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Asghar plays defensive

SPORTS REPORTER
President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Ali Asghar is planning some significant changes to overcome the shock that has gripped the country after the sorry performance of the national team in the 2003 World Cup.
Addressing a pensive local press in the first official briefing since Khaled Mashud's men returned from South Africa on March 5 with five defeats in six games, Asghar said that he was thinking about a new coach and a committed set of cricketers to start afresh.
"We are looking for a new coach and have already communicated with different people. But I'm afraid we might not get a coach before the home series against South Africa in April," said Asghar.
When asked if present coach Mohsin Kamal will remain in
charge for the tri-nation one-day tournament starting on April 13 in Dhaka, the BCB president said he was not sure off it.
Kamal's one-year contract with the Board will expire on April 1. The former Pakistan paceman was not available for comments since he decided not to attend the press briefing.
"He is not willing to meet the press at the moment", said Asghar adding that he was also not ruling out the possibilities of appointing a local coach for an interim period.
Asghar also revealed that West Indies legend and ex-Bangladesh coach Gordon Greenidge was one of the candidates he was in contact with.
"We are looking for the best coach for us. Money is not a problem now as it was when I took over a year ago," said Asghar explaining the financial constraint he had
faced when he brought in Kamal and his compatriot Ali Zia apparently at a bargain price.
While Mohsin is destined to face the axe, Asghar also warned that the cricketers who appeared to have lacked commitment in the World Cup would have to face the music too.
"We have already formed a two-member probe committee to find out what went wrong both on and off the field during the World Cup. I can assure you that it would be a fair investigation and the two highly qualified person will disclose their report at a press briefing within a month", said the BCB boss.
But Asghar was forced to defend himself as he faced a volley of questions for controversially appointing a retired bureaucrat and a little known former Board president in the facts finding committee.
"I do not think it was a bad decision to name Commodore Mojibur Rahman. He has not only served as president of the Board but also played cricket for the erstwhile East Pakistan team. Syed Shamim Ahsan might have not played the game at the top level, but he has been involved with sports for a long time. Besides, being an intelligent bureaucrat, he is an ideal choice to look into the off the field matters", Asghar said adding that he did not go for any former national cricketer fearing that their judgement might prove biased since most of them are associated with different clubs of the country.
Although Asghar came down hard on the cricketers for their failure to perform, he refused to accept that his Board was equally responsible for failing to provide a proper guideline starting from team selection to motivation when it was needed most.
"I personally feel that we have provided a lot of training and practice facilities to prepare for the World Cup. Besides, the Bangladesh team had toured South Africa in September," Asghar told the reporters. He also claimed that the selectors enjoyed total freedom while picking the World Cup squad.
"A lot of people are criticising the selection now. But only a month ago nobody was that critical when the selectors announced the team.
"If I'm not mistaking, the only criticism came regarding the exclusion of opener Javed Omar," he said.
Asghar declared that he would go for the elections in the Board in May. He however argued the concept of directorship that his predecessor Saber Hossain Chowdhury had introduced.
"I hope a fresh election will he held in May. But before that we need some amendments in the present constitution that contradicts the National Sports Council (NSC) act," said Asghar who is single-handedly calling the shots at the BCB ever since a High Court ruling suspended the activities of the 'Board of Directors'.
When asked whether he had looked into the ten-point proposal of former BCB boss Saber designed to check the current slump and take cricket back on track, Asghar said he was not against entertaining the good aspects of it. But he did not elaborate.
Bangladesh captain Khaled Mashud and manager ASM Faruque also spoke on the occasion. But a grim-faced Mashud delivered the same sad tune which he has been singing since Bangladesh's defeat against Kenya in their last match at the Wanderers on March 1.