Former national team captain Habibul Bashar is set to face his biggest challenge in his post-playing career, as he has been named the chairman of the national selection panel until the 2027 World Cup by the Bangladesh Cricket Board recently.

Bashar, who led Bangladesh in 18 Tests and 69 ODIs, worked in various roles within the BCB. He previously served as a selector for both the men’s and women’s national teams before moving on to the women’s wing as its head.

After working for a year with the Women’s, Bashar was made the head of the programme of the game development of the BCB.

Now, after one year, he is set to move to another role, this time the biggest in his post-playing career.

‘I have been in cricket. Though I worked for the Women’s [Wing] after the selection role. Then I worked in development, but the main part was selection. In that sense, you can say it’s a return for me,’ Bashar said.

Last year, when Bashar was transferred to game development, he had said that a one-year period was always not enough for any role, as he was talking to New Age last year after assuming the new role.

However, he mentioned that it was always enjoyable to work with the fringe players, which he did while being in game development.

After one more year, Bashar reiterated that feeling. That’s why he took some time to consider when he was offered the job of the chief selector.

‘I was enjoying my previous role in game development very much. When you work in the development [sector], you would get the pleasure of creating things,’ he said.

‘However, while there were some considerations, being part of the national team is always a huge achievement,’ he added.

Though he worked as a selector with three different chief selectors, the role itself comes with a different challenge. The selection of a team like Bangladesh is a matter of high scrutiny most of the time.

However, Bashar said that he was ready for the job and all facets of it.

‘I became the national team captain, which was a huge honour. But while you captain a side, you have to take the [full] responsibility,’ Bashar said when he was asked about protecting his team-mates from criticism.

‘It’s very simple that you have to defend your team-mate while you are the chief,’ he added.

Bashar also said that a selector’s job was not to just pick a team for the national team.

‘I personally feel that the selector’s job is not only to pick the 15-man squad. I think a national selector can do more things.

‘They can give input on the infrastructure of domestic cricket. While we were on the selection committee, we did a small thing. We tried to ensure sporting wickets in domestic cricket. That’s why there are fast bowlers in our pipeline right now,’ he said.

‘As we worked in domestic cricket, I think we should give input on this. Now I understand it more,’ he added.