BCB official sparks outrage after calling Tamim Iqbal Indian agent
Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh has strongly condemned the insensitive remark on Tamim Iqbal.
New Delhi: After Tamim Iqbal advised the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) not to be driven by emotion while deciding on the team's participation in the T20 World Cup in India, a senior BCB official sparked outrage after calling him an 'Indian agent'.
His insensitive comment has not gone down well with the players in the country after Nazmul, the chairman of BCB finance committee called the left-handed opener an agent of India in a post on social media site Facebook. He wrote that: 'This time, the people of Bangladesh witnessed, with their own eyes, the emergence of yet another proven Indian agent.'
Comment invites widespread outrage
As soon as it was posted on social media, the message invited a lot of backlash from former and current cricketers, including Taskin Ahmed, Momimul Haque and Taijul Islam. Even the Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) expressed shock at Nazmul's comments, saying that they are stunned and shocked.
'A comment made by BCB director M Nazmul Islam regarding former national captain Tamim Iqbal has come to the attention of the Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh. We are stunned, shocked, and outraged by it.'
'Such a remark by a board official about the most successful opener in Bangladesh's history, who represented the country for 16 years, is utterly condemnable.'
'Not only because it concerns a player like Tamim, but such comments about any cricketer of the country are unacceptable and insulting to the entire cricketing community,' the players' body said in a statement.
The body further said that they strongly protest against this comment as it raises serious questions about the code of conduct of the board officials. They also said that they have already submitted a protest letter to the BCB president demanding a public apology from the concerned board director and that he should be brought under accountability.
This comes after Bangladesh wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to move their T20 World Cup games out of India after the BCCI instructed IPL franchise KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman ahead of the 2026 edition without giving a specific reason.
(With PTI inputs)