The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is preparing a major rethink of its player development model, aiming to streamline the pathway into senior cricket. The plan centres on reshaping the High Performance (HP) Unit to create a clearer pipeline, with consideration being given to phasing out the Bangladesh Tigers programme.
Quick facts
- The BCB plans to restructure its High Performance (HP) Unit to strengthen the player pipeline.
- There is discussion around winding down the Bangladesh Tigers programme to move toward one unified HP structure.
- Mohammad Salahuddin is expected to replace David Hemp as HP head coach.
- Sohel Islam, currently head coach of Tigers, is likely to support the new HP setup.
- Players above 23 and outside the national team would fall under the HP Unit.
- Under-19 to Under-23 players are expected to be managed through a separate programme run by the BCB’s Game Development wing.
- The HP programme is expected to be designed in May, with a potential start in June.
- Salahuddin is expected to be available during Bangladesh’s two-match Test series starting May 2.
Under the proposed arrangement, cricketers aged over 23 who are not part of the national team would be grouped under the HP Unit, with the coaching staff overseeing their development. Meanwhile, age-group players from Under-19 through Under-23 would be channelled into a separate programme operated by the Game Development department.
A key element of the reshuffle is ending the overlap and confusion created by running multiple structures for different groups. A development insider explained that the Tigers setup would be absorbed into HP, with the idea being to remove the “Tigers” label altogether to avoid mixed messaging around roles and responsibility.
In that view, the HP centre would handle everything other than national team training, aligning Bangladesh’s approach with how similar systems function in other cricketing countries. The same official suggested that the HP programme had become fragmented over time, particularly after an ACC-led Under-23 initiative altered the internal focus.
That shift, the insider added, left players in the “in-between” age bracket without a clear home within the existing setup—prompting the BCB to introduce Tigers in the first place. The restructuring, as outlined, would restore continuity by ensuring HP remains “High Performance” for the relevant group, while Under-23 work is directed through Game Development.
There is also reported movement at leadership level: BCB president Tamim Iqbal has already held talks with Mohammad Salahuddin about the HP Unit. The discussions reportedly took place last week and were described as productive, with the expectation that the experienced coach could take charge sooner rather than later.
Timeline and Test-series context
BCB officials have indicated that the HP programme will be drafted during May and could begin in June. Salahuddin is expected to be available for Bangladesh’s upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, scheduled to start on May 2.
However, the plan is not to run HP activities during the Test-series window. Instead, the period would be used for office work and structural changes, with the programme expected to start within the existing budget and setup before amendments are introduced later.
An additional consideration is the domestic calendar: with the Premier League expected to be on during the home series against Pakistan, there would be no HP work during that stretch either. The BCB’s intent, in the meantime, is to use the intervening weeks to lock in the revised structure and roll it out smoothly once the timetable permits.
