The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) removed M Najmul Islam from all duties after strong warnings from the players. Those warnings were made public hours before the board acted, led by Mohammad Mithun, the president of the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh.
Before the decision, Mithun said the players would stay away from cricket unless their demands were met. He told reporters that talks with the Bangladesh Cricket Board had failed to produce any result.
“We spoke to the board many times, but nothing came out of it. We feel helpless now. Players play with pride,” Mithun said.
“We also wanted to resolve this by discussing it internally, with respect for the BCB directors, because many of them come from a cricketing background. We don’t want them to be disrespected. We wanted everything to be settled quietly. But as you can see, nothing of that sort is happening.”
“I rate Faruk bhai first as a former captain, then as a board member, and then as president. You removed the board president overnight. Now, in the case of a board director — about whom even fellow directors say they are fed up, we are fed up, the nation is fed up — why can’t that director be removed? I have that question too.”
The players called the press conference after deciding to boycott all forms of cricket unless Najmul stepped down. As part of that protest, no players appeared for the first Bangladesh Premier League match of the day between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express.
Mithun said the stance would not change. “We will return to the field only after our demands are fulfilled. We wanted private meetings to fix the problems, but the board showed no interest,” he said. He also said, “We didn’t play good cricket, so we didn’t become world champions. We don’t have any trophies — all of that is true. But whatever progress Bangladesh cricket has made today, it’s because of how much we have played. There’s no other reason behind it.”
During the briefing, the players also raised other pending issues. These included the removal of nine players from the BPL over alleged misconduct, concerns about the Dhaka First Division Cricket League, matters involving women’s team all-rounder Jahanara Alam, and the facilities provided to the women’s cricket team. Around 70 to 80 cricketers attended, including national and first-division players.
The crisis began after comments made by Najmul on Wednesday evening in Mirpur, where he dismissed the idea of compensating players if Bangladesh missed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“Why would we do that? Even when players fail, we still spend huge amounts on them. Do we ever ask for that money back?” he said.
Mithun said those words crossed all limits. “We are standing firm. There is a limit to everything, and he went beyond that. I saw no respect for cricket in his words,” he said.
He also said the players failed to reach the board president. “The saddest part is that we could not speak to Bulbul bhai,” Mithun said, referring to Aminul Islam Bulbul.
Najmul had already faced criticism earlier after calling former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent” on social media. CWAB had demanded an apology at that time.
“We asked him to apologise, but his behaviour only got worse. He has no right to speak like this,” Mithun said. “We don’t think he should stay in this role. We are confused about what he wants to achieve as a board director.”
Mithun said the situation could still be resolved quickly. “We heard they planned to sideline him and gave him time to explain. One match was already called off. We were ready to play from the second match if the board confirmed his removal,” he said.
Later that day, the BCB relieved Najmul Islam of all responsibilities, ending the standoff and opening the door for cricket to resume.
