The ICL Debate

Finally, we have returned to cricket, although the ICL debacle would surely leave a long lasting effect on Bangladesh Cricket.

The undoubted question is: Has BCB done the right thing by banning the ICL players & labelling them as rebels???

Let's get a realistic look on this topic. Myriads of people would suggest that BCB has done the right thing by banning players who disrespected the national team, but is there no other way to look at it?

First of all,why have the national cricketers,who have been recorded to earn millions even when playing for Bangladesh,decided to retire in a lump? There is a greater reason for it;it's not disrespect for national team,but it's the disrespect over the way cricket & cricketers are being dealt with in the country which is the real concern.

It has been reported that Alok Kapali was told by the chief national selector during the Australia tour that it doesn't matter if he leaves Bangladesh cricket or not, they simply have too much talent to work with & departure of some cricketers would not make any difference. How do you react to such a statement?

This is an outrageous comment. You should not like the way cricketers are performing at the moment,but surely you don't have the rights to insult a national cricketer in such a manner.

The selector—Rafiqul Islam—should have remembered that it is the cricketers who are the national team's greatest assets & not the selectors. In any case, statistics have a role to play here. The chief selector has never played international cricket,(apart from the ICC trophy, for those who call it international cricket! where he had averaged only about 10 with the bat).

He was insulting a batsman with international runs,an international hundred & some international fifties to his name. Surely,the selector must have remembered his credentials as a cricketer.

My mind goes back to Mohammad Rafique,who decided to retire from international cricket because "HE DID NOT WANT TO GET HUMILIATED IN THE HANDS OF SOME PEOPLE WHO DID NOT ALLOW HIM TO PLAY TEST CRICKET FOR TWO YEARS".

Now, this is not a small-scale comment. It indicates that there are other dirty things going on in the board apart from cricket-related activities (of course,in Bangladesh,you'd expect a certain level of politics to go around in anything,but surely,there must be a limit to it!).

The Sri Lankan & Pakistan cricket board recently set an example for the Bangladesh cricket board to follow-to lift the ban on ICL players.Sri Lanka & Pakistan realised that the cricketers go to ICL to play cricket,not to fight against their own country.& in any way,the ICL is a cricket league abandoned by the BCCI,not even by the ICC.

BCCI's ego problems mean that the ICC, an organisation running after money without paying proper attention to the welfare of the game,is thinking several times whether to give the ICL official status.

Just months ago, Sri Lankan cricket board,suffering from poor liquidity,had asked the BCCI to lend a helping hand for improving their financial status.But they did not bow to the BCCI in the ICL matter & decided to lift the ban on their own ICL players.

If the BCB is worried that not banning the ICL players would sour their relationship with the BCCI,then the question is "WHAT IS THE BCB's BENEFIT IF IT MANAGES A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BCCI ?"

One needs to remember that the only country which has refused to accept the Bangladesh Cricket Team as tourists is India. As a whole,it seems that the BCB is more interested in keeping the BCCI happy, rather than the development of our own cricket.

ICL has never placed a barrier between international cricket & optional cricket,rather,it's the much-hailed IPL which is a barrier to international cricket. We have seen series such as Sri Lanka vs England being cancelled for the IPL.

I have serious problems with the term REBEL LEAGUE in front of ICL.We should remember,clearly,that the ICL is a league not recognised by the BCCI.The ICC has clearly stated that it has nothing to do with the ICL, the cricket board's decision will be final.

The local leagues in Bangladesh districts,such as the Sylhet league,etc.are also not given official status by the ICC & the "most important"(!) BCCI. Does is mean we should stop our players from playing these leagues & ban them if they continue to play these leagues ? 

It's never too late for the BCB to reverse its decision on the ban on the ICL players.Let's just hope that they just do it,for the welfare of Bangladesh cricket,because a nation's progress in its only field of international recognition depends upon it.