Dhaka, Jan 22 (PTI) Aminul Islam Bulbul has always been a special man in Bangladesh cricket as their first ever Test centurion, having achieved the feat in the country’s debut game against India 25 years back.
That was a first he would always cherish but on Thursday it became evident that another “first” would forever be attached to fans’ favourite ‘Bulbul bhai’, an ignominy that, even if he tried, would not easily go away.
He is set to become the first Bangladesh Cricket Board president under whom a national team is likely to withdraw from an ICC global event because of hardline stance taken by government advisor Asif Nazrul, who clubbed security concerns with national prestige.
The rigid stance could also cost BCB close to BDT 325 crore (around USD 27 million) that comes from the ICC’s annual revenue. Add to it loss of broadcast revenue, sponsorship revenue and the income for financial year could take a massive hit, close to 60 percent or even more.
The cumulative effect could also mean that India may not tour Bangladesh in August-September, a series whose TV broadcast rights is equivalent at least 10 bilateral match-ups against other nations.
In another three weeks, Bangladesh will go into polls on February 12 and once a stable government is in place, Nazrul, the Jamat activist and one of the key faces during the protests, would become a footnote but the embarrassment would be a lingering sour aftertaste for Bulbul.
A BCB source, who actively followed the happenings in Bangladesh cricket for the past three weeks, said that once Nazrul, who apart from being the government sports advisor also happens to be a legal advisor, had put his foot down, there was no way that there could have been a shift in stance.
“Today, when they met Asif Nazrul, the government advisor did most of the talking with occasional comments from Bulbul bhai. The players mostly kept quiet. The senior players feel that if someone of Tamim Iqbal’s stature could be disrespected, they could face even bigger backlash,” the source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Bulbul apparently looked crestfallen after the meeting, having not been able to convince Nazrul.
“In this situation, when we are seeing that Bangladesh may not be going to the World Cup, or that Bangladesh has been given an ultimatum, we will still try our best to play in the World Cup,” Bulbul said but everyone who has watched the press conference knows that the former national skipper hardly sounded convincing.
In the Bangladesh cricketing ecosystem, Bulbul has lost a lot of goodwill as many had expected that he would be using his old connections in the ICC to at least try and shift the games to Sri Lanka.
“Bulbul bhai was ICC’s Game Development Officer for 10 years before he came back to Bangladesh Cricket Board. He knows everyone in the ICC but strangely at the final board meeting, he was cornered. Save Pakistan’s token support, there was no one in his favour. Even Sri Lanka Cricket, the country of their choice didn’t support them,” the source said.
For someone like Litton Das, it was a once-in-lifetime opportunity to lead his country at a global event. Pushing 32, Litton wouldn’t know whether in two years time, his form and fitness would permit him to play another T20 World Cup. Above all, even if he is available as a player, will he remain a captain? Social media is divided with majority of Bangladesh public of the opinion that Nazrul has taken the correct stance by not allowing the team to travel to India as Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster is a matter of national prestige.
Strangely, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), widely tipped to come to power after upcoming elections, haven’t exactly aired their views on the matter. It is being perceived that public sentiment has been against travelling to India and the party wants to keep a neutral stance.
In all this, the biggest losers are the players, who miss out on a huge opportunity.
It has been learnt that Nazrul and Bulbul have assured players that they won’t lose out on match money and it will be paid keeping the number of games Bangladesh could have played in the tournament.
But even Bangladesh’s elite cricketers are part of their own country’s creamy layer and after a point, it is not money that drives an international sportsperson, it is spirit of competition that matters. PTI KHS KHS ATK ATK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.