Bangladesh board ropes in Wasim Jaffer as batting coach

Domestic cricket stalwart Wasim Jaffer will be working with batsmen across age groups at the High Performance Academy in Dhaka.

BCB officials were keen on having Wasim Jaffer on board when the seasoned campaigner played the Dhaka Premier League for Abahani Limited in March.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has roped in Wasim Jaffer as the batting coach for game development for its High Performance Academy.

One of India’s domestic cricket stalwarts, Jaffer will be working with batsmen across age groups at the academy in Dhaka for six months.

Jaffer, however, will continue to feature in the Ranji Trophy for Vidarbha, the team which the 41-year-old has been an integral part of for the last few years as it clinched two consecutive Ranji Trophy-Irani Cup doubles. Talking to Sportstar a couple of months ago, Jaffer had indicated that he will make himself available for the next domestic season as well.

BCB officials were keen on having Jaffer on board when the seasoned campaigner played the Dhaka Premier League for Abahani Limited in March.

After seeing him 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 interest in hiring Jaffer.

During his stint with the club, he also helped out World Cup-bound players like Soumya Sarkar.

Sujan, who is also a former Bangladesh captain, told this publication that the decision to hire Jaffer was taken after some of the senior players had benefited from his guidance. “During his visit to Dhaka, he helped quite a few players and we are glad to have someone like him on board. He has been a very good player and we are confident that our players will benefit from him,” Sujan said.

“He has been one of the fine performers of the game and comes with a huge experience. Coming from the sub-continent, there will be no language barrier as well, so the players will be able to communicate better,” Sujan reasoned.