Next week, Faruque Ahmed will become the only Bangladesh chief selector to pick two World Cup squads. He had shocked the country by replacing the experienced and regular wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud with rookie Mushfiqur Rahim in 2007 but was later vindicated by the tough call. Nearly eight years later, he feels the current Bangladesh team is more settled and requires fewer risks. Perhaps he wouldn’t have as many sleepless nights as he did in February 2007, but the expectations and speculation around the 2015 World Cup squad are much higher.
After the recent 5-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, Faruque’s job of selecting the squad became slightly easier compared than when Bangladesh had kept losing from January to September this year. The win meant that other than the usual performers like Mushfiqur, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza, the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah got back into form and are, barring injuries, automatic selections.
The likes of Marshall Ayub, Litton Das and Mohammad Shahid are being talked up but with no ODI experience and considering this World Cup’s format and playing conditions, they are all long shots. Abdur Razzak, the country’s highest ODI wicket-taker, has run into some poor form in the last 12 months which could keep him out and that would not be a major surprise.
Only two or three places are up for grabs, which wasn’t the case in 2007 when Faruque had to choose between Mushfiqur, then a keeper with a lot of batting talent but just nine ODIs under his belt, and Mashud, a stable keeper with his batting prowess on the wane but nonetheless a regular member of the squad.
“I personally feel that rather than giving everyone a surprise I would rather take a calculative risk,” Faruque told ESPNcricinfo. “So for that reason, I would have to expect the performance from the player, and at the same time make sure he is not shattered by (the weight of expectation). Back in 2007, I didn’t expect them (Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiqur) to do so well in the first game against India. I felt that our thought process was correct because they have emerged from that tournament. I cannot be right all the time but if I apply logic to make a team, chance of being successful is higher.
“But these are two different situations. Back then we had limited options. It was our policy to keep our eyes on the age-group sides. It was a gamble and it wasn’t just Mushfiqur who was new. Tamim was raw, and Shakib had just played for six months in international cricket. All three are now established players in the team and the other boys are also matured.”
None of Bangladesh’s World Cup squads since their first appearance in 1999 have been free of controversy. Minhajul Abedin had scored a century in the trial game few days before the 1999 team was to be chosen, but his name was missing when then chief selector Enayet Hossain Siraj announced the squad. He was reinstated a couple of days later due to immense public pressure.
In 2003, Aliul Islam was the chief selector who didn’t pick Akram Khan in the World Cup squad but had to later send him as a replacement for the injured Mashrafe. Four years later came Faruque’s big surprise when he picked Mushfiqur and also Rajin Saleh and Javed Omar who hadn’t been playing ODIs regularly at the time. In 2011, Rafiqul Alam did not consider a half-fit Mashrafe leading the fast bowler to shed some tears when facing the media a few hours after the team was announced.
Siraj, Aliul and Rafiqul went through a lot of strain. Siraj was vilified for dropping Minhajul while it was said that Rafiqul had to fend off pressure from the BCB itself in 2011. Faruque’s decisions were however vindicated when Mushfiqur, Shakib and Tamim performed from the very first game in the 2007 tournament, the famous win over India.
Faruque was in a light mood when he said that he understands the pressure of selecting the World Cup squad better than the others but admitted that the interest and speculation was higher than ever before.
“I am very experienced in this matter [laughs], since I am going to select a team for the World Cup for the second time. So that is my advantage. There is pressure from the public, media and from other corners. Everyone is involved in this… over the last few days the former captains are giving their teams in the media. These things don’t influence but there is a lot of interest in who we pick.
“To be very frank and with due respect, I haven’t seen all the teams that have come out in the newspapers. It is not their job to think about a lot of scenarios and circumstances, which we have to do when selecting the squad.”
Faruque believes that despite the poor year before the World Cup, the wins over Zimbabwe and the impending two-week training camp in Australia will be more crucial. Like in previous campaigns in 1999 and 2007, the few weeks leading up to the main tournament are going to give Bangladesh more confidence, he reckoned.