Key officials from many cricket clubs in Dhaka have started a big fight in Bangladesh cricket. They are saying the recent BCB elections were “illegal” or “fake” and have announced they will stop playing all Dhaka league matches for an unknown amount of time.
This strong action comes from the same group of clubs that pulled out of the October 6 voting because they felt someone was wrongly messing with the election.
The protest, announced at a press meeting, means all cricket games in Dhaka—from the top-level Premier League down to the lowest third-division—will stop. Masuduzzaman, a BCB member from Mohammedan Sporting Club, said the united boycott would even cover cricket at the district level.
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“From the third-division up to the Premier League, all the people who arrange these games, we saw how the good spirit of cricket was lost,” Masuduzzaman explained. He warned, “If things stay like this, we won’t play cricket. We will also stop playing at the district level… We did not agree to these elections.”
The protesting clubs, supported by the group that includes the famous player Tamim Iqbal, reportedly have the backing of at least 38 clubs. This is a major issue because it includes seven of the top Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL) teams: champions Abahani Limited, their main rivals Mohammedan, and five others.
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The Dhaka leagues are the most important part of Bangladesh cricket, helping players since the 1950s. Dhaka clubs are usually very powerful and hold many spots on the BCB board.
The trouble grew when the BCB president sent a strange letter on September 18, asking the sports ministry for a new list of voters from the districts—a move the Tamim group saw as unfair meddling.
Just a few hours after the clubs announced the boycott, BCB chief Aminul Islam responded. In a statement, he promised that the board would protect the players. “Looking out for Bangladesh cricket and the welfare of the cricketers are the main goals of the BCB,” he said.