Bangladesh cricket team senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has come down hard on former sports advisor Asif Nazrul and has accused him of telling blatant lies around the decision to exit the T20 World Cup 2026. The Tigers were replaced by Scotland in the marquee tournament in the last minute after they expressed unwillingness to travel to India amid soaring tensions between both countries. While Nazrul did attempt to throw the players under the bus and make them scapegoats for exiting the T20 WC, now the assistant coach has exposed the former and how the players were deeply impacted by the government’s move.
‘Told us such blatant lies’
Speaking to reporters, Salahuddin said that the dream of many Bangladesh players who aspired to play the World Cup and was a 27-year-old’s dream was destroyed in one second by the decision to skip the tournament. He claimed that two players even went into a mental coma and were completely lost for five days. He added that it was very tough to bring them back on the field from that phase.
“Look, when a boy goes to play a World Cup, he brings his dream, his 27-year-old dream, here. You destroy that dream in one second. Fine, if it’s a country’s decision taken for national reasons, they will sacrifice for the country. But if you talk about loss, I will talk only about personal loss. Personally, you completely finished a boy’s dream. I know that two of my players went into a kind of coma mentally for five days, completely lost. The fact that we were able to bring them back onto the field in this tournament is itself a big thing,” Salahuddin said.
The Bangladesh senior assistant coach’s remarks on the sports advisor are in line with what ex-ACC CEO Ashraful Haque had said earlier – that the players weren’t even consulted before the call was taken. Salahuddin accused Nazrul of telling blatant lies and making multiple U-turns.
“He told such blatant lies. I myself am a teacher; teachers generally lie a bit less. That he would say such lies so openly — I honestly can’t even imagine it. How will I even show my face in front of the boys? He took such a U-turn,” Salahuddin said.
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