The crisis in Bangladesh Cricket deepened after cricketers boycott the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match between Chittagong Royals and Noakhali Express on Thursday. The player’s boycott came as a protest against the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Director and Finance Committee Chairman M Nazmul Islam following his controversial remarks on the national team cricketers.
Led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto, the players of both Chittagong Royals and Noakhali Express refused to take the field and demanded Islam’s immediate resignation in a press meet. Both Shanto and Miraz are also a part of the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB). The BCB sacked Islam shortly after on Thursday.
During the presser, Miraz spoke on a lot of issues including their source of income. Describing Islam’s comments “shameful for entire cricket fraternity”, Miraz stated most of their incomes come from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and sponsors. Players nowadays also earn by playing various franchise leagues globally.
He also added that all the players play about 25-30 percent of their income in tax, thus contributing to the government.
When did it all start?
It all started after BCB refused to travel to India to play in the T20 World Cup 2026, following pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the Indian Premier League (IPL). Bought for ₹9.20 crores, Rahman was removed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from its IPL 2026 squad, following BCCI’s orders. As a protest, BCB wrote a letter to ICC, asking the apex body to shift their matches out of India at a neutral venue.
Islam’s comments came a day earlier when he stated publicly that the national cricketers should be asked to return “crores of crores of taka” spent on them by the BCB also questioned why the players will get compensation if they were to miss a major event like T20 World Cup.
That’s not all. Earlier, Islam has called former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal as “India’s agent”, that triggered a strong backlash from the players and other BCB officials. Iqbal had advocated on January 9, the urgency to resolve the cricketing ties between the two nations keeping the game’s interest in foreground.
Will Bangladesh travel to India for t20 World Cup?
Although both BCB and ICC have exchanged emails, nothing concrete has come out so far although there were reports of the Bangladesh Cricket Board standing firm on their stance. The T20 World Cup 2026 starts on February 7 with Litton Das’ men playing West Indies on the opening day.
In a latest development, furious fans outside the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket stadium in Mirpur destroyed all the hoardings and other advertisement installations after the BPL match between Chittagong Royals and Noakhali Express didn’t start.
