New Delhi, Nov 11 — Former Bangladesh women’s team head coach Sarowar Imran has questioned the squad’s fitness standards and training culture, claiming that his attempts to introduce greater discipline and push players beyond their comfort zones led to his departure from the role.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) allowed Sarowar’s contract to expire in October, following the Asian Games, and subsequently appointed David Hemp as his replacement.
The board had concerns over Sarowar’s temperament, and according to a Cricbuzz report, some senior players had also approached the BCB with complaints about his behaviour and expressed reservations about his methods.
Sarowar had earlier spoken about unrest in the dressing room after Bangladesh’s Asian Games exit, following which the board considered issuing him a show-cause notice. The proposed action was eventually dropped, with the BCB taking his long association with Bangladesh cricket into account.
Sarowar said the board never sought his explanation before deciding against continuing with him. “BCB did not communicate with me after the Asian Games and Asia Cup. I got a letter that I am not going to the Australia tour as another coach will go. This is all the communication I had with BCB,” he was quoted as saying by Ekattur TV.
He argued that the coaching environment had become too accommodating, leaving little room for improvement. Recalling his experience after joining the women’s team, he said, “As far as my ill temper is concerned when I entered the women’s team, what I saw was that there from bowling coach to spin bowling coach, batting coach, trainer, physio all were very quiet. They listen to whatever the women cricketers say and they cannot improve living in this comfort zone. That is the reason our team is still the same as it was five years back.
“A spinner after bowling 30 deliveries tells the coach that she won’t bowl any more and the coach agrees. One or two batters bat for the whole day and after seeing all these I started interfering. I also interfered regarding their fitness. When I needed to scold them I did that and if you say this is ill temper in that case I don’t feel Bangladesh cricket can improve,” he said. “I felt I could improve them and had seven to eight tours and everything ended just because of failing in one or two tours.
Sarowar rejected the suggestion that his coaching style reflected an inability to control his temper, insisting that professional responsibilities sometimes required difficult decisions.
“I have my own dignity and I am aware of what I am capable of and I don’t work to show off. I don’t have any problem and there is no reason to feel that my prestige has gone down because I know my work. If anyone says that I am ill-tempered that is wrong because in life I can have temper but when I am coaching I am not ill-tempered because I am a professional and I know what needs to be done. A coach cannot be a friend of a player because if I am a friend of a player I cannot drop the player. I am a coach and I am not their friend,” said Sarowar.
He further alleged that members of the coaching staff had prioritised keeping players comfortable, potentially at the expense of performance standards.
“I think whoever worked with them (women cricketers) adjusted with them but the women cricketers won’t improve if they are in the comfort zone and I felt foreign coaches also did the same. I feel a coach ensures his job by doing this (adjusting and remaining silent).”
Fitness was another major concern for the former coach. He claimed that a significant portion of the national team’s first-choice players fell short of international standards.
“I am telling you more than half of the first XI cricketers do not have the required fitness level. Most of them are below average (in fitness) while some of them are medium while a couple have standard fitness level,” said Sarowar.
“Fitness is a big issue and when the fitness test is conducted the trainer can say how many of them match international fitness level. They don’t have that (fitness level). If I feel that I will be world champion only by bowling 30 balls, that will never happen,” he said.
Sarowar also addressed questions about possible divisions within the squad, stopping short of confirming the existence of factions but suggesting that relationships with captain Nigar Sultana were not uniform across the group.
“I cannot say about grouping but some were close to the captain while some others were not close to the captain.”