The Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) called off its boycott of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Thursday after reaching a late-night resolution with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The BPL is set to resume on Friday evening.
The Bangladeshi cricketers had demanded the resignation of BCB director M Nazmul Islam for making ‘objectionable comments’ about themon Wednesday. Nazmul had declared that BCB was facing no financial loss if it were to refuse traveling to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup, saying only the players would bear the loss, for they would not be compensated.
In the same breath, he had questioned the ‘crores and crores of taka’ invested in the players, questioning their performance in return, and even asking them to give the previously spent money back. The BCB caved in early on Thursday, sacked Nazmul from the finance committee, saying it was in the organisation’s best interests.
“Keeping the greater interest of cricket in mind, we will resume playing tomorrow (on Friday). They (the BCB) have assured us that they will reach out to him (Nazmul) and fulfil our demands as early as possible,” CWAB president Mohammad Mithun said in a press conference, sitting alongside BCB director Iftekhar Rahman.
The protesting players welcomed Nazmul’s sacking but are still demanding a public apology, which remains a point of contention between the parties.
The board had distanced itself from Nazmul’s statement immediately, expressing ‘sincere regret’. However, despite losing the chairmanship of the finance committee, Nazmul remains a director at the BCB.
BCB director Iftekhar said that he has been served a ‘show cause notice’ as per the organisation’s constitution and has been given two days to respond.
