Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh government on Tuesday appointed former cricketer Tamim Iqbal as the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), and dissolved the current board of directors of the country’s cricketing body.The current president of BCB, Aminul Islam Bulbul, has been removed by the country’s National Sports Council (NSC), which formed an ad-hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs till fresh elections are held.This development comes days after the BCB reached out to BCCI requesting the revival of bilateral ties.Tamim, 37, is the youngest BCB chief and will lead an 11-member ad-hoc committee that includes former Bangladesh captain Minhajul Abedin and former cricketer and TV commentator Athar Ali Khan.As per a report by news agency PTI, Bulbul was removed primarily due to the fiasco during the T20 World Cup where erstwhile interim government advisor Asif Nazrul didn’t allow the national team to visit India for the global event.Nazrul’s stand was to shift Bangladesh’s games from Kolkata and Mumbai to Sri Lanka as a mark of protest for removal of Mustafizur Rahaman from the IPL.During the whole issue, Bulbul was a mere bystander and over the past few days, six directors of the BCB resigned because of him.Former Bangladesh skipper and country’s greatest opener Tamim Iqbal has been named as head of the 11-member ad-hoc committee, whose duty would be to hold the cricket board’s election in the next 90 days (three months).According to NSC Director Aminul Ehsan, the decision to dissolve the current BCB board and put forth an ad-hoc committee has been informed to the International Cricket Council (ICC).While the ICC charter doesn’t allow government or external interference in board matters, it is unlikely that the global body will ban the Bangladesh board as a timeline to hold the elections has already been announced by the NSC.The 11 member ad-hoc committee comprise Tamim Iqbal (president), Athar Ali Khan, Rashna Imam, Mirza Yasir Abbas, Syed Ibrahim Ahmed, Minhazul Abedin Nannu, Ishrafil Khusroo, Tanzim Choudhury, Salman Ispahani, Rafiqul Islam, Fahim Sinha.
