On Thursday, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), attempted to respond to Shakib Al Hasan's severe criticism concerning the chaotic administration of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), claiming that Shakib does not possess a full understanding of the predicament the BCB is facing.
A day later, on the opening day of the BPL, the CEO was confronted once againwith questions concerning Shakib's criticism in a press conference that should have taken place a few days earlier. Unfortunately, Nizamudin failed to answer them satisfactorily.
“This is not the time to talk about it,” he said in a press conference which should have taken place a few days earlier that had the presence of the Chairman and Secretary of the BPL Governing Council - the prominent individuals organizing the event.
“We are now focussing on holding the event successfully,” a clearly discomfited Nizamuddin added.
While speaking to the media on Wednesday, Shakib expressed his disappointment at the poor management of the BPL, claiming that it is worse than the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. He went on to state that if he were in charge of the BPL, he would not take more than one or two months to address the issues currently affecting the tournament.
Read: “If I were CEO of BPL, it’d take me 1 or 2 months to make necessary changes”: Shakib
He also criticized the dearth of practice venues for the teams taking part in the event, and the uncertainty surrounding the involvement of foreign players. Further, he bemoaned the declining brand value of BPL, in comparison with other leagues that have been established since its inception.
“People don’t watch BPL in other countries. And we failed to sell it well,” Shakib said.
Of course, all that the Tigers' Test captain had served up was a dose of harsh truths, whether BCB likes it or not. Nor was Shakib, one of the most well-travelled cricketers in the world on the T20 circuit, the only one.
Khaled Mahmud, the current director of the BCB and the coach of the BPL team Khulna Tigers, also spoke out. His sentiments were echoed by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain and captain of the BPL team Sylhet Strikers, and Mohammad Salahuddin, the legendary BKSP coach now in charge of Comilla Victorians. But instead of taking the criticism on board and acknowledging the wayward ship that the BPL has become in the last few years, BCB was left smarting.
Why else would a little-known official, Ismail Haider, secretary of the BPL governing council, make a surprise appearance at the opening day press conference to throw pointed questions at Shakib?
“If the Dhaka Premier Division is a superior league, why does Shakib not play there more often? He usually avoids playing in the Dhaka League, but never does the same when it comes to the BPL,” Ismail said, before mentioning that he has no intention of arguing with anyone.
The fact is the BCB has failed once again to provide a satisfactory explanation for its inability to implement the Decision Review System (DRS) technology in the BPL.
Ismail declared that they had the necessary funds and machinery to implement DRS, but they were lacking in skilled manpower to operate it - as if finding the manpower was not part of their responsibility too. He then went back to moaning about the current economic state of the country, and kept harping on the phrase ‘financial crisis’ on many occasions, as he attempted to explain why there was no inaugural ceremony - not the most important thing anyway - in a roundabout, confusing manner.
Read: BPL 2023: Rony Talukdar fifty leads Riders to victory
It prompted a journalist to flag Ismail’s contradictory statements. And then he just lost it.
“You know nothing; if you did, you wouldn't be asking such a question,” Ismail said obnoxiously, clearly flustered by the end.
Sheikh Sohel, the chairman of the BPL governing council, was not willing to respond to Shakib's criticism. He instead enthusiastically stated that he would be happy to have Shakib as the head of the BPL if the cricketer so desires.
Of course, he did not actually mean to replace himself with Shakib. Maybe as CEO?