A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director’s social-media post labeling former captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent” has sparked a public backlash from current and former national players and prompted a formal protest from the players’ association.
In a Facebook post shared with “Friends” privacy, BCB director and finance committee chair M. Nazmul Islam captioned a card quoting Tamim’s recent comments on Bangladesh’s decision not to play its T20 World Cup matches in India, writing that “another tested Indian agent” had “revealed” himself. The post followed Tamim’s call for decisions to consider Bangladesh’s standing and long-term interests in world cricket.
Nazmul did not answer phone calls seeking comment, but later posted again—also to a limited audience—arguing that, amid the Mustafizur Rahman controversy and security concerns, senior government advisers had urged the BCB to ask the ICC to shift Bangladesh’s World Cup games from India to Sri Lanka. He described his remarks as a “personal opinion.”
Tamim, Bangladesh’s all-time leading ODI run-scorer and a former captain across formats, had not publicly responded as of Thursday afternoon.
Teammates and ex-captains condemned the language. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam called the wording “tasteless… completely unacceptable and contrary to our cricket culture,” urging a public apology and “accountability” from the official. Former Test captain Mominul Haque termed the comment “an insult to the cricket community,” saying a senior player was “deliberately humiliated in public,” and pressed the BCB for “swift and firm action.” Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed warned such statements are “not in the interest of Bangladesh cricket,” asking stakeholders to act “responsibly.”
The Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (KOAB) sent a protest letter to the board, saying it was “stunned, astonished and angered” by a board official’s description of a player who served Bangladesh for 16 years and became its most successful opener. KOAB questioned officials’ codes of conduct when making public statements and denounced the remark as “unacceptable and insulting to the entire cricket fraternity.”
The dispute unfolds days after the BCB’s emergency decision not to send the national team to India for the T20 World Cup, citing security concerns, while formally requesting the ICC to relocate Bangladesh’s fixtures to another country. The debate has been further inflamed by Indian media and political commentary over Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL deal with Kolkata Knight Riders and calls from some quarters in India to drop the Bangladeshi pacer.
It remains unclear whether the BCB will take disciplinary steps or issue guidance on social-media conduct for officials.