National chief selector Akram Khan and former Bangladesh Cricket Board member Sirajuddin Alamgir are set to square off over the councilorship of the upcoming BCB election. Both men are looking to be nominated from Chittagong, a key center in the matter and according to the constitution, a District and Divisional Sports Association is entitled to nominate two councilors for the poll.
Renown sports organiser and member of the current BCB ad-hoc committee AJM Nasiruddin is the first obvious option as the councillor. The second position is the one being contested for by Alamgir and Akram. However, national chief selector and former national skipper Akram has denied his involvement in any politics for the matter.
Akram is not a member of the Chittagong Divisional Sports Association and this has been pointed out by his rival and brother-in-law Alamgir. Alamgir had declared that he will fight hard for the election and things should be run by the constitution, even if his competition is family.
Akram had previously planned to stand as counsellor from the NSCand step-down from the chief selector post right after the Eid vacation but now he has change his plan and wants to be nominated a counsellor from Chittagong. According to the constitution, one has to be at least a General Member of the association, which Akram is not.
"The councillors can never be nominated centrally. Doing so will be in violation of the constitution and the election will be mechanized. To be honest I will take legal action if any of these is done and spare none, doesn't matter if it's even family," Alamgir told the media yesterday.
For his part, Akram during an interview with a Chittagong based daily the other day, ruled-out Alamgir's chances in the election and later told the Dhaka Tribune that it was not his personal decision to fight in the election.
"First thing is I am not a member of the DSA and I don't have any idea of what might have been happening down there and that's not a headache for me to be honest," said Akram to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
"It is the BCB president (Nazmul Hasan) who thought of me as a counsellor. He might have thought that I can do better for cricket in Chittagong, so there is no chance for me to disrespect the thought and back-out from the run," he explained.