The unrest has affected the training of the various national teams and there is uncertainty over the women’s T20 World Cup in October
Mohammad Isam07-Aug-2024First, what’s going on in Bangladesh?It started as a students’ protest against a contentious job-quota rule, and built up, largely in response to the government’s attempts at suppression, into a huge political uprising, resulting in perhaps the worst incidents of violence in the history of the country since its liberation in 1971. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and flew to India on Monday. It ended the 15-year rule of the Awami League. The country’s army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman met with president Mohammad Shahabuddin to form an interim government even as the world saw images of people looting and vandalising properties belonging to Hasina and her family, as well as those belonging to the government. Statues of the “father of the nation”, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also Hasina’s father, were desecrated and demolished.Cricket might not be the most important thing at the moment then, but still, how has it been impacted?The Bangladesh senior men’s team is expected to leave for Pakistan on August 16 but several of their training sessions couldn’t be held. The BCB and PCB operations departments are in touch, and the departure date hasn’t changed.The Bangladesh A team players and management offer prayers for the deceased in the anti-government protests•BCBThe Bangladesh men’s A team was scheduled to leave for Islamabad on Tuesday but couldn’t since the Dhaka airport was shut on Monday. The team will travel to Islamabad on 10 August, instead, which was scheduled to be the first day of the series, and the matches will begin from August 13.*The Bangladesh women’s team’s training was also disrupted. They have recently returned from Sri Lanka, where they reached the semi-final of the Asia Cup, and were preparing for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the country in October. Dhaka and Sylhet are the venues for the T20 World Cup, but hosting the ten-team event remains a concern.India, Sri Lanka and the UAE are in the shortlist for back-up venues in case the ICC is forced to shift the World Cup out of Bangladesh.Does the change in government mean a change in…The BCB? Yes, quite likely. BCB’s next elections are only in October 2025. But given the highly politicised nature of the board’s makeup, it is tough to see any of the directors, especially president Nazmul Hassan, returning to the Mirpur office.There are other issues too. Nazmul has also been Bangladesh’s sports minister since early 2024. Shafiul Alam Chowdhury, the BCB director, became an Awami League MP in the 2024 general elections. Several other board directors have political connections as well – including former MPs Naimur Rahman and AJM Nasir Uddin and directors Sheikh Sohel and Nazib Ahmed, Hasina’s cousins.None of them were available, at least on their phones, since the fall of the government on August 5.BCB boss Nazmul Hassan’s whereabouts are unknown at the moment•BCBWhat’s the update on Nazmul?There are conflicting reports. We heard from one source that he had left the country, but there are also reports – all unconfirmed – that he is in Bangladesh. His ancestral home in Kishoreganj was vandalised, but he wasn’t there. As such, he lives in Dhaka in a house known for holding important press conferences related to Bangladesh cricket.Will the BCB have an interim set-up too? Or we don’t know yet?The National Sports Council had formed interim or ad-hoc committees to run the BCB in 2007 and in 2013. On the first occasion, it was during the rule of a caretaker government at the centre. In 2013, it was formed between the presidencies of AHM Mustafa Kamal and Nazmul Hassan, who became the first elected president of BCB later that year.Anything we say on the future of the BCB right now will be speculative at best. There is some worry about how the ICC interprets the situation. Last year, the ICC had suspended Sri Lanka Cricket for two months for violation of responsibilities as an ICC member, in particular, “the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka”.They lost the right to host the Under-19 World Cup as a result, but they were allowed to play international cricket. How the ICC interprets Bangladesh’s situation is going to be interesting to see as the PCB, too, has had a few changes to their president in recent years, and none through an electoral process.Shakib Al Hasan is currently playing in the Global T20 Canada•MLCWhat about Shakib Al Hasan – his position is impacted too, right?One couldn’t tell from Shakib Al Hasan’s on-field performance in the Global T20 Canada that, in his first term as a member of parliament, his party has been toppled in such dramatic fashion. He led Bangla Tigers Mississauga to a two-wicket win over Surrey Jaguars on Monday, winning the Player-of-the-Match award, hours after the government fell in Dhaka.There were videos going around on social media showing several Bangladeshis abusing Shakib after the match. He was also seen in an argument with a Bangladeshi fan during his previous match in Brampton after he had been asked about his silence on the crisis back home.Shakib, who was in Bangladesh for a few days after the T20 World Cup ended in June, has been playing in the MLC and the Global T20 Canada since early July. He has made himself available for the two Tests against Pakistan. He remains one of the country’s top cricketers but whether the political situation impacts his future as an international cricketer or not is unknown.How about Mashrafe Mortaza – he is an Awami League MP and a youth icon?Mashrafe Mortaza’s silence on the students’ movement also did not sit well with many. He was known for his salt-of-the-earth persona in his years as a player and later as Bangladesh’s captain from 2014 to 2020. His decision to venture into politics in 2018 was met with mixed reactions. At that time, Mashrafe became the first active international cricketer to be a member of parliament. On Monday, his parents’ home back in Narail was set on fire.Will Mashrafe return to public life as a politician? We don’t know. Both Mashrafe and Shakib, two of Bangladesh cricket’s biggest icons, being silent through the past few weeks at a time of crisis for Bangladesh might have hurt their reputation.
