Bangladesh Cricket Board director and Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) president Naimur Rahman has added a new twist to the ongoing saga involving the governing body of cricket in the country and Legends of Rupganj owner Lutfur Rahman Badal.
In an interview with a leading national daily that was published yesterday, the country’s first Test captain mentioned he was unaware that the press conference which was organised in Mirpur last Monday to protest against Badal’s indecent comments against the board and a few directors recently would be a joint one.
Alongside former captains, Dhaka Premier League Clubs Association (DPLCA) and Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, CWAB was one of the organisers of the presser.
On top of that, another surprising aspect of the press conference was the presence of former opener Hannan Sarker, who represented CWAB, instead of Naimur.
Moreover, Hannan’s statement, which contained ill remarks against Badal, contradicted a press release that was earlier distributed by CWAB regarding the prevailing controversy.
Questions were immediately raised as to why there were drastic changes in Hannan’s statement compared to the CWAB press release.
CWAB vice president Khaled Mahmud, who is one of the chief protagonists of the burning issue haunting Bangladesh cricket at the moment, had said back then, “CWAB president (Naimur) is aware of the press conference. I have personally talked to him about it. Otherwise, we would not have counted CWAB as a part of the protest.”
Naimur’s interview though revealed quite the opposite.
“[Khaled Mahmud] Sujon bhai had called me over the phone and asked me to take some steps against Badal bhai’s ill comments. I think he (Mahmud) was not aware that CWAB had already circulated a media release on the issue,” said Naimur in the interview.
“Sujon bhai also said he wanted to arrange a press conference. I replied that this should not be a problem. But, I only knew that the press conference will be on behalf of CWAB. I was never informed that DPLCA and another organisations will be a part of it. I thought only the CWAB members will be present in the press conference,” he said.
Naimur also expressed his surprise with the fact that Hannan, being a CWAB member, read out the statement as opposed to the general secretary of the organisation.
“We have a committee but it seems that Sujon bhai informed no one. Usually, the general secretary of the association should read the statement in such situations,” he informed.
Naimur added that the board president, Nazmul Hasan, and the players’ association should not have been involved in this issue in the first place.
“It is totally a personal issue between Sujon and Badal bhai. This has been going on for several years now. Efforts have been made by us at different times in the past to solve the issue between the two persons but it never worked. Also, it is never
right to involve the BCB president and CWAB. This should never have happened,” he added.