Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has strongly advised his players to distance themselves from social media following an unpleasant incident at Dhaka airport, where a few national cricketers were subjected to verbal abuse from fans upon their return from the UAE.
The Bangladesh team recently concluded a mixed tour against Afghanistan, dominating the T20I series 3-0 but losing the ODI series by the same margin. However, instead of a warm welcome, the players faced heavy criticism, both in person and online. Mohammad Naim, one of the players targeted, even took to social media to defend himself after the incident.
Simmons Condemns Racial Abuse Against Jaker Ali
Speaking ahead of the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies, Simmons expressed his disapproval of players responding to criticism on social media. He also condemned the racial remarks aimed at wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali, calling such behavior unacceptable.
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉, 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒊𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒍𝒊 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆,” 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒃𝒖𝒛𝒛.
Bangladesh Coach Simmons Backs Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s Leadership
The controversy has reignited conversations within Bangladesh cricket about players’ social media presence and its potential impact on their focus and mental health. While the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not enforced official restrictions, Simmons emphasized the importance of maintaining professionalism.
Amid mounting pressure on captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz after a string of poor performances, Simmons defended the young leader, urging critics to judge him fairly.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔. 𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓,” 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Bangladesh will now shift focus to their upcoming ODI series against the West Indies, with the coaching staff hoping for renewed focus and improved team unity.
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