Bangladesh Betrays Own Players After ICC's T20 World Cup Booting, Makes Mockery Of Cricket Protests
Bangladesh Cricket Board removed M Nazmul Islam after players' protests disrupted the Bangladesh Premier League. But right after the ICC booted Bangladesh out of T20 World Cup, Nazmul was reinstated as the board's finance committee chief.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has plunged the nation's cricket into a state of absolute absurdity. Within hours of the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially "booting" Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup 2026, the board performed a stunning U-turn by reinstating M Nazmul Islam as the chief of its finance committee. This move is being viewed as a calculated betrayal of the national players, who had only recently called off a high-stakes boycott after being promised accountability in the form of Nazmul's removal from the board.
The crisis was ignited by M Nazmul Islam, a BCB director whose comments were publicly criticised even by the country's cricket board. It all started after former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal's suggestion that the board should engage in dialogue with the BCCI to resolve World Cup venue disputes. Nazmul publicly labelled Tamim a "proven Indian agent."
The insults didn't stop there. Nazmul further alienated the squad by claiming players did not deserve compensation if Bangladesh withdrew from the World Cup. He even suggested the board should reclaim money from players when they fail to perform.
Triggered by Nazmul's comments, the Bangladesh players reached their breaking point. Led by Mohammad Mithun (President of the Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh), Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the players launched a boycott of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
The protests triggered the BCB to take action against Nazmul. To protect the BPL and its broadcast revenue, the BCB "sacked" Nazmul from his finance post and issued a show-cause notice. The players, believing the board had finally stood up for their dignity, returned to the field. However, their joy was short-lived.
While the domestic drama resolved, the ICC's patience evaporated. Following Bangladesh's refusal to travel to India for the T20 World Cup - citing security concerns that the ICC's independent experts deemed "non-credible" - the global body decided to replace them with Scotland.
The Betrayal
The most cynical chapter of this saga occurred when the BCB decided to reinstate M Nazmul Islam as its finance committee chief. As per reports in Bangladesh media Nazmul's response to his show-cause notice was deemed "satisfactory." He was immediately handed back the keys to the finance department.
This sequence of events suggests the BCB is more interested in protecting the "old guard" than the players who actually take the field. Neither did the board listen to its players when they expressed willingness to participate in the T20 World Cup, nor was an action against Nazmul seriously taken, despite protests disrupting BPL, the country's flagship T20 league.
Bangladesh Cricket Team