“With great power comes great responsibility” is a very popular quote derived from Hollywood movie Spiderman, but sometimes the responsible people tend to forget that. Dhaka Premier League – the most (?!) prestigious and the lone 50-over domestic tournament of the country – is considered as the platform for the future cricketers. But, has the team officials acted according to the spirit of cricket in recent times?
A cricket league cannot be based upon the national players only. It has often been the case that a dispute between a club and the cricket board puts a halt in the league as the club refuse to play without the national ‘star’ they signed for the season.
However, one can possibly understand the logic behind refusals of that sort, but the relationship that exists between Lutfur Rahman Badal and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hard to explain.
Badal, owner of Legends of Rupganj, has the reputation of building a team comprising big names. He is not shy to flash the wallet and it will also not be wrong to label his side as the “Real Madrid” of Bangladesh cricket. He is amongst the few club owners who clear full payment of the cricketers he hired – a rare appraisal and a good example indeed for the game of cricket.
However, Badal has also proved to be very unsporting and unprofessional when it comes to losing a match. Frustrations and fingers of blame have always been pointed at the umpires in the game of cricket whenever a team encounter an unwanted result – but Badal seem to have taken the “I am a bad loser” to a whole new level.
He recently used abusive words in a statement against the BCB while his choice of words has also stunned the cricketing circle. Every action has an opposite and equal reaction – as BCB president Nazmul Hasan responded threatening to take legal action if necessary for LRB’s “disgraceful” comment.
Meanwhile, Rupganj manager Tarikul Islam Tito claimed of being assaulted by some unruly people during his team’s match against Mohammedan Sporting Club at BKSP last Saturday.
Tito claimed the people were sent by irked members of the BCB to create an uneasy and fearful atmosphere around his team’s dressing room throughout the game. According to Tito the group were abusing the players and the officials from the beginning of the match.
What is more alarming is that the unruly bunch chased the players to the dressing room as soon as the match ended while Titu was held inside his own car at the time of departure.
“They asked me to apologise, but when I asked whom will I say sorry to, those unidentified people did not answer back,” said Titu.
This is not the only season Badal has been in the center of trouble in the “not-so-regular” Dhaka Premier League. In 2011-12, Badal, at the helm of Victoria SC, was accused of forging clearance of Pakistani recruit Mohammad Yousuf which saw the league encounter being halted for over a month.
The battle and exchange of heated words between Badal and the BCB are proving nothing but internal politics and personal issues among the two parties. This should not have come thus far. Not only will it affect the sport and the cricketers, the uncalled-for incidents will tarnish the country’s domestic scene too.
