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Published : 15 Jan 2026, 12:42 PM
Cricketers have remained firm in their decision to boycott Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches, even as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) issued a show-cause notice to Director M Najmul Islam over recent disputes.
One player, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “It is upsetting that so much is happening, yet the board president has neither met us nor made a single call.”
Although BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul has not intervened personally, board directors have been trying to reconcile with the players.
The BCB has issued a show-cause notice to Najmul, but the cricketers remain adamant about his resignation.
Under the circumstances, the BPL matches scheduled for Thursday are unlikely to be held.
The first match is scheduled to start at 1pm, while the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) has called a press briefing at 1pm in a Dhaka hotel.
Team buses were expected at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium by 11:30am, but players remained at the hotel.
CWAB President Mohammad Mithun told bdnews24.com that their stance has not changed.
“Several board directors spoke to us last night, but they could not give assurances that our demand would be met. We are, therefore, holding firm to our earlier decision. Nothing short of the concerned director’s resignation is sufficient,” he said.
Several BCB directors met with players including Mithun, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan Sohan and other cricketers at a hotel on Wednesday night. No resolution was reached during the meeting.
The board issued a statement at 9pm expressing regret over the situation and reaffirming support for the players.
At 11:20am on Thursday, it issued another statement saying that Director Najmul had been served a 48-hour show-cause notice and that the matter would be handled according to procedure.
During Wednesday night’s meeting, BCB Director and BPL Governing Council Secretary Iftekhar Rahman told players that procedure would be followed and requested time to complete it.
A source present at the meeting said that the players pointed out that the board had collectively replaced the BCB president, so they questioned why similar action could not be taken against a single board director.
The BPL directors had contacted the BCB chief several times after the meeting, but he did not answer the calls. By 11:30am on Thursday, the cricketers had received no response.
BCB Director Najmul also chairs the board’s finance committee. A few days ago, he caused controversy by calling former captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent”.
On Wednesday, Najmul verbally attacked the players. Asked whether compensation would be provided if the Bangladesh team failed to qualify for the World Cup, he said: “If they cannot achieve anything, after spending crores on them, do we demand that money back or not? Answer me this question.”
Asked another question, he added: “We have spent so much on them, yet they achieve nothing in different arenas. Have we gotten a single global trophy so far? How much have we achieved, anywhere? Every time we could say ‘You failed to play, now pay us back for the money we spent…’.”
The remarks sparked a strong backlash. At an online news conference at 9:30pm, CWAB chief Mithun said that players would suspend their participation in all forms of cricket if the director does not resign.
