BCB brings forth new U-19 setup, prioritising local coaches

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday has announced a new panel of coaches for the U-19s setup, with Hannan Sarkar as the head coach. The move sees BCB gear towards prioritising local coaches to optimise the value of various programmes.

Hannan was appointed till 2028 T20 World Cup, BCB sources said. Mohammad Salim, Dolar Mahmud have been named fielding and pace bowling coach respectively, meanwhile Saifuddin Ahmed and Morshed Hasan Caesar were appointed as physio and trainer respectively. 

The only foreign appointment in the setup was performance analyst Sandeep Kumar from Chennai, who had been working with the previous U-19 setup as well.

In line with prioritising local coaches, BCB has also appointed Mahmudullah Riyad as mentor of the U-19 team and he will also be working as mentor with various development squads. He will be part of the HP tour of Australia. 

Former national team star Imrul Kayes, who is residing in Australia, will also be part of the HP setup during various tours Down Under, BCB media committee chairman Asif Rabbani announced at a press conference yesterday.

“The dream has been there for a long time. I was coaching even before becoming a selector,” Hannan told reporters during the press briefing on Monday. 

“After nine years in selection, the board’s effort to promote local coaches has given me an opportunity to return and pursue that dream again,” he added. 

Hannan has been serving in the Premier League and BPL recently as head coach, but sources informed that he will not be taking on any coaching duties outside of U19s for two years, even as according to BCB protocols, local coaches in BCB jobs are allowed to be in charge of one domestic tournament per year such as DPL or BPL.  

Meanwhile, former U19 head coach Naveed Nawaz will be moved to a U-23 role, while plans are also in place for him to take charge of a new department called game education, said game development chairman Fahim Sinha.  

BCB has also launched an analytics centre located inside BCB indoor facilities. The centre will hold a video database for players from U-14 through to the national team to facilitate analysis of bowling action correction, batting techniques, developing skills, and monitoring fitness of players.