Salahuddin ticks most boxes but is BCB listening?

[Vahroone]

In the middle of this year's Test series against Australia, the Bangladesh Cricket Board appointed Mohammad Salahuddin as batting consultant in part-time capacity. He left his Eid holidays and came down to meet Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the board CEO, only to be told they had changed their mind and that he wouldn't be required. The incident was an embarrassment for Salahuddin.

According to a board insider, the request to include Salahuddin in the coaching setup was to temporarily fill the void left by Thilan Samaraweera's departure after the Champions Trophy. But no one could explain the decision to turn their backs on a coach who is so highly regarded by the national players.

Why Salahuddin now, you may ask. Who is he? Why did the BCB feel the necessity to hire him in the middle of a Test series? Why do many of the Bangladesh players swear by him? For starters, Bangladesh Cricket Board is looking to hire a new head coach following Chandika Hathurusingha. But they're seeking a high-profile foreign name.

Salahuddin used to be assistant to Dav Whatmore and Jamie Siddons, the head coaches, from 2005 to 2009. Both of them praised him and enjoyed a strong working relationship. He was also the fielding coach in the last two years of his time in the Bangladesh coaching set up.

Then he took up a job in Malaysia, at a university, but would help his former students - Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasir Hossain, Mominul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Naeem Islam and Soumya Sarkar to name a few - whenever he was on holiday in Bangladesh. You only needed to ask any of these people or Tamim Iqbal if Salahuddin was in town or not, because it was he who helped them make minor batting tweaks, it was he who they consulted when they were shrouded with self-doubt.

During the 2016 IPL, Shakib wasn't having a good time with the bat. Upon hearing Salahuddin was in Dhaka, he flew back for a day just to get parts of his batting back in shape. While this was the most famous meet-up, there have been plenty of other significant meetings between the two since 2011. There have been several occasions, when in the middle of a series at home, Tamim, Mominul and Nasir have been seen discussing batting with Salahuddin.

When Abdur Razzak was suspended from bowling with an illegal action, it was Salahuddin, then Bangladesh's assistant coach, who took him to Khulna to remodel his action and bring him back to international cricket with renewed success.

Before his time as Bangladesh's assistant coach, Salahuddin used to be head cricket coach at BKSP, Bangladesh's most prestigious sporting institute, between 1999 and 2005, after he had completed his education at the institute.

In his playing days, he used to be a useful seam-bowling allrounder for nearly a decade in domestic cricket. These days, he works for the Gazi Group Cricketers, and even helped them them win the Dhaka Premier League title for the first time in 2017. He is currently in charge of Comilla Victorians, whom he helped to their maiden Bangladesh Premier League title in 2015.

All this makes Salahuddin a candidate for the Bangladesh job. If experience is what the board is looking for, he ticks the box. If they're looking at someone who can earn the respect of the seniors, there's a tick there too. He's been a part of domestic title triumphs. But, Salahuddin isn't going to put his name forward just now, although being Bangladesh head coach remains a career goal. The recent episode, however, may have a role to play.

"I want to be the Bangladesh coach, who doesn't?" Salahuddin told ESPNcricinfo. "But I don't think this is the right time for me. The board told me a few times in the past that I am going to be the assistant coach but they backed off. It happened recently too. It was embarrassing for me. I have never asked for the job; they asked me."

There should be someone from the BCB talking to him. He is an asset, and arguably the best coach that Bangladesh have produced. With so many of his prot g s in the current setup, this is perhaps the best time to appoint him.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/...-bcb-listening

Thoughts?

[Fazal]

Forget about permanent head coach, he is not their 1st choice for interim head coach. Looks like Khaled Mahmud is Papon's first choice.

Strange.

That's the thing I worry about, when selecting new coaches, BCB not necessarily always make the best decision.

[Rifat]

He has won my vote. but that doesn't count for anything. There are not too many people that Bangladesh senior players respect. that has to count for something, right. He is currently doing a fabulous job with Comilla Victorians.

[Mas_UK25]

Heard lot about this guy. Get him onboard. Seems a good headed man, knows how to deal with each individuals.

Time for a Deshi coach. Salahuddin.

Love the name btw.

[Tausif]

I think he has what it takes for short-term success. I don't know how he will be long-term however.

But as Fazal said it, looks like BCB don't even consider him for short-term/interim.

[Out_You_Go]

Salahuddin is a respected man within our cricketing system. What BCB should do is appoint Shujon as interim and then once they hire a foreign head coach.. appoint Salahuddin as the assistant coach.

[Eshen]

Salahuddin is too close to the players. At times it helps, but at times it may also get in the way, especially when it comes to disciplinary issues. I would love to see him back as an assistant coach, but not as the head coach.

I dislike Sujon for many reasons, but I still think he is the best choice as the interim coach to, to deal with the players. I would love to see him bringing in Salahuddin's expertise. But then again, I don't know what's their personal history, whether they will be able to work with each other without getting on each others nerves. Conflict of egos between two local coaches may not best for dressing room environment.

[SportingBD]

BCB needs to start taking initiative to help our local coaches develop. Salauddin has been very successful in the domestic arena, where is his reward? It would be very good if Salauddin is given the sole responsibility of managing our A team, instead of hiring foreign coach, let him become the permanent head coach. We already have a HP unit that has a foreign coach. For the purpose of development and rewarding a local coach that has shown consistent success, I think he deserves to showcase his talent with our A team. BCB should help Salauddin to grow as a coach by giving him those opportunity. I would like to see a Bangladeshi head coach in the future. Of course they have to prove themselves. Let Salauddin prove himself with the A team, than he can become the Assistant coach for BD national team, followed by head coach in the future, if he does well.

