Political grandstanding has won. Bangladesh are out of the T20 World Cup. The moment it became a case of cricket first or nation first, the writing was on the wall. There was no way the current establishment could afford to look weak in the eyes of its own people. If that meant sacrificing their cricketers and cricket, they were prepared to do so.
Aminul Islam Bulbul, the BCB president, called the ICC’s decision unfair and suggested that they would keep fighting. Isolated, cornered, and having lost the vote 2–14, one wonders how.
Some continue to hope for a miracle. The truth is that miracles rarely happen. Bulbul has suggested that the popularity of cricket is declining. He seems to have realised this only after the ICC decided not to agree to the BCB’s demands. All said and done, Bangladesh cricket has entered a dark alley with no light at the end of the tunnel.
You speak to journalists and players off the record, and you sense the frustration. You ask them to come on your shows and they tell you they are scared. Each is worried about the future. They don’t know whether speaking out could land them in trouble. Could they incur the wrath of the establishment by doing so? Could they face backlash from the radical fringes?
The BCB insists that the Mustafizur issue is connected to the World Cup. The ICC disagrees. And the truth is that almost all member boards disagree with the BCB. In a democratic world, you need to know your rights and be smart about how you exercise them. Being daft doesn’t help, and Bangladesh took the entire issue to a point of no return, without finding a face-saving way to wriggle out of it.
It was almost hilarious to hear Bulbul speak of India as though it were the devil incarnate at his press conference on Thursday. Memories tend to be short, but in Bulbul’s case it is especially surprising, given that he was captain when Bangladesh played their first Test against India 25 years ago. He, more than anyone else, should know how instrumental a role India played in helping Bangladesh gain Test status, despite significant opposition from other ICC members.
As for his comment that cricket’s popularity is declining, he presumably did not watch the recent Ashes series where, despite two Test matches ending within a couple of days, the aggregate crowd was nearly one million. The stands for India’s recent white-ball matches against both South Africa and New Zealand have also been absolutely packed.
The claim that it would be an ICC failure if a country of 200 million people did not make it to the Olympics perhaps needs a harsh reality check. Bangladesh are not remotely among the top six teams in any format of the game, and according to the organisers, only six side will participate in the Olympic tournament in 2028.
The reality is that this is a massive own goal for Bangladesh cricket, brought about by pandering to an extreme political class. Having opened a Pandora’s box, Bangladesh’s politicians and cricket board will now have to live with the consequences.
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