Shahadat likely to get replaced as Legends captain

Former Bangladesh pace bowler Shahadat Hossain, who was declared captain of the Bangladesh Legends team in the forthcoming edition of the Road Safety World Series, is likely to get replaced, said a team member.

Mohammad Sharif, a former Bangladesh cricketer, told The Business Post that Shahadat is likely to be replaced.

“The promo was made long ago, maybe three or four months ago. At that time, many expressed their unavailability, and some who showed availability became unavailable. Ultimately the squad faced multiple changes. But the old promo was circulated on social media,” said the right-arm pacer who will play in this tournament for the second time.

Sharif also said he is one of the contenders for the captaincy role, along with two others.

“He (Shahadat) will not be the captain. He never showed any leadership qualities or never performed a leadership role in his career. He also lacks sportsmanship. It will be either me, Tushar (Imran) bhai, or Alok Kapali,” Sharif said on Sunday.

Shahadat Hossain and his wife were arrested for torturing an underage housemaid and sent to jail, though the cricketer and his wife both got an acquittal from the court. Though the reality was Shahadat and his family paid some money to the victim to withdraw the case.

The pacer also slapped one of his teammates during a first-class cricket match at Khulna, for which the Bangladesh Cricket Board banned him for five years.

There had been a payment issue regarding the tournament last season. Many of the cricketers did not receive their honorarium months after the completion of the tournament. Then Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter and the authorities cleared the dues, said Sharif.

“We had some payment issues during the last edition, but after Sachin (Tendulkar) tweeted, we received the payment within seven days. This time, they are paying 25% payment upfront. Hopefully, there will not be issues like the previous edition,” said the right-arm pacer.

The Bangladesh Legends team will leave Dhaka on September 5 and 6. Their first destination is Delhi. The tournament starts on September 10. The matches will be played across four venues- Raipur, Kanpur, Dehradun, and Indore.

Retired cricketers from India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, England, and South Africa are taking part in this T20 tournament.