BPL 2022: Mehidy Hasan will continue to play for Chattogram Challengers despite Captaincy Rift

Chattogram Challengers have finally convinced Mehidy Hasan to stay back & play for the franchise in the ongoing BPL 2022.

Hasan is not willing to play for Challengers anymore

Earlier it was reported that Mehidy Hasan will return to Dhaka due to ‘personal reasons’ just a day after he was removed from captaincy. A lot of drama got unfolded at the Hotel Peninsula where Chattogram Challengers are staying during the Chattogram phase of the tournament.

 

Before making the decision of staying back, Mehidy held two press conferences within four hours that saw him change his decision after team owner MD Dato KM Rifatuzzaman’s intervention. Mehidy Hasan let out his frustration in the media, stating that he is not willing to play for Challengers anymore if the team’s chief operating officer Yasir Ali is around.

 

“I will say later (why I am not willing to play) and leave. The mindset to play any game is not there right now,” Mehidy told reporters at the doorsteps of Peninsula, accusing the official of issuing a false statement.

 

“The statement given by Yasir [COO] is false (that head coach Paul Nixon has asked them to remove Mehidy as captain). He is the leading culprit and I am not willing to play if he is around.”

Mehidy confirmed that he will play for Challengers but will not take up captaincy again

However soon Mehidy was approached by the Challengers’ logistic manager who took him to a meeting that surpassed Mehidy’s departure time of 5:30 pm (local). Team owner Rifatuzzaman came down to the hotel lobby, following a lengthy discussion, along with Mehidy, where he revealed the communication gap between the two parties.

 

“It was a miscommunication and we sorted it out,” Rifatuzzaman told reporters on Sunday. “I think we will be more careful in the coming days so that this kind of miscommunication does not arise again.

 

“Our COO Yasir has apologized to him for the miscommunication. I think he should have communicated earlier that he will not be the captain instead of informing hours before the match,” he added.

 

However, Mehidy Hasan made his stance clear by confirming that he will play for Challengers but will not take up captaincy again. “I will play for them but I am not ready to lead the side,” said Mehidy, sitting beside Rifatuzzaman.

 

Meanwhile, in a conversation with media, Chattogram Challengers head coach Nixon has denied his involvement in the axing of Mehidy Hasan as Chattogram’s captain. Fans got shocked when they saw Naeem Islam come out for the toss in the Challengers fixture against Sylhet Sunrisers on January 29 given that the team had won two of their three games under Mehidy.

 

Meanwhile, Rifatuzzaman also cleared the questions surrounding the removal of Mehidy as captain. “Nixon is part of team management but he is not the only one to decide. Our whole team management decided that Mehidy should concentrate more on his game as that would serve our purpose and I agreed but I don’t impose anything on the team management.

 

“I was aware that Mehidy will be removed and we should have informed him that beforehand as that would have helped us avoid all this trouble.”