The newly appointed chairman of the national selection panel for the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Habibul Bashar, declared on Tuesday that he will always follow his heart, regardless of whether it results in success or failure.

Given that he was a member of the national selection panel from 2011 to 2024 under the direction of former chief selectors Faruque Ahmed, Akram Khan, and Minhajul Abedin, respectively, BCB’s announcement on March 23 that Bashar would head the redesigned panel has made his return to the position feel somewhat like a homecoming.

After the Minhajul-led selection panel’s term ended in 2024 and Gazi Ashraf Hossain took charge, Habibul Bashar was moved to BCB game development. But Habibul Bashar has taken Ashraf’s place as the leader of the selection panel, and he has stated that he is not prepared to change his mind when faced with pressure from outside sources. Since I am human and prone to mistakes, I am aware that I will not always be correct. However, I will follow my emotions when making decisions.

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At his first formal press conference following his assumption of the hot seat at SBNS on Tuesday, Habibul Bashar told reporters, “If I have to hear words [criticism] for it, I am willing to take it and I have taken the job after accepting that among ten people, five will call me right and five will call me wrong. “I don’t care whether I’m being trolled or receiving negative news coverage. I experienced all of this while serving as captain, and my primary responsibility is to collaborate with the squad; no one’s writing will interfere with that,” he remarked.

Habibul Bashar will assume responsibility next month, but during a news conference on Tuesday, he was unable to avoid the inevitable question about Shakib Al Hasan’s availability.

Habibul Bashar made it apparent that he was concentrating on Shakib’s involvement over a longer time frame rather than his participation in the New Zealand series. The New Zealand series is quickly approaching, and I’m not sure how much cricket Shakib has played.

I don’t think he’ll show up tomorrow and perform the day after, based on what I know about him. He must also get ready. It is not an emotional place. “We will definitely consider the long term if we are considering Shakib,” Habibul Bashar stated. I don’t consider Shakib arriving for just one series before departing. If he is able to serve us, we will want him to do so for a very long period. In this sense, preparedness is crucial. To begin with, he is unquestionably part of the plans. I want him to arrive prepared for a longer period of time because, as you can see, there are discussions about him in relation to the New Zealand series.

I believe he still has two years left. Many people discuss retirement; Mushfiqur Rahim’s retirement, for example, has been discussed. I’ve indicated that it’s better for us if they play for longer. It’s great for the side if we can incorporate them more. Furthermore, we don’t choose them so they may retire. In the long run, I want him to have a plan that will allow him to compete in the 2027 World Cup. Thus, I don’t have a single series in mind,” he stated.

Securing Bangladesh’s straight qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which is slated to take place in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, will be his top priority, Bashar continued. With Mehidy Hasan Miraz leading the team, Bangladesh, now ranked ninth in the ODI rankings, will try to move up into the top eight before the cutoff date to guarantee automatic participation. Our primary goal is to immediately qualify, after all. That’s the main objective. But our performance consistency is more crucial than that.

This will undoubtedly be a major priority in both our performance and team selection,” he stated. Additionally, I believe we need to work with a bigger group because there are a lot of matches this year. There are consecutive series. Thus, we need to increase the number of players. Everybody ought to succeed. Working with this group is crucial if there are ten or fifteen more players outside of the 14–15 squad. I believe we won’t have any issues if we can properly prepare this group,” he stated.

Bashar insisted that winning games will always be the team’s top priority and made it clear that growing the pool would not come at the expense of performance. The Bangladeshi team strives to win each game. There is nothing there to give up. You will always send the team with the best chance of winning. Additionally, you have to introduce certain players when considering the future. Additionally, it is better to add one or two new players alongside existing ones because it makes things easier for them,” he stated.

We don’t want to experiment with new players just before the World Cup. If you want to give someone a try, do it now, but don’t risk the team losing—nothing like that. That isn’t what I think.I believe that while we will undoubtedly give new people a chance, it won’t be just one. “It’s a huge advantage if someone is good,” he continued.