Amid uncertainty surrounding the participation of the Bangladesh team in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Najmul Hossain Shanto made a stirring revelation, stating that players often pretend off-field issues do not affect them, but in reality, they do.
With less than a month to go before the World Cup begins, there remains a question mark over the participation of Bangladesh, a full member of the ICC. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is reluctant to travel to India to play their World Cup matches. According to a BCB media release, due to safety concerns, the board has requested the ICC to shift the matches to Sri Lanka, a co-host of the World Cup. This has been viewed as Bangladesh’s response to the exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026.
For the first time, an active Bangladesh player has publicly opined on the matter. Shanto, the Test captain, did not hesitate to admit that off-field tussles have an impact on the players.
“First of all, if you look at our World Cup results, we’ve never really played consistently good cricket. Last year, we did play well, but there were even better opportunities, and we couldn’t capitalise on them. You’ll notice that something always happens before every World Cup. I can say this from my experience of three World Cups, it does have an effect,” Shanto told reporters on Friday.
“Now, we act as if nothing affects us and that we are fully professional cricketers. You also understand that we are acting, it’s not easy. I feel that players still try to put those distractions aside and perform for the team. Of course, it would be better if these things didn’t happen, but this is partly beyond our control,” he added.
Recently, former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal also spoke on the matter, warning the BCB that Bangladesh cricket could suffer as a result.
For More Sports Related News: Follow RevSportz
