Players’ no-show in BPL says all is not well in Bangladesh cricket ecosystem

The lack of a united front between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and its players has certainly diluted the board's initial stance of not playing T20 World Cup matches in India in the wake of the Mustafizur Rehman row. This inability to speak in one voice led to a major embarrassment on Thursday, when a players’ boycott forced the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to postpone two scheduled matches.

The Noakhali Express versus Chattogram Royals match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium had to be put off as a fallout of the Cricketer Welfare Association of Bangladesh’s (CWAB) demand for the removal of Najmul Islam as chairman of the board’s finance committee, with immediate effect. The second game between Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans was also abandoned owing to ‘’unforeseen circumstances" as per cricketing websites.

Najmul, who incurred the wrath of players past and present for branding former captain Tamim Iqbal as ‘’India’s agent’’ a few days back, was stripped of his post, which has failed to placate the players, who threatened not to play the T20 World Cup itself if the comments were not withdrawn.

The players' media briefing on Thursday was attended in a Dhaka hotel by Mustafizur, the man in the eye of the storm. Informed sources in the BCB, however, revealed later in the evening that Najmul has offered an apology and the BPL will resume from Friday.

A BCB statement earlier on Thursday read: ‘’The BCB President has decided to release Mr. Najmul Islam from his responsibilities as Chairman of the Finance Committee with immediate effect. The decision has been taken in accordance with the authority vested in the BCB President under Article 31 of the BCB Constitution and is aimed at ensuring the continued smooth and effective functioning of the Board's affairs.

‘’Until further notice, the BCB President (Aminul Islam) will assume the role of Acting Chairman of the Finance Committee. The BCB reiterates that the interests of the cricketers remain its highest priority. The Board remains fully committed to upholding the honour and dignity of all players under its jurisdiction.’’

There are no prizes for guessing that the players’ community, with a day-long boycott of the BPL, wanted to send a message that it was anxious about the financial future should the stand-off between the BCB and BCCI continue.

Rent-a-quote BCB officials, barring the president and former captain Aminul, who has been discreet with his words, have done the issue of their safety concerns in the wake of the IPL ban on Mustafizur a big disservice. If Najmul Islam’s comment on Iqbal had already hit a raw nerve, he was at it again when he said the BCB would not lose money as the ICC’s revenue distribution model for the 2022–2027 cycle is already fixed, but it’s the players who could lose out on millions in terms of match fees, performance bonus and sponsorship dividends.

Furthermore, the BCB has already ruled out any “compensation” for players who miss out, creating a potential rift between the board and the squad.

Meanwhile, there was no perceptible shift in Bangladesh's decision of not travelling to India during the day, despite a request from the world government body. In the absence of any MoU on a hybrid model of the kind between India and Pakistan, the ICC is not obliged to relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka, while India’s proposed tour of the neighbouring country for two white-ball series is now out of question. 

The ICC, in an extreme case, can view a World Cup boycott as a breach of the Members’ Participation Agreement and has the power to suspend a board’s membership (as seen with Zimbabwe in the past), which would halt all ICC funding and prevent Bangladesh from playing any international cricket. The next few days before the weekend are expected to bring a closure to the impasse, triggered albeit by the BCCI by inflicting the IPL ban on Mustafizur.