Bangladesh cricketers are making pleas to ‘save cricket’ after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reinstated controversial director M Najmul Islam as head of the finance department just days after removing him from all responsibilities. According to The Daily Star, a sense of helplessness has gripped the country’s cricketers, who had gone on strike during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to get Islam dismissed.
Najmul had made several provocative comments during the BCB’s impasse with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over its refusal to travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup, which ended with Scotland replacing Bangladesh.
When batting legend Tamim Iqbal spoke of keeping diplomatic channels open and trying to find an amicable solution, Najmul labelled him an ‘agent’ of India. Later, when asked about the financial repercussions of Bangladesh not participating in the biggest tournament of the year — said to be in tune with INR 300 crore – Islam said the BCB won’t face any, while the players won’t be compensated because they didn’t deserve it.
“Why (would there be any compensation)? Are we asking them for the crores and crores of taka that we are spending on them? Answer me first. We are spending so much money on them, they are not being able to do anything in different places. 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 couldn’t play. Give us back. Why should there even be a question of compensating the players?" Najmul said at the time.
The BCB had distanced itself from the statement, issued a show-cause notice to Islam and arranged hours of discussions with the protesting players. After a day of BPL boycott and Najmul’s suspension, normalcy was restored, though the players, via their union, still demanded an apology.
However, none was issued. Instead, the BCB said its disciplinary department had reviewed Najmul’s response to its notice and cleared him, conveniently after the BPL had ended. The Daily Star report said Najmul enjoyed an overwhelming support of the BCB directors in a recent meeting.
“This is good news," the newspaper quoted one player remarking sarcastically after Najmul’s reappointment. “You can understand how things are happening here."
Source: News18