Under-fire Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan attacked some of the country's former top cricketers on Sunday for their criticism of his team following their humiliating defeat to West Indies.
"I feel really bad when I see the former cricketers talk like common fans," Shakib said in his column in Bengali daily Prothom Alo.
"They understand a lot, have played a lot and went through this kind of situation a lot of times. It is really disappointing," he said.
Former cricketers, including ex-skippers Aminul Islam, Khaled Mahmud and Habibul Bashar, criticised the team for what they said was irresponsible batting. "I don't like to demean anyone. But you can see in the record books who did what," Shakib said, without singling out any names.
"They faced this situation more often (than us). They should keep that in mind before talking," he added.
Hussey drafted into Australia's World Cup squad
Mike Hussey has been drafted into Australia's World Cup squad as the replacement player for injured fast bowler Doug Bollinger.
Hussey, a controversial omission from the initial 15-man squad, had been widely tipped as the most likely candidate to join the three-time defending champions in India after selectors delayed naming a replacement immediately following Bollinger's withdrawal. Paceman Dirk Nannes will also travel to India as a standby player in case of any further injuries to the pace attack which contains Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson.
Pakistan manager puts aside Imran's criticism
Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan manager, brushed aside criticism from former great Imran Khan, who said team selections at the World Cup had been negative. Imran said playing with two frontline pacemen and two spinners, in addition to Mohammad Hafeez as spinning all-rounder and fast-bowling all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, was defensive.
"I strongly believe that although Pakistan have won three matches, they are playing with one specialist bowler short and need to include a bowler in place of a batsman or an all-rounder," said Imran even as Pakistan top the group with three wins. But Intikhab, who was also coach-cum-manager of the 1992 World Cup-winning team that Imran captained, said Pakistan had been making the most of their resources. "Everyone has the right to give his opinion, but we have not closed our eyes and ears," he said. "The team management is doing its homework and is doing whatever is needed in the best interests of the team."
