Habibul Bashar has been asked to lead Bangladesh’s men’s selection committee, succeeding Gazi Ashraf after the latter’s term expired in February.
The former captain, who led the side in 18 Tests and 69 ODIs, spent eleven years as a selector from 2013, then briefly headed the women’s wing before moving into age-group cricket. “It’s a privilege to serve my country in a new capacity,” Bashar said in the BCB release confirming his appointment.
The board has kept faith with Hasibul Hossain, the sole survivor from Ashraf’s previous three-man panel after Abdur Razzak stepped down last September. Two newcomers, Naeem Islam and Nadif Chowdhury, complete the four-strong group.
Naeem, eight Tests and 59 ODIs into an international career that petered out in 2014, remains an active heavyweight on the domestic circuit. His 11,253 first-class runs – 34 of them hundreds – keep him high on the run-scorers’ list. “I haven’t hung up my boots yet,” he said earlier this month, “but this is an opportunity I could not turn down.”
Nadif, capped three times in T20Is, moved into talent scouting last year and now steps up after impressing with Bangladesh’s Under-19 set-up. He called the promotion “both daunting and exciting”.
The BCB advertised for candidates in February, interviewing a handful of former internationals, including Javed Omar and Mohammad Rafique, before settling on the current quartet. Their tenure runs through to the 2027 fifty-over World Cup, a timeline board president Nazmul Hassan hopes will “give the panel enough space to build depth without rushing decisions”.
Keeping Hasibul alongside the fresh faces offers, in his words, “continuity wrapped in new ideas”. The ex-seamer believes a blend of long-term domestic knowledge and recent dressing-room experience should help bridge gaps between levels: “Selectors must understand what a player does on dusty pitches in Rangpur and how that might translate to a green surface abroad.”
Bashar’s immediate tasks include naming squads for a home Test series later this year and finalising Bangladesh’s roster for the Champions Trophy qualifiers. He insists the approach will be methodical, not headline-driven: “Our job is to pick the right people at the right time – nothing more glamorous than that.”
The panel, while modest in size, now covers a broad spectrum: senior international leadership, pace-bowling insight, middle-order batting nous and youth development expertise. If the chemistry clicks, Bangladesh’s talent pipeline should stay healthy through the next World Cup cycle – but, as ever, results will provide the fairest audit.
