Faruque Ahmed Elected New BCB President Following Nazmul Hassan's Resignation

Faruque Ahmed has been named the BCB president after a board meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday following Nazmul Hassan’s resignation. Faruque becomes the first BCB president to have played any competitive cricket. He made seven ODI appearances between 1900 and 1999 and led Bangladesh in the International Cricket Board Trophy. 

Faruque joined the BCB’s directors’ meeting after the National Sports Council elected him and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim as their directors on the board. 

The BCB meeting, organised at the NSC office, was attended by directors notably Fahim Sinha, Khaled Mahmud, Akram Khan, Salauddin Ahmed, Kazi Inam Ahmed, Iftekhar Ahmed and Mahbubul Anam. The remaining 16 directors including Hassan, have been missing from Dhaka since the Awami League government collapsed on August 5. 

Fahim was inducted as the second NSC-nominated director during the meeting. One of the BCB’s signatories was changed from Ismail Haider Mallick to Fahim Sinha as a result of this. Mallick was seen as Hassan's closest ally on the board and strongest director. He was the finance committee chair, marketing committee vice chair, and the Bangladesh T20 League governing council secretary. Mallick is among the 16 board directors missing from Dhaka. 

The directors were also told about the venue change from Bangladesh to UAE for the Women's World T20 League. But despite the venue change, BCB remains the host of the tournament. 

BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury notified the guests that Hassan had formally stepped down from his position as president. Soon after, the president directors with one accord elected Faruque as the new chief. 

Faruque served two terms as the chief selector after his playing days. He ushered a new era in Bangladesh cricket from 2003 to 2007.  During his time, he gave breaks to Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Tamim Iqbal, among other youngsters. He returned as the chief selector in 2013 but resigned in 2016 when the selection panel was expanded under Hassan to include coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and Bangladesh team manager Khaled Mahmud. 

Bangladesh’s Sports Minister, Hassan was one of the numerous board officials who had direct political links with the Awami League. He has been a member of parliament since 2009.   

Among the missing board directors, Shafiul Alam was a serving MP of Awami League, Naimur Rahman was an ex-MP, and AJM Nasir Uddin was the mayor of Chattogram.  Najib Ahmed and Sheikh Sohel (board directors) are cousins of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Hassan took over as the BCB chief in 2012 after AHM Mustafa Kamal vacated the role of International Cricket Board’s vice president post. A year later, he became BCB’s first elected president after the board amended its constitution following a supreme court ruling, facilitating the president to be elected by the board of directors. Before this, the government appointed the BCB president.