Faruque Ahmed steps down as Bangladesh chief selector

Faruque Ahmed, the former Bangladesh cricketer, stepped down as the country’s chief selector on Sunday (June 19) after the Bangladesh Cricket Board approved changes to the selection process.

As per the change, Faruque was supposed to head a three-member panel that would pick the team which would then be forwarded to a six-member committee. BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan and BCB director Khaled Mahmud are a part of that committee. The final call would be taken by the president.

“It will be difficult to work in this system,” Faruque told ESPNcricinfo. “We have to have scope to work without interference. The independence of the selectors will be greatly compromised. The new system isn’t going to help Bangladesh cricket, as it won’t be able to deliver. There will be shared accountability where no one would really know who took the decision.”

“The decision has been taken, I will not work under this system. I will complete the formalities once I return home from the US.”

“I have done my job with all honesty,” Faruque said. “I think I deserve a bit of [credit for] what Bangladesh have achieved when I was the chief selector. I think Bangladesh cricket and the game itself is much larger than a chief selector so I hope the best interest of Bangladesh cricket is taken into account. I am sure the BCB has made this new committee with good intentions but it would do more harm than good.”