Three Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) directors – Faiazur Rahman, Shanian Taneem and Mehrab Alam Chowdhury – walked away from their posts on Saturday evening, only hours after a lengthy board meeting in Dhaka. Their departures lift the running total of resignations since last October’s elections to six, an unusually high number for an organisation where directors typically serve full terms.
First the headlines, then the context. Faiazur, Taneem and Chowdhury each submitted letters soon after the meeting chaired by president Aminul Islam. Vice-president Faruque Ahmed, currently unwell, joined online. The other three directors to have stepped down were Ishtiaque Sadeque in January, Amzad Hossain in March and Yasir Mohammed Faysal on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters later, the new media committee chairman Mohammad Mokhsedul Kamal admitted the board had been caught on the hop. “We haven’t discussed this at the board. Those who resigned cited personal reasons for their decision,” he said. “It is their personal decision. The one you are mentioning [Faiazur], he attended the meeting with us. We heard the news that he resigned after the meeting.”
No statement was issued by any of the three directors on Saturday night. However, Faiazur – until now vice-chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, which oversees the capital’s leagues – had only last week criticised what he felt was the board’s sluggish approach to running domestic competitions. Observers close to the board suggest his public comments may have left him feeling isolated during Saturday’s discussions, although none of the parties has confirmed this.
From a governance perspective the numbers look troubling. Six resignations in just under six months represent roughly a fifth of the directors elected or nominated last October. For context, the previous two terms passed with only one resignation in total.
Those exits also arrive while two separate government-backed reviews sit on the sports minister’s desk. One committee is examining the legality and transparency of the 2025 election process; it is expected to report to the ministry within the next week. A second panel, announced in parliament by sports minister Aminul Haque, will look into Bangladesh’s absence from the recent T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka and into wider allegations of political favouritism inside the BCB. The potential for overlapping findings – and awkward headlines – has not gone unnoticed by senior administrators.
Asked whether the loss of three more directors would hamper day-to-day work, a senior official speaking off the record struck a pragmatic note. The board, he said, could still form a quorum for ordinary business, but committee structures would need a quick reshuffle to prevent bottlenecks in tournament planning and player welfare.
Long-serving followers of Bangladesh cricket have seen boardroom spats before, yet the cumulative effect of departures, public criticism and external scrutiny feels weightier this time. While the national men’s side enters a crucial run of away fixtures and the women prepare for their next ICC event, stability at Mirpur headquarters is suddenly harder to locate.
For the moment, though, only one certainty stands: there are three empty seats at the directors’ table, and the BCB must decide – sooner rather than later – who, if anyone, can credibly fill them.
