Sports Desk:

In the recent past reform seems to be the buzzing word in Bangladesh whether it is in politics or sports everywhere there is a call for change.

It began since 5 August-the day then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled away from the country after resigning from her post- that saw the army take control of the country and later hand it over to interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.

The newly-formed interim government was appointed to run the country’s affairs until fresh election is conducted and all his advisors opined to bring reform in their respective ministries.

During the last one week there were processions inside BCB on several occasions where some former BCB officials demanded the immediate resignation of the present board directors while on Tuesday they came under the banner- Bangladesh Sports Development Council- to make a huge showdown that little turned in and around home of cricket like a political battlefield, if not anything else.

The introduction of Army to safeguard BCB premises was the talking point of the day considering it suggested that they were prepared to resist if the member of the BSDC forum tried to get into the board by force.

Eventually, the high-ups leading the forum got entry into the BCB and they went upstairs to meet BCB officials but their effort went in vain as there were no BCB officials to hear their plea apart from the Army, working to protect the stadium that was surrounded by thousands of cricket fans despite the fact some of them doesn’t know why they came to BCB and what are they looking for to achieve.

The leaders of the forum insisted that they wanted the board should run without political interference despite the fact they were all identified as members of a certain political party in the country.

It was surprising to see some of the faces backing the reformist group considering the fact they were working closely with the last board in different capacities not long ago which suggested it was something like old wine in a new bottle.

ICC is expected to sit in a meeting in the coming week to discuss the host of the Women’s T20 World Cup as they are not sure whether Bangladesh can host the tournament as per schedule from October with the political situation prevailing in the country at present.

It seems the showdown will surely have an impact on the ICC meeting considering the fact representatives of other boards won’t be very comfortable seeing the SBNS guarded by Army to protect it from the protesters, who are eyeing to take the helm of the sporting event in the coming days on the back of their political identity.

Former national goalkeeper Aminul Haque, who was leading the BSDC, said that they didn’t feel they were having any showdown rather it was a very peaceful protest.

“We haven’t done any showdown it’s just that we want, the resignation of the present board, we assure you that not only cricket but all the sports federations will be run without political inference,” Aminul, who also happens to be the sports secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.