Mustafizur fallout: Bangladesh cricketers revolt after official mocks them

DHAKA: Bangladesh cricket’s simmering internal feud finally boiled over on Thursday. The flashpoint came at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where a player revolt threatened to derail the tournament.

With matches being cancelled as players refused to take the field, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) removed director M Najmul Islam from his post of chairman of the finance committee with immediate effect.The decision came after two BPL games and four in the Dhaka league didn’t take place due to players’ boycott, starting with the inaugural BPL tie between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express. CWAB, the players’ body, was demanding Islam’s resignation for making insulting remarks against players.

I n a media statement, the BCB said that after “reviewing recent developments” and “in the best interest of the organisation”, the president had released Najmul Islam from his responsibilities. The board said the decision was taken under the authority vested in the BCB president by Article 31 of the BCB constitution and was aimed at ensuring the “continued smooth and effective functioning of the board’s affairs”.

Until further notice, the BCB president will serve as acting chairman of the finance committee.The BCB reiterated that cricketers’ interest “remain its highest priority” and said the board was fully committed to upholding “the honour and dignity of all players under its jurisdiction”. The statement also urged cricketers to “display the highest standards of professionalism and dedication” during what it described as a “challenging period for the game”, and to “do their utmost” to ensure participation in the BPL.The crisis erupted in the wake of Bangladesh’s request to shift their T20 World Cup matches out of India following bowler Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from IPL team KKR. Najmul made a series of remarks that cricketers found inflammatory.“Why (should players be compensated for not playing the T20 World Cup in India)? Are we asking them to return the crores and crores of taka that we are spending on them? We are spending so much money on them, they are not being able to do anything.

Have we got any international awards? Let us now ask them for the money back,” Najmul Islam had said, sparking the player revolt.Earlier, he had labelled former captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent” for disagreeing with BCB’s request. It remains to be seen if removing him solely from the finance committee chairmanship will be enough to bring players back to the stadium.