Published : 27 Sep 2026, 11:08 PM
Updated : 27 Sep 2026, 11:08 PM
For years, Bangladesh cricket’s problems have often been easier to identify than to fix. Players trained without adequate facilities, domestic cricket struggled for relevance, and the board frequently found itself at odds with the very cricketers it was meant to serve.
Tamim Iqbal says he has spent his first three months as Bangladesh Cricket Board president trying to unlock that system.
He points to higher player salaries, work at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, plans for an excellence centre, changes to domestic cricket and a greater focus on women’s cricket as evidence that the board has finally begun moving.
But Tamim also knows the questions surrounding his presidency have not disappeared. His relationships with the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), the selection of players linked to him, the board’s treatment of journalists and the direction of the national team have all drawn scrutiny.
In an interview with bdnews24.com, Tamim addressed those issues while laying out what he believes should be the board’s central responsibility: building an environment in which cricketers can thrive.
‘We Have Unlocked the Door’
Tamim says the first three months have been about getting things moving after years of stagnation.
“There is a lot to do, from the entire ecosystem of Bangladesh cricket to development and facilities,” he said. “But we have unlocked the door and started.”
The most visible work is at Mirpur, where he expects the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium to look substantially different within two or three months, with improved facilities.
A proper gym, swimming pool, rehabilitation facilities, hot and cold water and better training infrastructure, he said, are not luxuries but basic requirements.
The larger excellence centre, for which the board has secured approval, is intended to provide more comprehensive facilities. Tamim does not claim these projects will transform Bangladesh cricket overnight.
But he believes they are overdue.
“I’m not changing Bangladesh cricket 360 degrees by doing these things,” he said. “But these are basic requirements that should have been there long ago.”
He says he can already point to 14 or 15 significant initiatives launched in his first three months, but the real satisfaction will come when players begin using the facilities and those improvements translate into better fitness and performance.
‘I Am Here for the Players’
Perhaps the clearest statement of Tamim’s philosophy concerns the relationship between the board and its players.
The board has raised player salaries twice, including increasing first-class retainers from around Tk 18,000-20,000 to Tk 60,000-65,000.
Tamim rejects the idea that the increases are designed to keep players politically or institutionally close to him.
“Why shouldn’t the cricket board have a good relationship with the cricketers?” he asked. “Why can’t the cricketers and we be together?”
For him, the money is about correcting an old imbalance.
“How can a boy support his family on Tk 18,000 or Tk 20,000?” he said. “If I raise his salary, is that to keep him on my side? This is their right. They deserved it long ago.”
His message is equally direct: the board’s job is to serve the players, not demand loyalty from them.
“I am here for the cricketers. The cricketers are not here for me,” he said. “I came to look after the cricketers. They are the most important thing to me.”
In return, he wants discipline, professionalism and performance. But he draws a firm line between the board’s responsibilities and those of coaches, trainers and selectors.
The board appoints specialists, he said, and they must be held accountable for the work they were hired to do.
Diplomacy, Not Sides
Tamim also sees his role extending beyond the boundary.
At ICC and Asian Cricket Council meetings, he says his priority is straightforward: Bangladesh first.
That does not mean choosing sides between India and Pakistan, or between larger cricketing powers.
“The side you should take is Bangladesh,” he said.
His playing career, he believes, gives him an advantage. Officials across international cricket already know him, allowing him to build relationships with boards including India, Pakistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
He also says diplomacy matters.
“You cannot go there, be stubborn and say whatever you want. World cricket does not work like that,” he said. “You have to be smart, clever and diplomatic.”
Tamim expects Bangladesh’s performance on the field to matter more than his personal relationships when it comes to securing future fixtures. Still, he says he is pushing for Bangladesh to avoid long waits for tours by major nations.
He expects the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) to reflect that effort.
Domestic Cricket Needs Its Colour Back
One of Tamim’s biggest ambitions is to change the character of domestic cricket, which has often been dismissed as “picnic cricket”.
He wants competition, excitement and relevance restored.
He remembers the atmosphere surrounding Abahani and Mohammedan matches decades ago and believes domestic cricket needs some of that colour again.
That will require more than changing tournament formats, however. Media interest and spectators’ engagement will also matter.
Tamim acknowledges that the reforms may not immediately succeed. But, he argues, continuing with the existing system guarantees that nothing will change.
His immediate goal is to make domestic players look forward to matches rather than simply turn up for them.
Higher match fees, he says, cannot be the end of the reform. Better cricket must follow.
Women’s Cricket Starts from the Ground Up
Tamim is more blunt about the state of women’s cricket.
He says Bangladesh has a women’s team because it is expected to have one, rather than because the sport has been built on a proper domestic structure.
Yet he insists the women’s game is extremely important.
One of his first targets is school cricket. While 1,200 to 1,300 schools participate in boys’ cricket, he says he cannot identify even one properly established girls’ school cricket programme.
He wants at least 10 schools playing girls’ cricket next year and says he is prepared to personally help persuade schools to participate.
He has also ordered changes to the treatment of the women’s national team. While the men travel business class, the women have travelled economy.
From the next tour, he says, that will change.
With better facilities and pay comes greater accountability, he adds. Discipline, professionalism and fitness will apply equally to women cricketers.
Questions Around CWAB and Selection
Tamim makes no attempt to distance himself from his close relationship with CWAB.
Instead, he calls it an achievement.
He argues that a players’ association does not have to be in permanent conflict with the board and points to CWAB’s role in securing better pay, helping revive domestic competitions and providing financial assistance to more than 100 cricketers.
He also rejects suggestions that his relationship with CWAB influenced selection.
The inclusion of CWAB president Mithun at 35 and Irfan Shukkur at 33 in the Bangladesh A squad has prompted questions because of their association with Tamim and his home city of Chattogram.
Tamim says he does not interfere in selection.
His instruction to selectors, he says, is that age should not automatically exclude a player.
“If someone is fit at 35 and capable of serving the national team for two years, he should certainly get an opportunity,” he said.
He similarly backs domestic coaches, arguing that a qualified Bangladeshi should not lose a job simply because a foreign coach is available.
Stability Before 2027
Tamim wants the current national-team management largely left intact until the 2027 World Cup.
He says changes could come if the board finds an exceptional candidate for a particular position, but otherwise he does not want to disrupt the setup.
That approach reflects his broader philosophy: build systems rather than constantly interfere with performance.
He also rejects the idea that the board sent a legal notice to a journalist. If an individual involved with the board issued such a notice, he said, that would be a personal matter rather than a BCB action.
As for the criticism that his closeness to former cricketers has compromised the board, Tamim says differences of opinion need not erase respect.
The Bigger Test
Ultimately, Tamim says his immediate goal is simple: make domestic cricket competitive, improve facilities and create a structure that can continue after his presidency ends.
He wants to start in Dhaka, where resources can be concentrated, before extending improvements to Sylhet, Chattogram, Khulna and elsewhere.
He acknowledges that the board’s finances have limits and everything cannot be done at once.
That is also how he answers the larger question of why he wanted the presidency after three different men held the post in two years.
He rejects the idea that he needed the position for recognition.
“I don’t have an identity crisis,” he said. “Whether I become BCB president or not, I don’t need an identity.”
For Tamim, the justification will ultimately lie not in what he says about reform, but in whether the changes he has begun survive long enough to become the new normal.
“I came here to work,” he said.
