The Bangladesh Cricket Board has sacked a senior official after its leading cricketers went on strike.
The news is the latest escalation in a crisis that has already seen the nation refuse to go to India for next month’s T20 World Cup.
The BCB has been in turmoil since ties with India soured, prompting Dhaka to ask the ICC to shift all its group matches to co-host Sri Lanka.
The World Cup begins on 7 February, with Bangladesh still scheduled to play four games in India. Bangladesh are in Group 3 with England, West Indies, Italy and Nepal.
The row deepened after Najmul Islam, head of the BCB’s finance committee, lashed out at the players who demanded compensation from the board if the team were to pull out of the marquee competition.
“We are spending so much money on them, they are not being able to do anything in different places,” Najmul said. “Have we got any international awards? What have we done at any level? Let us now ask them for the money back after every time they can’t play. Why should there even be a question of compensating the players?”
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In protest against his remarks, teams pulled out of Thursday’s first match of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), demanding Najmul be ousted within next 48 hours.
The BCB had distanced itself from Najmul’s remarks and on Thursday removed him from the job.
“Following a review of recent developments and in the best interest of the organisation, the BCB president has decided to release Mr. Najmul Islam from his responsibilities as chairman of the finance committee with immediate effect,” the BCB said in a statement.
The row erupted on 3 January, when the BCCI ordered IPL franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman following tensions between the neighbouring nations.
The BCCI did not publicly give a reason for his removal but the presence of the Bangladesh player sparked criticism from some right-wing groups after a Hindu man was lynched in Bangladesh in December.
Political relations between India and Bangladesh soured after a mass uprising in Dhaka in 2024 toppled then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of New Delhi.
India’s foreign ministry last month condemned what it called “unremitting hostility against minorities” in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has accused India of exaggerating the scale of the violence.
Mustafizur, who has played in the IPL for other teams in previous editions, was snapped up at auction in December by Kolkata for more than $1-million.
His sacking sparked fury in Dhaka.
Bangladesh, led by Litton Das, are placed ninth in the ICC T20 rankings.
They have played all the nine editions of the tournament, but have never qualified for the semi-finals.
– AFP
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
