The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s growing institutional crisis took a dramatic turn on Saturday as three more directors resigned in the space of a single evening, bringing the total number of departures from the current board to six in less than six months.
The resignations came at the end of a nine-hour board meeting at the BCB offices. Faizur Rahman Mitu, chairman of the BCB’s Disciplinary Committee and senior vice-chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, stepped down immediately after the meeting concluded. Shaniyan Tanim, chairman of the Facilities Management Committee, and Mehrab Alam Chowdhury, head of the Security Committee, followed shortly afterwards.
All three had been present throughout Saturday’s marathon session, during which several administrative decisions were taken. Their exits came without warning once the meeting ended. The reasons offered have been thin. Sources suggest all six directors have cited personal reasons
The departures follow a pattern that has been building for months. On 24 January, Ishtiaque Sadeque, chairman of the Game Development Committee, resigned citing personal and family reasons. On 23 March, Amjad Hossain stepped down as a director after being removed from his position as Media Committee chairman. Last Thursday, NSC-nominated director Yasir Mohammad Foysal Ashiq, who had chaired the Logistics and Protocol Committee, also quit.
Rumours of further resignations had been circulating within cricket circles for some time. Those rumours have now proved well-founded.
The current board, led by BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul, assumed office following elections held in October last year. Those elections were heavily disputed from the outset, amid widespread allegations of government interference and electoral manipulation. In response, the National Sports Council formed a five-member investigation committee in March to examine the irregularities, with its report expected imminently.
