Former Bangladesh offspinner Abdur Razzak is set to take up a role in the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s High Performance Unit starting in June. The ex-national cricketer, who spent time within the board during the tenure of Aminul Islam’s administration before it was dissolved recently, confirmed the plan in a conversation on Monday. “Yes, we had a discussion and I am expected to join in June,” Razzak said.
Bangladesh Cricket Board officials are working on a restructure of the HP Unit, and as part of that change they have moved Mohammad Salahuddin—who was serving as the national senior assistant coach—into the role of head of the High Performance setup. Salahuddin is expected to assume the position after the ongoing Test series against Pakistan concludes.
Razzak said his decision to step into coaching has been developing for some time. During his period as a director with the BCB, he told the same outlet that he was exploring a pathway into coaching. Before joining the board, he also worked as part of the national selection panel, a background he believes has helped him understand how players are identified and shaped.
To ensure he is ready for the responsibilities ahead, Razzak completed a Level 3 coaching qualification in January 2026. He explained that while his desire to coach has long been present, the course is a key step in turning that ambition into a practical role. “I always wanted to be a coach for a long time and ever since I was playing cricket it was there in mind, but later I joined the selection panel,” he said. “Now once this Level three course is completed successfully, I will try to come into coaching.”
He added that coaching education is only one part of the process, emphasising that real value comes from a player’s lived experience across a career. “Actually, everything is not completed just through this one coaches’ program. Throughout my entire career, whatever has happened, whatever I have learned—there are many things that I have felt are impactful and those things are actually possible to apply,” Razzak said.
Razzak also described why he thinks early exposure can make a difference for younger players. “For instance, suppose now there is a young boy who learns something that I learned at the age of 30. If in current times, that boy learns it only when he reaches 30 while playing for our country, then there will be no impact,” he said. In his view, coaching work should help reduce that gap by bringing players into contact with key ideas and decision-making earlier. “In order to ensure that impact, this is mainly done—so that they are at least given a knock beforehand about things that we perhaps were not very informed about, about what needs to be done and what not. But there are many things which, in my opinion, if players are informed earlier, if they practice earlier, if they work on them earlier, they can be one or two steps ahead,” he added.
Razzak believes the most transferable coaching lessons come from moments when adjustments must be made under pressure. He said he learned a great deal while having to remodel his bowling action, and he expects those experiences to help him guide others. “Of course, they (my time when I was remodeling my bowling action) will be useful. This is why, in most cases, players are preferred in coaching. Just because of the situations they have faced throughout their careers—these cannot be found in any book,” he said.
He further explained that some lessons only become fully clear after retirement, when players can look back and understand how different choices might have led to different outcomes. “Only someone who has faced those situations can say, I have faced this and that scenario. And what I find most interesting is that, those situations become clear later on, after retirement, in that if I had not done that work in a particular way and had done it another way, it could have yielded a different result. I want to pass on those things as well,” Razzak concluded.
