Aminul Islam elected new BCB president

Aminul Islam has been elected president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after a board meeting in Dhaka on Friday, following the removal of Faruque Ahmed by the sports ministry. Aminul is a former Bangladesh captain who led the side at the 1999 World Cup, and was their first Test centurion in 2000.

Aminul's ascent comes less than 24 hours after Faruque lost his place as the sports ministry's representative on the board of directors, effectively ending his reign as the board president.

The sports ministry said in a statement that it took the decision after eight BCB directors tabled a no-confidence motion against Faruque. It also based the decision on a fact-finding committee's report on corruption within the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The sports ministry made Faruque one of its two directors on the BCB board on August 21, 2024, following the resignation of Nazmul Hassan, who was also the country's sports minister during the Awami League regime. On the same day, the directors elected Faruque as the BCB president.

Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, one of the signatories to the no-confidence letter, was the other sports ministry representative in the board. Aminul made his way into the BCB through the same path. The sports ministry added Aminul as one of its representatives in the board, making him a director first. Then the nine other directors elected him board president.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Aminul will continue until the next BCB election, which is likely to take place by October this year. He has taken leave from his work as an ICC development manager based in Melbourne.

Aminul assumes the BCB president's role at a difficult time. There were several controversies during Faruque's nine months as the board chief. On his first day in charge, Faruque questioned head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe's position, before sacking him two months later. The BCB directors, in their letter to the sports ministry, said Faruque had ignored the BCB constitution, which expects the president to inform the board directors on decisions such as hiring or firing a coach.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Faruque's handling of BPL 2025 was a key reason behind his losing his job. Bangladesh's interim government head Dr Muhammad Yunus had taken a keen interest in the BPL, but the controversy surrounding the Durbar Rajshahi franchise marred the tournament. The government had to intervene when the Rajshahi owner failed to pay players on time, even ignoring to pay their hotel bills in Chattogram and Dhaka. It led to a player revolt.

Faruque also clashed with an assistant of the sports adviser, and his fallout with board director Nazmul Abedeen Fahim also became public. Dr Yunus didn't attend the BPL's final match as planned, which many believed was viewed negatively by the sports adviser Asif Mahmud.

The BCB has continued to be mired in controversy since. The Dhaka cricket clubs were angered when the BCB was in the process of amending its constitution, before questions began to emerge about certain Dhaka Premier League (DPL) matches. The situation came to a head after a stumping incident in the Shinepukur-Gulshan club match. The start of the investigation process was also criticised after the BCB's head of anti-corruption asked the same players to enact the incident publicly at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on the following day.

Last month, Faruque said in an interview on YouTube that he would contest the upcoming board elections. Some board directors told ESPNcricinfo that his focus on the upcoming elections alienated him from the other directors. In all, Faruque lasted nine months and eight days on the hot seat.