Bangladesh players withdraw boycott after talks with BCB

Bangladesh’s cricketers have called off their boycott after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reached an agreement with the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) following a late-night meeting on Thursday. 

As a result, the scheduled Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches will go ahead on Friday.

CWAB president Mohammad Mithun, who appeared alongside BCB director Iftekhar Rahman at a press conference held at the board premises shortly before midnight, said the players had decided to resume playing in the greater interest of the game.

“Keeping the greater interest of cricket in mind, we will resume playing tomorrow (Friday). The BCB has assured us that they will reach out to him and fulfil our demands as early as possible,” Mithun said, referring to BCB director M Najmul Islam.

Earlier on Thursday, CWAB had issued a statement demanding Najul’s suspension as a precondition for talks. 

While the BCB has removed Najmul as chairman of the finance committee, he remains a board director pending the outcome of an internal review initiated by the board.

Although the protesting players welcomed the move, they continue to seek a public apology from Najmul, which remains a key point of disagreement between CWAB and BCB president Aminul Islam.

BCB officials confirmed that Najmul has been issued a show-cause notice and given 48 hours to respond, with the deadline set for noon on Saturday. The matter will then be referred to the board’s disciplinary committee in line with the constitution.

Prior to meeting the players’ representatives at around 10:30pm on Thursday, the BCB also held discussions with BPL franchise officials.

The controversy began on Wednesday when Najmul made disparaging remarks about senior national players while speaking on the sidelines of a BCB prayer meeting for former prime minister Khaleda Zia. 

He was questioned about the potential financial impact on Bangladesh should the team withdraw from the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Najmul responded by stating that the board would not suffer financially and that only the players would bear the consequences, adding that they would not be entitled to compensation. He further criticised the players’ performances, questioning the returns on the board’s financial investment in them.

Soon after the remarks surfaced, the BCB released a statement distancing itself from Najmul’s comments, expressing “sincere regret” and clarifying that it does not endorse or take responsibility for personal statements made by any director unless formally issued through official channels.

Addressing the issue on Thursday night, Iftekhar Rahman described the comments as “unfortunate” and confirmed that the board had been unable to contact Najmul throughout the day.

“Some unfortunate incidents over the past two days prevented us from holding today’s BPL matches. The director who made the comments has been removed from his committee,” Iftekhar said. “We are following the constitution. A show-cause notice has been issued, and the disciplinary process will continue accordingly.”

He added that repeated attempts to reach Najmul had been unsuccessful, despite efforts to have him appear before the board.