The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has ‘approached’ Indian cricket's domestic stalwart, Wasim Jaffer, to come on board as a batting coach.
Though it still hasn’t finalised on whether Jaffer would be handed over the responsibility of senior or age-group teams, top officials of BCB did have a conversation with him in Dhaka earlier this week.
“Yes, they have approached me but it hasn’t materialised yet,” Jaffer told Sportstar on Sunday.
The 41-year-old was in Bangladesh for a couple of weeks to play the Dhaka Premier League for Abahani Limited, and after seeing the seasoned campaigner at the nets, former Bangladesh cricketer and Abahani coach Khaled Mahmud Sujan -- who is also the director and the game development committee chairman of BCB -- showed keenness in associating Jaffer as a batting coach.
However, the roles and responsibilities haven’t been decided yet. “We, at BCB, have had discussions on Jaffer and we are trying to figure out the best role for him. We have the U-19 team, the Bangladesh Cricket Academy, the Bangladesh A team and also the senior Test team, so we are still figuring out where he will be most effective. We will soon have a meeting with him,” BCB cricket operations committee chairman and former Bangladesh captain, Akram Khan, told this publication from Dhaka.
Even Jaffer is awaiting more clarity. “I don’t know the role yet. May be, they would like to give me a go at the national team because it is easier for (us) to relate to sub-continent players. Foreign people don’t have too much idea about the sub-continent conditions. It makes sense to get someone who has played cricket here and can help players on how to get used to the things. Let’s see how things go. It’s still in the pipeline,” Jaffer said.
While he is now back in Mumbai, Jaffer plans to travel to Dhaka in the next couple of weeks to feature in the Super League, and may be, that’s the time the next round of meeting could happen. “The Super League starts on the 13th or 14th April. I have to play a couple of matches here for Indian Oil and after that if I have time, I might go to Dhaka for the Super League,” Jaffer said.
For the last few years, Jaffer has been playing for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy. He played a key hand in the team’s consecutive title wins in Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup. While he would be happy to explore coaching options if they come his way, Jaffer also wishes to guide Vidarbha to its third consecutive Ranji Trophy title.
“I haven’t thought (about the coming season). Ideally, I would like to play for Vidarbha. We will be chasing the third consecutive title, which of course, I haven’t seen in my playing career. So, that’s something I would ideally look for,” he said.
“Obviously, I am focusing more on four-day cricket and mentoring in One-day and T20 cricket,” Jaffer added.
However, his plans could change if BCB finally decides to offer him a coaching role. The BCB officials have insisted that they could seal the deal in the next couple of weeks.
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