Sabbir’s return marks culture of failure

The main talking point of Bangladesh’s Asia Cup 2022 squad was Sabbir Rahman’s inclusion after three years as he had done nothing ground-breaking in any domestic tournament to return to the national team.

While rumours suggest that his inclusion was newly-appointed Twenty20 Internationals skipper Shakib Al Hasan’s wish, Sabbir’s return proves nothing but that Bangladesh have been manifesting a culture of failure.

Sabbir, who last played for Bangladesh in the home tri-series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, came into the team because others failed and Bangladesh do not have anybody in his position either settled or doing well in the domestic circuit.

With Nurul Hasan Sohan’s injury making him a doubt, Bangladesh can scour all of their domestic cricket but will not find someone in-form to play the slog overs with aptitude.

Even Sabbir has done almost nothing in the last two seasons of the Bangladesh Premier League since his axing.

In the 2019-20 season, the right-handed batsman played 11 innings and scored just 204 runs at an average of 18.54 with a meagre strike rate of 112.

In the 2021 season, he played only six innings, scoring 109 runs with an average of 18.16 and a strike rate of 111.

In the 2021 season of the Dhaka Premier League, played in the T20 format, Sabbir only managed 229 runs in 12 innings averaging 22.9, but his strike rate was just 104.

He played well in the last DPL scoring 515 runs in 14 innings with a strike rate over 100, but this season was in the 50-over format.

Similar questions might arise about Mosaddek Hossain. The all-rounder, made captain in the third T20I against Zimbabwe, has done nothing with the bat since his return to the national side earlier this year but is still being carried to the Asia Cup.

Along with these, the selectors have picked only two openers in the squad for the Asia Cup- Anamul Haque and Parvez Hossain Emon. The former played his first T20I after seven years against West Indies, and in the six matches since, he has scored a total of only 85 runs in 80 balls. The other, Parvez, has only one match in his international repertoire.

But the selectors had no other way either. Liton Das is injured, Soumya Sarkar has been out of form for quite some time now, Mohammad Naim proved unsuitable for the format, and Munim Shahriar flopped immensely in the opportunities he got.

All in all, the Bangladesh squad for the Asia Cup in UAE only reiterated their struggling pipeline, and how that is promoting a culture of failure.