New Delhi: Bangladesh assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has slammed former sports advisor Asif Nazrul alleging that he misrepresented facts and told blatant lies regarding the team’s participation in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Salahuddin also told that Nazrul changed his stance, not maintaining transparency during the tough period for the national team.
The assistant coach further said that it was extremely difficult for the players to come to terms with their exclusion from the marquee T20 event. He even went on to say that two members of the squad were left mentally dejected after the side was replaced by Scotland for the 10th edition of the tournament.
Salahuddin accuses Nazrul of misleading team
Nazrul, who served under Bangladesh’s former interim leader Muhammad Yunus, had initially maintained that the decision not to travel to India due to security concerns was taken by the government. But before stepping down from his post, he said that the calls had been made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the players with Salahuddin suggesting that the players had no role in the decision making.
‘He told such blatant lies,’ Salahuddin told reporters. ‘I am a teacher myself, and 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.’
‘He is a teacher at Dhaka University. A person from the highest educational institution of my country saying such lies – we can’t accept this. How can we accept this? He said one thing earlier and later took a U-turn,’ he added.
Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the tournament after they refused to travel to India for their games. The BCB had proposed relocating Bangladesh’s matches in India to co-hosts Sri Lanka, but the ICC rejected the request and opted to replace the team instead.