By IANS,
Dhaka : Bangladesh’s cricket officials have reacted with shock and anger on receiving the resignations of six national players, who hope to earn $200,000 each on playing the third edition of the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL)’s tournament next month.
The six players – Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Dhiman Ghosh, Farhad Reza and Mosharraf Hossain – sent in their resignation from national and international cricket Sunday.
They have been called for a meeting here Tuesday and the officials hope they would revoke their decision.
Each player could take home $200,000, New Age newspaper said, calling it “a sell out” and “a major blow to Bangladesh cricket”.
Fondly called ‘tigers’, a reference to the Royal Bengal tiger, some of these Bangladeshi players had humbled the Indian cricket team during the World Cup last year.
As many as 14 players, most of them former and current national players, have been approached by ICL officials, who plan to form a new team called ‘Dhaka Warriors’.
The exodus of these players, some of whom have international experience, will have far-reaching impact on the country’s game. With the team already short of experience and facing tough times since last year’s World Cup, it is difficult to see how this gap would be filled, said The Daily Star newspaper.
“We are astonished at the sudden decision of the players. It was totally unexpected. We called them over the phone, sent text messages, but no one responded,” the dumbfounded Chairman of the Cricket Operations Committee Gazi Ashraf Hossain told reporters Sunday evening.
“Officially we don’t know why they have taken such a decision; all of them have mentioned ‘personal grounds’ in their letters, which were all written in the same language. We have called them to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday. Hopefully they will revoke their decision,” said Hosain.
He read out the letter from all-rounder Farhad Reza which said: “I have taken the decision to retire from all international, first-class and club cricket. This is totally my personal decision and I wish Bangladesh cricket team all success.”
Among the retired cricketers Farhad and Dhiman were in the Bangladesh squad for the three-match series against Australia. They are now expected to sign a contract with the ICL shortly.
Hossain said they would follow the ICC guideline in dealing with the players joining the ICL, a league that failed to get approval from the the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The players who participated in the earlier editions of the league have been banned from playing international cricket by their respective national cricket boards.
The other cricketers linked with the competition are Alok Kapali, Nazim Uddin, Mohammad Rafique, Manjurul Islam, Tapash Baishya, Mohammad Sharif, Mahbubul Karim and Golam Mabud.
Apart from Karim and Mabud, all of them have represented Bangladesh in Tests or One-Day Internationals. But only seven are still contracted players of the BCB.
Of the seven contracted players, excepting Nazim Uddin, six have now severed their ties with the BCB. Unconfirmed sources said Nazim too had reportedly sent a letter through fax from his hometown Chittagong, seeking retirement.
The other players came to the BCB to submit their letters of retirement Sunday morning at a time when there was no one to receive them. The players later left the BCB office, leaving the letters at the reception.
The officials of the BCB, after coming to know of the sudden retirement, rushed to the office at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and called an emergency meeting, another media report said.