Unsupportive structure led to decision to quit - Bashar

Shahriar Nafees: "I made it to the national team after working for ten years and I know, there's a lot of pride of playing for Bangladesh but at this moment, I don't feel good to play cricket".

The Bangladesh players linked to the Indian Cricket League have stated dissatisfaction with the system as their reason to retire from international and domestic cricket. However, they stopped short of confirming they had signed with the ICL.

Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain, said he felt let down by the team management, coach Jamie Siddons in particular. "The situation was getting difficult for me," Bashar, who was dropped from the side for the Asia Cup, told the Dhaka-based Daily Star. "I wasn't receiving support from anyone. Even the coach's attitude was discouraging and I was in the middle of a lot of uncertainty and I was out of cricket for seven months." He said this prompted him to take up the ICL offer, adding none of the players were happy with the existing structure.

In his interview with Cricinfo, Siddons said Bashar was not on the top of his game and had been omitted after many opportunities. "A non-performing senior can't really influence the game of his team-mates," Siddons said. "We would not leave a senior player out of our young team if they had the potential to be a match-winner or be in our team come the next World Cup."

Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain, one of those linked with the ICL, could earn up to US$200,000 from a three-year contract, and he admitted he hadn't been enjoying his time playing cricket in the last year. "They don't think of us, so why should we think of them," he said.

Opener Shahriar Nafees echoed Mosharraf's views, adding that there was a lot of anger and frustration behind his decision. "I made it to the national team after working for ten years, and I know there's a lot of pride of playing for Bangladesh but, at this moment, I don't feel good to play cricket." Nafees said though he had an offer from the ICL he was yet to confirm his position. "My main focus is education and I want to complete my MBA in the next one-and-a-half years." Nafees had opted out of the tour of Australia to concentrate on his studies.

Dhiman Ghosh wanted to know why he had been dropped from the side if he was the country's No. 1 wicketkeeper. He also said there were a lot of players vying for his spot in the team.

Among the others reported to have received offers from the ICL are Alok Kapali, Nazimuddin, Tapash Baisya, Manjarul Islam, Mohammad Sharif, Golam Mabud and Mahbubul Karim. The latter two are currently touring Sri Lanka with the Bangladesh Academy team. Mohammad Rafique, who has retired, is also believed to have been approached.

Though ICL officials admitted talks are on with 14 Bangladesh players, nothing has been finalised.