The Bangladesh cricketers called off their boycott after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reached an agreement with the Bangladesh Cricketers Welfare Association (CWAB) following a meeting on Thursday night.
As a result, the scheduled Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches will begin on Friday.
CWAB president Mohammad Mithun, who appeared at a press conference at the board’s premises shortly before midnight along with BCB director Iftikhar Rahman, said the players had decided to resume playing the game in the spirit of greater enthusiasm.
“Keeping in mind the high interest of cricket, we will play again tomorrow (Friday). BCB has assured us that they will approach him and fulfill our demands soon,” Mithun said, referring to BCB director M Najmul Islam.
Earlier on Thursday, the CWAB issued a statement demanding Najul’s suspension as a precondition for negotiations.
Although BCB has removed Najmula as chairman of the finance committee, he remains a board director pending the outcome of an internal review initiated by the board.
While the protesters have welcomed the move, they are demanding a public apology from Najmul, a major point of contention between CWAB and BCB president Aminul Islam.
PCB officials confirmed that Najmul had been served with a show-cause notice and given 48 hours to respond, with a deadline of noon on Saturday. The matter will then be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the Board as per the Constitution.
Before meeting the players’ representatives around 10:30 pm on Thursday night, the PCB held discussions with the PBL owner.
The controversy started on Wednesday when Najmul made derogatory remarks about senior national players while speaking at a PCB prayer meeting for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
He was asked about the financial impact on the Bangladesh team if they withdraw from the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Responding to this, Najmul said that the board will not suffer financially and the players will only bear the consequences and they are not entitled to compensation. He further criticized the players’ performance, questioning the board’s return on financial investment.
Soon after these comments emerged, the BCB issued a statement distancing itself from Najmul’s comments, expressing “genuine regret” and clarifying that it does not endorse or take responsibility for any director’s personal statements unless properly issued through official channels.
Addressing the issue on Thursday night, Iftekar Rahman described it as “unfortunate comments” and confirmed that the team was unable to contact Najmul throughout the day.
“Some unfortunate incidents in the last two days prevented today’s PBL matches from being held. The director who made the comment has been removed from his board,” said Ibtekar. “We are following the constitution. A show-cause notice has been issued and disciplinary action will continue accordingly.”
He also said that efforts were made to make Najmul appear before the committee but repeated attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.