BCB sacks director Nazmul Islam after Bangladesh players boycott BPL match

Bangladesh Cricket crisis deepens as BCB has sacked director M Nazmul Islam on Thursday (Jan 15), relieving him of all duties (also as the chairman of the finance committee) amid demands from the cricketers, who boycotted BPL 2026’s game number 26, scheduled the same day. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), in a press release, announced the decision to sack Nazmul over his controversial public remarks against his country’s cricketers. This shocking call came on the back of the abandoned match between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

"Following a review of recent developments and in the best interest of the organisation, the BCB president has decided to release Nazmul Islam from his responsibilities as chairman of the finance committee with immediate effect," a media release by BCB reads.

"The BCB reiterates that the interests of the cricketers remain its highest priority. The Board remains fully committed to upholding the honour and dignity of all players under its jurisdiction," it further read.

Meanwhile, the players threatened to boycott all cricket in the country unless the cricket board sacked its director, Nazmul.

What exactly happened?

The backlash began after Nazmul, while reiterating Bangladesh’s stance against travelling to India for the next month’s T20 World Cup, rejected concerns around the player remuneration should Bangladesh decide to withdraw from the 20-team tournament.

In an earlier statement, Nazmul said that should that happen, the Bangladesh Cricket Board would be unaffected (with this decision), but the players would, who shall not be compensated, as they haven't justified the board’s support over the same so far.

"There will be no loss for the Bangladesh Cricket Board [if we don't take part in the World Cup] as the loss will be for the players," Nazmul said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

"Up to 2027, our revenue will not be hampered because in the 2022 ICC financial meeting, this was already fixed. Future World Cups or future bilateral or international events may have relevance, for example, whether teams will come to us under the FTP. Those are valid questions. But this World Cup does not affect that,” he continued.

"Why [should we compensate?] If they go somewhere and cannot do anything, then the crores of Taka we spend behind them, do we ask for that money back from them? Do we? Answer me," he said, adding that the players would find it difficult to survive without the cricket board.

Meanwhile, the BCB remains firm (on its stance) against travelling to India for the first showpiece event of the year over its players’ safety. It all started after the BCCI directed IPL team KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman following ‘recent developments’ across the border, including internal chaos and regular attacks on the minorities in the country.

Irked by BCCI’s decision and lack of a reasonable explanation on the same, the BCB held back-to-back meetings, taking bold steps, including suspending all IPL-related broadcasts in the country from the coming season onwards. They did not stop there, as the Board then formally wrote to the apex body against their will to send its players to India for the T20 WC, to which the ICC rejected their first plea.