Bangladesh freeze player pay after poor run

Cape Town - The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have decided to only offer 10 players national contracts but their pay has been frozen due to poor performances in the last year.

Opening batsmen Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes as well as Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi were the six players that have not been retained on contracts by the BCB.

Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan were the 10 players awarded contracts with a further three players to be added at a later date.

Tigers selector Habibul Bashar told AFP: "For contracts, we mostly preferred players who would perform regularly over the next one year.

"Some players have lost their regular spot in the team. They needed to be sent a message. Getting dropped does not mean the door is closed for them. Everyone will get a fair chance in future."

Bangladesh drew a Test series against Sri Lanka in 2017 but lost series against New Zealand, India and South Africa.

Despite making the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, the Tigers only won four out of 14 ODIs while the were victorious in one of seven T20Is.