Sujon urges BCB to fill coaching needs, not vacancy

Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud Sujon, who is currently the head coach of Noakhali Express has urged the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to focus on the team’s specific needs rather than simply filling the assistant coach vacancy created by Mohammad Salahuddin’s move to the High Performance (HP) programme.

Salahuddin recently took charge as the HP head coach, leaving a vacancy in the national team coaching staff. However, Sujon believes the BCB should first identify which areas need strengthening before making an appointment.

“If you appoint another person separately, there could be two different opinions. Because what exactly will the assistant coach’s responsibility be?” he said.

He suggested that the BCB could instead strengthen the specialist coaching structure around head coach Phil Simmons, with dedicated coaches for batting, fast bowling, spin bowling and fielding.

Sujon pointed to Mohammad Ashraful’s current involvement with the batting unit, Talha Jubair’s work with the fast bowlers and Sohel Islam’s experience as a spin coach.

“At the moment, I think Ashraful is assisting with our batting, Talha is working with the fast bowlers, and I think Sohel is a very experienced spin coach,” he stated.

Sujon particularly stressed Sohel’s importance, saying the veteran coach has worked with Bangladesh’s senior spinners and should remain involved with the national team.

He also said the BCB could consider overseas specialists if the existing coaches are deemed insufficient.

“It all depends on what the team needs. That is very, very important,” Sujon said. “Rather than appointing someone simply because there is a vacancy... what matters is identifying which skill we need to strengthen and whom we actually need.”