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman, the team's think tank can draw a picture of what they need in the format. Bangladesh have struggled with their opening slot at the T20 World Cup and before. With Tamim Iqbal opting out of the T20I setup for another six months, his Minister Group Dhaka teammate Naim Sheikh, who was a frontrunner to play in the Tigers T20 outfit before BPL began, looked out of sorts as his batting position flummoxed in the BPL while he could not take advantage when he played at number 3 or four.