Sports Desk:

Senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has found himself under scrutiny, with allegations of favoritism swirling around his role in the Bangladesh national team setup.

However, on Tuesday at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Salahuddin dismissed any concerns over his position or ego, insisting that his only priority is to help the team improve, regardless of criticism or chatter off the field.

“See, I am a coach. If you tell me to go and coach under-13 teams, I don’t mind. I don’t have a tag that I am only a national team coach,” he said on Tuesday, ahead of the series decider.

“I don’t have any ego issues. I am not bothered about it. If someone comes in and it helps the team… look, the Bangladesh team is not my family property. If I don’t do well, people will criticize me. I have to take it. In the same way, if the team does well, people will say good things about me. But the main thing is to stay honest and give your 100%. That’s what matters to me,” he added.

Reports suggest that a pile of complaints has been submitted against the senior assistant coach, alleging that he plays a major role in team selection and in deciding the roles of players.

However, Salahuddin has other things to say.

“Today, after working 27-28 years, if someone says there are a lot of allegations against me, it would be helpful if they at least said what those allegations are. You cannot say things publicly if you don’t have evidence to back them up. If there was evidence, that would help the coach too, because he could rectify it,” he said.

“But I know who I am, and whether I am honest in my position. If I’m not a good coach, the board can get rid of me, and I have no issues with that. But you cannot write something without justifying it. That’s not right. You need to know whether someone is honest or dishonest,” he added.

He also mentioned the media scrutiny and its effect, saying, “Maybe it’s because I am mentally strong. Otherwise, many weak people would have fallen by now. And it’s not like I have to work here. I have many other things to do. I didn’t come here because I wanted to or asked for this job. It wasn’t like that. If I can help the team improve even a little bit, I will try to do that.”

He also highlighted the current scenario of the team.

“And we don’t have that luxury. The team is regularly losing. At a time like this, what benefit would I get by showing favoritism? It’s not a team that wins every day where I can just slip one player into the XI. It’s not like that. We are not playing good cricket. As a team member, I would want the team to do well,” he said.

“So that’s it. You have to understand how to judge someone,” he concluded.