Is Akbar Ali paying the price for dissent?

In cricket, selection is meant to follow clear logic: form, fitness, team balance, and future planning. But when a player vanishes from consideration while none of those criteria fit, darker questions emerge.

That is the shadow currently hanging over Akbar Ali.

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One of domestic cricket’s most recognisable leaders has been conspicuously absent from Bangladesh’s recent touring squads. Between July and September, as many as 63 players were sent abroad for Emerging, High Performance, and 'A' team tours across Australia and South Africa. With squads stretched thin, selectors dug deep into the domestic pool, rewarding uncapped players and even shuttling some between countries on short notice.

Yet Akbar, a 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter with considerable domestic experience, was not included in any of those squads -- spending the period playing club cricket in England instead. Given the sheer scale of the touring programme, his complete absence stands out.

Strictly on form, the decision isn't entirely baseless. His recent numbers aren’t particularly overwhelming, and that should be acknowledged. In the 2025-26 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, he scored 217 runs in nine innings at an average of 24.11, although his strike rate was an impressive 119.23. He also captained Prime Bank to a third-place finish.

But there is more to the statistical picture.

In April, Akbar scored 121 for North Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League and led his side to a 10-wicket victory. Earlier, he captained Rangpur Division to the domestic double, scoring 144 runs in four National Cricket League four-day matches and 203 in nine T20 games.

These numbers do not establish that Akbar deserved selection. But they do make his complete absence from several squads a legitimate question, particularly when other wicketkeeper-batters were being given opportunities.

There is also the leadership factor.

Akbar led Bangladesh to their first men’s Under-19 World Cup title in 2020, and last year had led Bangladesh at the Asia Cup Rising Stars in Qatar. Whatever his current batting statistics, leadership and experience remain part of his value as a cricketer.

Chief selector Habibul Bashar previously insisted that Akbar remains in Bangladesh’s plans and that selectors know “what he is capable of”. Yet that assurance raised an obvious contradiction: if Akbar is genuinely in their plans, why was he overlooked when Bangladesh were sending multiple teams abroad and drawing extensively from the domestic pool?

That unanswered question has inevitably fuelled speculation that there may have been factors beyond cricket. So where does that notion come from?

Akbar is an executive committee member of the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB). It was learned that he was involved in disagreements within CWAB during discussions over players’ issues. According to several players familiar with the discussions, Akbar expressed a dissenting position on certain matters, which allegedly did not sit comfortably with leaders within the association.

There have also been claims that Akbar’s name was initially considered for some overseas assignments but was later removed for reasons that were not purely cricketing.

The question was one Akbar could not avoid when he faced reporters recently. The wicketkeeper-batter was diplomatic, rejecting any “conspiracy” narrative. But he admitted that being left out of every touring squad had hurt.

That reaction is understandable. Akbar may not want to invite further trouble in his career by speaking openly about what happened. And if the concerns expressed privately by players are accurate -- that cricketers have become increasingly cautious about raising dissenting opinions for fear of damaging their careers -- then the issue extends far beyond one player and stretches to the culture of Bangladesh cricket itself.