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Published : 07 Jun 2026, 10:34 AM
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is heading into its second election in eight months with many outcomes already decided without a single vote being cast.
Eight directors have already been elected unopposed.
The corridors of Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium have been dressed up with banners and festoons, and the BCB offices lit up for the occasion, but the atmosphere inside falls well short of a real electoral contest.
Of the board's 25 director posts, eight have already been filled without a vote, leaving only 15 seats up for grabs on Sunday.
The BCB's structure divides its directors across three categories: 10 from Category 1 (regional and district sports associations), 12 from Category 2 (clubs), and one from Category 3 (former captains, cricketers, universities and associated bodies).
The National Sports Council (NSC) nominates two additional directors directly.
The 25 directors then elect the board president and two vice-presidents.
This election follows a turbulent few months for the national cricketing body.
In the previous vote on Oct 6 last year, Aminul Islam Bulbul was returned as president unopposed, but the process was dogged by allegations of irregularities and bias, with several prospective candidates pulling out in protest.
The NSC set up a committee to investigate and, on the strength of its report, dissolved Aminul's board on Apr 7.
The NSC replaced it with an 11-member ad-hoc committee headed by Tamim Iqbal, with a mandate to hold elections within three months. Sunday's vote comes just two months into that window.
Nine directors were elected unopposed in the previous election, while several other races were considered virtually decided before polling day.
This time is little different, though one distinction stands out: whereas the last vote was marked by clear incidents of malpractice, no such incidents have surfaced so far this cycle, even if rumours of backroom manoeuvring persist and government influence is said to have made itself felt in Category 1.
Seven of the eight directors already elected unopposed come from Category 1. The lone Category 3 director has also been elected without a contest.
The Real Battle: Clubs
The main battle is expected in Category-2, the club category, where 16 candidates are vying for 12 director posts.
Tamim, representing Old DOHS Sports Club, is among the candidates.
The rest of the lineup features
Word in the corridors has it that 8 to 10 of the 16 are already near-certainties to win, though elections have a habit of producing the unexpected.
Four of those 16 served on Aminul's previous board before resigning at different points: Faiyazur, Faisal Ashik, Amzad Hossain and Nabin.
Major Imroz had also put his name forward last time before pulling out.
A total of 184 councillors are eligible to vote in this election. Category 1 accounts for 66 voters, Category 2 for 76 and Category 3 for 42.
Category 1 allocates two director positions each to the Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna divisions, and one each to Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal and Rangpur.
With seven candidates already elected unopposed across five divisions, voting will take place only in the Khulna and Barishal divisions.
In Khulna, three candidates are competing for two seats: Md Shafiqul Alam of Khulna District Sports Association, Shantanu Islam of Jashore District Sports Association and Md Abdus Salam of Chuadanga District Sports Association.
In Barishal, Md Mizanur Rahman of Barishal Divisional Sports Association and Md Muntasir Alam Chowdhury of Bhola District Sports Association are vying for a single seat.
Those elected unopposed from Category-1 include Sayed Bin Zaman and SM Abdullah Al Fuad from Dhaka Division, former Bangladesh captain and selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu and Moin Uddin Chowdhury from Chattogram Division, Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury from Sylhet Division, Mir Shakhrul Alam Shimanto from Rajshahi Division and Mirza Faisal Amin from Rangpur Division.
In Category 3, Chittagong University Councillor Siraj Uddin Md Alamgir is the sole candidate, making him a director without a contest.
He first became a BCB director in 2005 and also served during Nazmul Hasan Papon's first term as president.
Several elected and aspiring directors have close ties to the ruling BNP. Mirza Faisal, elected from Rangpur, is the brother of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Rajshahi's Mir Shakhrul is the son of State Minister Mir Shahe Alam, while Abdul Qaiyum serves as the administrator of the Sylhet City Corporation and president of the district BNP unit.
Zaman is the son of State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Rashiduzzaman Millat, while Moin Uddin is an uncle of Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury.
Shantanu, contesting from Khulna Division, is the brother of State Minister for Power and Energy Aninda Islam.
Among the club-category candidates, Sayeed Ibrahim is the son of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Israfil is the son of Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Yasser is the son of Prime Minister's Political Advisor Mirza Abbas.
All three are currently members of the ad-hoc board.
The three-member election commission overseeing the vote is headed by Supreme Court senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim, with Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Israel Howladar and NSC Director (Planning and Development) and Deputy Secretary ABM Ehsanul Mamun rounding out the panel.
