Anamul Haque Bijoy has said he now wants respect and clarity rather than simply the opportunity to play cricket, following his exclusion from the last edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Bijoy was initially included in the BPL auction list. However, he was later dropped from the final list of local players along with eight others, based on a report from the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Integrity Unit chairman, Alex Marshall. The former ICC Integrity chief reportedly marked them as “red-listed” players.
There had been media speculation surrounding Bijoy prior to the last BPL regarding potential integrity concerns. Interestingly, despite being barred from the BPL, Bijoy was eligible to participate in the recently concluded 12th Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) One-Day tournament.
The BCB has not clarified the apparent inconsistency, raising questions, if a player is deemed ineligible for the BPL, how can he be cleared to play in another domestic competition? However, BCB has not publicly named any player based on the findings of the 900-page report submitted by a three-member inquiry committee on October 28 last year.
“I was not allowed to play BPL, which was my right. From the previous year, the payment issue has not been resolved as well. I have tried to reach out to various people, from Vice President Faruque bhai to BPL member secretary Mithu bhai,” Bijoy said on Tuesday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
Bijoy who last played for Bangladesh in the Sri Lanka tour in June, had simply urged for the respect from BCB, subject to get clearance. The 33 years old batter said, “I will say one simple thing. I don’t need to play cricket. Until they restore my respect and formally inform everyone that Bijoy is not a criminal, that Bijoy’s payments have been cleared, that whatever happened regarding fixing, those names were wrongly included, he was on the suspicion list but the matter has now been resolved, and that he is eligible to play all forms of cricket.”
When asked about the process followed by the BCB and the absence of any formal charge or proof against him, Bijoy described the situation as “hilarious.”
Bijoy said, “I think if someone has done something, one month or even a few weeks are enough to find out. For two years, no one has been able to find anything against someone, that means that person hasn’t done anything. I am saying that I have not done anything.”
Bijoy further added, “Please give me a solution. Either say this guy has done something or this guy hasn’t done anything. Other than that, it doesn’t feel good to be left hanging like this.”
