Bangladesh Cricket Board, the BPL players and the league itself collided on Thursday in Dhaka as the board signalled it could suspend the tournament indefinitely if cricketers refused to resume play, following protests over comments made by director M Nazmul Islam.
Players boycotted scheduled BPL matches on Thursday despite assurances from the board. They demanded Nazmul’s resignation and refused to compromise, with the standoff playing out at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium and beyond.
The board first moved behind closed doors. An emergency online meeting removed Nazmul from his role as finance committee chairman under Article 31 of the BCB constitution, handing interim charge to president Aminul Islam Bulbul.
That did not calm the dressing rooms. Players made it clear they wanted Nazmul completely out of the board, not sidelined or reassigned.
At a press conference organised by the Cricketers’ Welfare Association, president Mohammad Mithun drew a hard line. “All our players have discussed this. We heard at one stage the BCB wanted to make him an OSD, and we did not accept that,” he said, shutting down any halfway solution.
BCB sources responded with a tougher tone. They indicated that if players failed to return to the field even after Nazmul’s removal from the finance role, the board would suspend the BPL for an indefinite period.
That threat exposed the stakes. The board wanted games to resume immediately, even requesting players to take the field for the second match of the day.
The players refused. The Chattogram Royals vs Noakhali Express match did not even reach the toss, and doubts hung over the later fixture between Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans.
Nazmul’s own words lit the fuse. When asked whether players would receive compensation if they skipped an India World Cup over security fears, he said, “Why? If they go and do nothing, play badly, after we spend crores on them, are we asking for that money back? Answer me that.”
Mithun called that comment unacceptable and confirmed the players’ stance would not soften. “If he does not resign after 48 hours, we will have to stop playing,” he said, warning that even a partial return would collapse if the board failed to act fully.
He then pushed the decision back onto the board. “We will go back to the field on one condition only. If the BCB comes in front of you and commits that within 48 hours this person will no longer be in the BCB, then we will play.”
The BPL governing council publicly denied any immediate shutdown plan. But privately, the message felt clear: play today, or risk watching the tournament unravel.
