'It makes no sense to not let your best performer play'
Former Bangladesh batsman and current national selector Minhajul Abedin talks about the hurt of not getting to play Test cricket, and the high-pressure Dhaka league games of his day
I think it was historic not pick a player who made 135 in the trial match prior to the World Cup. They simply dropped me. It was the biggest joke in Bangladesh cricket. I am sure it didn't happen anywhere else in the world. We know what happened next, so we don't need to discuss it now. I think it happened due to personal hatred, which should never be the case in professional sport. It victimises the person and his family.
My immediate target was to bat till the 40th over come what may. Luckily I had a good stand with Naimur Rahman, and then I told Enamul Haque to just defend. Let's take it to the 40th over and see how much we can add afterwards. The wicket and weather were against us. I had an initial chance but I batted well afterwards. We moved to 185 for 9 from that point, which was only possible because of help from above.
It was a great effort against Australia, a dream team at the time. I batted against Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, and you could call it an improvement day-by-day. One of our biggest reasons for batting well was [our coach] Gordon Greenidge. He made sure we batted a lot against bowling machines, which helped us immensely.
I had retired after the 1999 World Cup in a huff, but the board told me later to give them a letter. By that time I had started playing first-class cricket and scored heavily in the first three seasons. I had the opportunity and the experience to play Test cricket, but I think that same personal vendetta worked against me as it had happened in 1999.
If the board had said I was unfit, I couldn't have scored a thousand first-class runs in one season. During a Test series against Pakistan, between the first and second Test, I made 200 and 100 in the same first-class game. I couldn't have scored more than 300 runs in a four-day game. So that was also a big question. I couldn't compromise a country's cricket for someone's personality. So I thought that since this country has given so much to me, so much love, I can sacrifice Test cricket. It helped me get over the hurt of not playing Test cricket.
"When I came into coaching, I saw that a lot of things that I had done in my playing career are being introduced in Level 3 and 4 coaching. But we did a lot of work without much knowledge of actual factors"
It was unfair. I believe now that as a selector if you are not letting the best performer play, it makes no sense. If I am looking after my personality instead, I am not doing service to my country.
There have been many Test players in Bangladesh who quit cricket soon after playing a few Test matches. There are many Test players who are still under the age of 30 but are long gone. Of course there was blind faith [on youth]. One player was taken ahead of me and he didn't play more than one Test.
When we started in the early 1980s, there was hardly any international cricket. So the main goal was to play for the biggest club in the league and be the top scorer.
Again, due to the lack of international cricket in the 1980s, the Abahani-Mohammedan game was the biggest cricket match in the country. There were two other teams - Bangladesh Biman and Brothers Union, so I used to target big scores against these teams mainly. There was pressure from the supporters, of course.
I will tell you my first experience. In 1984 when I was playing for Abahani against Mohammedan, it was my first derby. I took a rickshaw from Rajarbagh to Bangabandhu National Stadium [about 4km)] at around seven in the morning. I saw a line near the Purbani hotel [around 3km from the stadium], and it kept going towards the stadium. I thought it was a political rally, but in truth it was the fans waiting to get in to the stadium. I was the Man-of-the-Match in that game, which was a tournament final. I made 59 out of 139, but we bowled them out for 87.
We had two clubs in Chittagong - Abedin Colony Club and Town Club. They took part in all the major sports in the top division. These clubs were created by my father. He was martyred in the 1971 Liberation War. His last innings was a century for East Pakistan in a three-day match. We have a paper clipping of the next day's report. He organised these clubs and most of my family members played. This is where I started my career.
I came to Dhaka to play cricket and also football for Muktijoddha. I never thought of it as a risk to my life or career, mainly because my family wasn't dependent on my earnings. I could do my own job and not really worry about making money.
We played the game in Morutuwa. We had a lot of senior players there. We didn't have any international exposure but we had a tour to Pakistan just prior to this ODI tournament, which really helped us get our eye in, so to say. It was something to remember. We were a team without facilities, but we went to play an ODI. I consider it a great experience.
I think our best team was in the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands. We were beaten in the semi-final by Zimbabwe. We had a chance to avoid them but we missed that opportunity; it was a calculation error on our part in the group stage. We made 15 runs fewer in a game against the home side.
I think we were mentally very strong, leaving aside practice facilities. I feel my thinking and understanding of the game was quite progressive. When I came into coaching, I saw that a lot of things that I had done in my playing career are being introduced in Level 3 and 4 coaching. But we did a lot of work without much knowledge of actual factors. I think this was god-gifted, and we could use it in the right time.
Batting came naturally to me as did the understanding the situation. I have always tried to share when I am a coach and selector. One has to know the right time and place to utilise one's talent.
You cannot judge a player after one or two games, even at the top level. There's no compromise on experience and fitness. Everyone has to look at the best performer first. See the difference between domestic and international performance. I have to look whether there is a major change in a player who goes from domestic to international, and also vice versa. I wouldn't want any player to go through what I had gone through. I never took sides when I played, and now that I am a selector, I always look for someone who is good for the long-run, a stable performer.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84