Cuba feels the sting of Dooley's trial call 

Bangladesh midfielder Cuba Mitchell has removed all Bangladesh-related photographs and posts from his Instagram account after being asked to undergo a trial at his own expense before being considered for the national team's main camp.

The 20-year-old England-based midfielder was left out of Bangladesh coach Thomas Dooley's 28-member preliminary squad for the FIFA ASEAN Cup, with the new Bangladesh coach insisting that Mitchell must first prove himself in front of the new coaching staff.

Dooley's desire to assess an unfamiliar player is understandable. Yet the process has raised serious questions.

Mitchell is not an unknown trialist. He has already represented Bangladesh at senior level and has gone through the necessary eligibility process to become a Bangladeshi international. Treating him as a player who must pay for an international journey merely to earn a place in training appears unnecessarily harsh.

The midfielder could have been invited to join the camp for two or three days, where Dooley could have assessed him alongside the existing squad. That would have preserved the coach's right to judge while respecting a player already capped by the country.

Dooley said the federation would reimburse Mitchell's flight only if he proved himself better than the current players and subsequently earned selection.

Mitchell's removal of Bangladesh-related posts was undoubtedly an emotional response. However, it was not difficult to understand.

For a player who has already committed his international future to Bangladesh, the message from the new regime may have felt less like an invitation to compete and more like a demand to start from scratch.