Bangladesh Players Open to Ending Boycott After Public Apology from BCB Director

Bangladesh cricketers have signalled to end the boycott only if the BCB director Nazmul Islam issues a public apology. The cricketers issued a new statement today after the boycott took effect, postponing both BPL 2026 and Dhaka Cricket League matches in the country.

In a calculated move to calm tensions, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) removed Nazmul Islam from the board's finance committee on Thursday. Apparently, this decision hasn’t calmed the anger of Bangladesh cricketers, as they want him to be removed from the position of board director as well.

Besides this, the demand for a public apology from Nazmul Islam seems to have become a point of contention between the cricketers and BCB president Aminul Islam. 

The Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) issued a statement today that they will end the boycott and play the BPL matches on Friday, only if BCB director Islam apologizes in public.

"We welcome the decision to remove BCB director M Nazmul Islam from the board's finance committee. Since he has been given a show-cause notice and since the BCB has asked for time due to procedural reasons regarding his directorship, we want to give him that time. However, we hope that the process will continue,” said the CWAB.

"In addition, since Director M Nazmul Islam has publicly spoken insulting words about the cricketers, we hope that he will publicly apologise. We have informed the BCB that we are ready to return to the game from Friday if he publicly apologises and the process for his directorship is ongoing," said the CWAB.

It now depends on the BCB on how to take this matter towards a resolution. Considering the financial circumstances, cancelling BPL matches for another day would prove detrimental for the board. 

A league that has already faced plenty of controversies before the start of the season cannot take another hit with this new fiasco that is deepening with each passing day.