[Eshen]

^^ I like the idea of putting him in charge of HP summer camp and A-team tours. Since this will not be a year around commitment and will be mostly during off season, he can continue to work with his DPL and BPL teams. Having to coach the Academy/A-team on away conditions, as a head coach, should be the next step in his development as a coach.

[simon]

no matter how many boxes he ticks I just think it is only fair to appoint Shujon.

[jeesh]

Salahuddin or for that matter any local coach is not ready for a job of this stature. On an interim basis fine, but on a long term basis these gentlemen lack the leadership, strategic thinking, experience required to keep us progressing.

He might have been a mentor to many of our key players, but big difference between being a individual coach and in charge of an entire dressing room-and that too filled with big ego players, often guilty of not working hard enough or having individual interests.

But BCB too have been a part of the problem. For instance someone like a Salahuddin should have been given charge of Under 19 team, or asked to lead A teams on a few tours to gauge his ability

Khaled Mahmud will get the nod. But i hope this too is for the short term. But if BCB try hard, there is enough time to appoint someone before the Sri Lanka tour, but knowing them-they ll be too focused on BPL, and not willing to "Multitask"

[iDumb]

Completely agree with you Jeesh.

we can't have this local guys running our national team. Our psyche is not mature enough to handle a local coach.... but we gotta prommote our local guys by appointing them in key positions.

kahled mahmud aint gonna cut it..

so he is doing well I am assuming... what was his medical problem where he wasn't responding? I thougtht he stroked out, heart attack or possibly drug overdose?? who knows.

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by iDumb
Completely agree with you Jeesh.

we can't have this local guys running our national team. Our psyche is not mature enough to handle a local coach.... but we gotta prommote our local guys by appointing them in key positions.

kahled mahmud aint gonna cut it..

so he is doing well I am assuming... what was his medical problem where he wasn't responding? I thougtht he stroked out, heart attack or possibly drug overdose?? who knows.

lol........

[MarufH]

Here is my take on this. Salahuddin is a great technical coach. But does he have what it takes to be a head coach of an international team? Lets face it, he is not loud or brash enough. Only time I hear of him in the media is how he has been mistreated. Didn't hear a solid interview with how he foresees BD team going forward. Dare I say, Aminul Islam Bulbul might be a better option at that.

Perhaps that's the way to go. My recommendation - Make Bulbul /Shujon the team manager/director and make Salahuddin a specialist coach. That way, he can focus on working with the players which him/players and all other stakeholders seem to enjoy. Shujon on the other hand recently had an argument with one of the foreign coaches in BPL. This shows me that he won't back down. I highly doubt his technical skills are up to par to be able to help our players. Bottom line:

Interim Coach: Salahuddin
Interim Team Director KM Shujon

[Fazal]

I like the idea Salahuddin as u19 coach. And let us find out how good a head coach he is.

I think we still need a disciplinarian coach for our national team. I am afraid Salahuddin will be poor man's Siddon .... will be repeating the history with some individual success story but end up loosing lots of games and serious issue with team discipline.

Experiment with Salahudiin can only work out if he coupled with a disciplinarian head coach like a good cop-bad cop combination.

[Eshen]

I am actually warming up to the idea of Salahuddin being the interim coach for the Tri-Series in January. The biggest challenge for us will be that Hathu knows our team strategies and technical shortcomings of our players inside out.

We will badly need someone who knows our players well, may be able to help mitigate their technical issues in such a short notice, help them counteract tactics Hathu will have against them.

We will also need to come up with a different team strategy, possibly with few new players such as Momin and Rony in the ODI team, possibly have Miraz open against Lankan lefty openers (though it was something Hathu already trying in SA).

Sujon is not a technical coach. He is not a good tactician either, as evident from last two DD matches. He is still a good team manager to make the players toe the line. We need Salahuddin as a technical/tactical coach.

[al Furqaan]

We need a man manager more than anything else. Would be good if Salahuddin could work with the players. But we need a guy to manage the Shakibs and Tamims and Mushfiqs. A deshi guy may have more authority as well.

[tiger1000]

Like to see him have interim position and hopefully he can work as assistant if someone else is given the main job

[tiger1000]

Originally Posted by SportingBD
BCB needs to start taking initiative to help our local coaches develop. Salauddin has been very successful in the domestic arena, where is his reward? It would be very good if Salauddin is given the sole responsibility of managing our A team, instead of hiring foreign coach, let him become the permanent head coach. We already have a HP unit that has a foreign coach. For the purpose of development and rewarding a local coach that has shown consistent success, I think he deserves to showcase his talent with our A team. BCB should help Salauddin to grow as a coach by giving him those opportunity. I would like to see a Bangladeshi head coach in the future. Of course they have to prove themselves. Let Salauddin prove himself with the A team, than he can become the Assistant coach for BD national team, followed by head coach in the future, if he does well.

Good post

[jeesh]

Considering we have never won the Under 19 competition, ideal opportunity to test the likes of Salahuddin, Aminul, Khaled Mahmud etc.

Instead somehow, and for some reason BD ends up appointing the cheapest possible option. After 2006 for the first time they hired a foreign coach for the Under 19 team.

[Eshen]

I am happy to see CoV lost in knockout matches, that Mash got to show Nafisa who is still the boss of Bangladesh cricket. However, Coach Salahuddin should be congratulated on forming a team where locals contributed equally or more than their foreign colleagues.

Compare this to DD - Sujon formed the team with multiple local passengers in Mosaddek, Maruf, Nadif, Shadman, etc. Even after Maruf failed in so many matches, Sujon did not have anyone decent on the bench to replace him. This is the same Sujon who works with multiple local clubs (Abahani, Shinepukur, Bangla Track), yet could not spot good local talents!