BCB keen to lift Tigers to fifth position in ODI rankings

DHAKA - Nazmul Hassan Papon sets his sights to lift Bangladesh cricket to fifth in the ODI rankings after being elected as the

president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) once again.

At the same time, he is keen to see continuous improvement in Test and
T20 formats, in which Bangladesh time and again proved them extremely vulnerable.

He said to materialize this hope, the BCB need to do some groundwork for which they will face three new challenges.

"To build the new Sheikh Hasina Stadium, change of constitution and
decentralize of the cricket is mandatory. If we can do that, we can see our
cricket in our desired position," Papon said here today.

 "As I said earlier that Bangladesh's situation is better in ODIs out of
the three formats. We are good but we are not the kind of team that we can term us as very good. We are at number seven now. We are now on top of two
World Cup winning teams-- Sri Lanka and West Indies," he added.

"Our next target is to lift us in No. fifth position. We can go to number
five if we can do the work that needs to be done to get to that place, then
no one will be able to take us down easily. There are so many strong
opponents, we have to rise above them."

The BCB president is also practical in his goal, saying that they can't
set any goal which is beyond their control.

'You may ask, why not number three or four? I believe that in the current
situation, it may be possible to rise from seven to five. We haven't done the
amount of work we need to do to get to the next level."

The BCB boss also spoke elaborately on Test and T20 format. "Our position in the T20 is certainly not good at all. There are

opportunities to improve in T20 and Tests. We must improve. The problem with
T20 is that it's a power game. We don't seem to have mastered that power in
batting. We are not so good. But not that bad at all. In fact, we need to improve in all three areas."

Bangladesh is now in Oman to take part in the World Cup. After playing three matches in the preliminary round, the team will have to qualify and play in the Super 12s.

Nazmul Hasan believes Bangladesh will be confident to do well in the
forthcoming World Cup after winning three straight series that included home series against Australia and New Zealand.

"I firmly believe that winning three straight series will boost our
confidence in the World Cup. But T20 is a game of uncertainty. So it is difficult to say whether you can do better. Most importantly, we all want to do well. Bigger than that, many of the players believe they can do better. This courage, this faith will take us ahead," he pointed out.

To take the country's cricket in new height as per his wish, Papon saw
three challenges lie ahead him.

"It would be wrong to think that we did a lot of work in our last
tenure. More difficult times are coming now. Our first job is to build the Sheikh Hasina Stadium. We need to build it as soon as possible. Because this stadium is shown in the ICC event that we have applied for. Without it, we will not get that tournament. So it's number one, top priority," he said.

"Number two is constitution, I have asked the directors to say where the changes can be made in the constitution. At the next board meeting they will present an opinion on the change. My suggestion is - we have so many clubs participating here but the clubs don't have votes. I see the names of all the voters who have nothing to do with cricket. A change needs to come here," he disclosed.

Forming regional Cricket Association is another thing that remains in the priority list, Papon said.

"Finally it's imperative to creating regional sports organizations. With
that comes structural development. The cricket academy has already been in one place and is being in another. And I have proposed where it will be. And there will be a dedicated academy for age-level cricketers. Here I have proposed that - there will be a few advanced academies and three will be dedicated. For example, there will be one for batting, one for pacers and one for spinners. It is not for national cricketers, it is for development.

There will be dedicated coaches here, whether local or foreign. We also need a playground of 8-10, where we can play all year round. Want to play more up front. And we (BCB) will manage these fields."BSS