Shakib to play practice match as clubs browbeat BCB

Shakib Al Hasan has been included in the BCB XI side for the three-day practice match against the New Zealanders in Chittagong from October 4.

Left-arm paceman Sajedul Islam is also in the side, while Mominul Haque, Jahurul Islam and Mehrab Hossain jnr are free to play in the Dhaka Premier League.

Both Jahurul and Mehrab will be available for Sheikh Jamal DhanmondiClub and Brothers Union respectively, for their October 4 DPL matches.There were reports of pressure being applied by the Dhaka clubs on the national selectors and the team management to release the BCB XI players.

There was a meeting between the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, the organisers of the league, and BCB's cricket operations recently. According to newspaper reports in Dhaka, the clubs had asked the BCB to reconsider using certain players in the practice match, as they would end up missing league matches, but the operations committee Chairman Enayet Hossain Siraj has denied such claims.

"Shakib will be playing in Chittagong because he needs the match practice," Siraj said. "There is no outside pressure being applied. We have made the changes purely for cricketing reasons."

But it is not unusual for the clubs to twist the BCB's arm into releasing players from representative teams. During the 2011-12 season, the Dhaka Premier League clashed with England Lion's tour of Bangladesh. More than 30 players were used for the five-match one-day series, with players shuttling across the country, as they were picked and dropped according to the club's wishes.

Shakib however will miss Kalabagan Krira Chakra's October 4 match. The club who had surprisingly acquired the allrounder, has only seen him play one match out of six.

Three players from Victoria Sporting Club (Anamul Haque, Sajidul and Soumya Sarkar), two each from Gazi Tank Mahmudullah and Noor Hossàin), Kalabagan Krira Chakra (Shakib and Naeem Islam) and Mohammedan Sporting Club (Shamsur Rahman and Mukhtar Ali) and one player each from Prime Bank, Kalabagan Cricket Academy, are in the BCB XI squad.

BCB XI: Mahmudullah (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Anamul Haque, Ziaur Rahman, Naeem Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Sajidul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Mukhtar Ali, Noor Hossain, Farhad Reza