Former Bangladesh captain and wicket-keep batter Khaled Mashud has been elected as a director in the new board of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). it’s a new chapter in his cricket journey after years on the sidelines of administration.
Mashud won by a landslide in the only truly contested category of Monday’s board election — one held under a cloud of controversy and allegations of government influence.
According to preliminary results, Mashud secured 35 votes in Category-3, which represents former players, captains, and institutions such as universities and education boards.
His rival, Jahangirnagar University’s representative Debabrata Pal, bagged just seven votes.
Though official results were pending, celebrations broke out inside a Dhaka hotel soon after word spread of Mashud’s victory.
Supporters surrounded him with garlands, chanting his name as he smiled broadly — nearly lost in a sea of flowers.
But the election’s credibility remained in question.
Debabrata, the defeated candidate, alleged that the polls were influenced by “forces beyond cricket,” calling the process “deeper than match-fixing.”
His comments sounded the same like the wider criticism from candidates who boycotted or withdrew in protest against what they called state interference in the run-up to the vote.
Mashud’s entry comes as the new 25-member BCB board takes shape following a tense and highly politicized election cycle.
In Category-1, representing the divisions, Aminul Islam and Nazmul Abedin won from Dhaka, while Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury and singer-turned-director Asif Akbar claimed the Chattogram seats.
Former spinner Abdur Razzak and Zulfikar Ali Khan were elected unopposed from Khulna, with other winners including Muklesur Rahman (Rajshahi), Hasanuzzaman (Rangpur), Rahat Shams (Sylhet), and Shakhawat Hossain (Barishal).
In Category-2, which includes Dhaka’s club representatives, the 12 directors elected are Ishtiaq Sadek, Adnan Rahman Dipon, Fayazur Rahman, Abul Bashar, Amzad Hossain, Shanian Tanim, Mukhsedul Kamal, M. Nazmul Islam, Faruk Ahmed, Monzur Alam, Meherab Alam Chowdhury, and Iftikhar Rahman Mithu.
Two additional directors — M. Ishfaq Hossain and Yasir Mohammad Faysal Ashik — have been nominated by the National Sports Council.
With Aminul Islam expected to retain the presidency after an election marred by boycotts and court rulings, Mashud’s arrival injects a measure of cricketing credibility into a board struggling to regain public trust.