Sports Desk:

It was drizzling occasionally at the home of cricket in the afternoon when Bangladesh Cricket Board’s newly-elected president Faruque Ahmed arrived at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday.

It was surprising to say the least considering there was no big drama staged unlike the past as it was during the tenure of former BCB boss Nazmul Hasan.

That is how the Faruque era started at SBNS.

He arrived quietly and more than anything else what was significant was the fact he was neither guarded by security officials nor by sycophants.

Faruque, who was greeted by former national skipper and current women’s wing head Habibul Bashar, also had to go through his share of pain by entertaining guests who were adamant to have a piece of him.

However, it was just a short interruption considering the fact he had a long meeting with BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury and another newly-elected BCB director Nazmul Abedin.

There is speculation in the air that Nazmul is one of the candidates along with some seasoned directors to take over cricket operations but board insiders insist it is yet to be finalised.

Nazmul echoed the same sentiment adding that he is not in any position to make any comment in this regard.

“We spoke about a lot of things. You will be informed in due course of time. I think it is almost finalized (standing committee). I can only talk about it after everything is finalized,” Nazmul told reporters after coming out of the meeting without elaborating further.

While Nazmul refrained from sharing his mind, many felt it won’t be the case with Faruque, who had an hour-long press conference as BCB president after arriving at SBNS on 21 August.

It was expected that the new BCB president would be happy to share his first day experience at the office, though it went in vain as he reminded them of the fact that in reality they cannot make the board president talk just by standing in front of him with cameras.

“You said I need to talk less than why you are waiting for me,” Faruque asked while getting into his car.

“Within one week you will be informed about the decision of the board,” he added and more importantly not answering a question delivered to him by a journalist that suggested the current board is having interference from the government.

A seasoned cricket journalist insisted that if the same question was asked to former BCB boss Nazmul Hasan, they could have got a headline.

However, a BCB official said that they will be helping the flood affected people considering that was the case for them even in the past. “We always came forward in such situations,” the official said.

In his first day at office, the new BCB boss was also informed that the upcoming tour of New Zealand had to be rescheduled due to travel advisory.

In the recent past, ICC shifted ICC T20 Women’s World Cup venue as four countries had reservation over coming to Bangladesh due to political unrest.

New Zealand A was expected to arrive in Bangladesh on 28 September to play two four-day games and three 50-over matches, scheduled in Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and Cox Bazar Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium.

“We are working on rescheduling it,” confirmed a BCB official regarding the development.