Tamim Iqbal has withdrawn his nomination for next week’s Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections, saying he can no longer endorse a process he believes has “nothing to do with cricket”. His decision, mirrored by 15 other nominees, leaves 27 candidates contesting the 17 remaining director posts.
How the numbers now stack up
• 23 directors are elected, two are government-appointed.
• Six directors – Shakhawat Hossain (Barishal), Rahat Shams (Sylhet), Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury and Asif Akbar (Chattogram), Abdur Razzak and Julfikar Ali Khan (Khulna) – have already walked in unopposed.
• Three contenders apiece remain in Dhaka, Rangpur and Rajshahi.
• The ‘Category 3’ seat will be a straight vote between former captain Khaled Mashud and Debabrata Paul of Jahangirnagar University.
• Category 2, where Tamim was standing on behalf of Old DOHS, involves 76 Dhaka-based clubs.
Aminul Islam, the current board president, now has a clear route to re-election when the new directors meet on 6 October.
Tamim’s misgivings go back to 21 September, when he first challenged what he saw as political interference and shifting goalposts. After handing in his withdrawal papers on Wednesday he doubled down.
“At least 14 or 15 of us have withdrawn our nominations today,” he began. “The reason for this withdrawal is very clear. From the very beginning, I have been saying one thing, and you are all clear about it now – about which direction this election is going or how it is being conducted. Whatever seems right at any moment, whatever they want to do, is being done. This is not really an election. This is not an election, and this doesn’t suit cricket in any way.”
He added that the repeated extensions to the nomination deadline – one of them signed by Aminul Islam rather than the BCB chief executive, which is the normal protocol – were the final straw.
“(Match) fixing is often talked about quite loudly,” Tamim said, “but it is the election fixing that needs to be stopped first. I think it is crystal clear to everyone who was involved, at what time, what kind of involvement they had, what kind of interference occurred, and how the rules were changed at will for convenience. I will end my speech by saying that this election has become a black mark for the Bangladesh Cricket Board.”
No official reply yet
The election commission has so far declined detailed comment, repeating only that all procedures are “within the constitution”. A short statement from a board spokesperson said the poll would “go ahead on 6 October as planned”. No direct answer was given to Tamim’s accusations about deadline changes.
Why it matters
Directors wield significant influence over funding, facilities and the domestic calendar. In recent years Bangladesh have climbed the ICC rankings in both white-ball formats, but progress at home – especially club cricket and regional academies – has lagged behind. Administrators privately admit that political alliances have long shaped board elections; what has changed is the willingness of a senior player to challenge them so publicly.
Cricket analyst Nizam Rahman believes Tamim’s move has symbolic weight even if it does not derail the vote. “When a former captain pulls out, fans pay attention,” he said. “It exposes tensions between those running the game and those who play it.”
Looking ahead
Ballots will still open next Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. If, as expected, Aminul Islam is confirmed for another term, attention will shift to whether dissenting voices – Tamim among them – are invited into advisory roles or frozen out. The board could do with calm: Bangladesh host England in January and plan to revive the longer-delayed High Performance programme.
For now, Tamim says he will focus on cricket rather than corridors of power. “I always say one thing: cricket, Bangladesh cricket does not deserve this, and the cricket fans of Bangladesh do not deserve this either.”
