Phil Simmons, the head coach of Bangladesh, has advised his team to avoid social media in the wake of an incident at the Dhaka airport where supporters taunted cricket players from the national team as they returned from the United Arab Emirates.
The team did not receive a warm reception from their fans after a mixed visit against Afghanistan, which included losing the ODIs by the same score but winning the T20I series 3-0. Afterwards, one of the players targeted at the airport, Muhammad Naim, addressed the criticism on social media.
Simmons addressed the matter by advising his players not to interact on social media prior to the ODI series against the West Indies. Additionally, Simmons denounced the racist taunts against wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali that have been observed online and at stadiums.
Alright. In the first place, I disagree with players using social media, therefore I’m delighted you brought it up. As a human, you have the right to use social media and to express yourself there. However, my players shouldn’t be there because I am a national player for Bangladesh and an international player. One problem, in my opinion, is that it is not polite to bring up race in any situation involving players. No matter where you’re from, I find the racist aspect of the attacks against Jaker Ali abhorrent. That isn’t pleasant. According to Cricbuzz, he stated, “But I don’t want my players answering anything on social media.”
Phil Simmons’ captaincy is beyond judgement.
Discussions concerning the team’s social media practices were sparked by the incident since players were often commenting on sites like Facebook, which usually elicited conflicting responses from fans. Team management has expressed concern about the effect of social media on players’ performance and mental health, even though the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not put any official limits in place. Simmons also supported Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the skipper who has been under fire following a string of disappointing defeats.
“It is impossible to evaluate his leadership based on 200 runs at 198 and not pursue him. His captaincy is now up for debate on the pitch. In my opinion, the field captaincy has been excellent. However, winning games also depends on your batsman. You’re going to have problems if your batters fail to score the required number of runs. In my opinion, he has performed well on the pitch, he continued.
India
