Table of Contents

The Chattogram Challengers captaincy row came to end in Dhaka on Friday after the BCB accepted the explanations provided by the franchise officials and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was removed as the franchise captain last week.

BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BCB’s head of anti-corruption Maj (retd) Abu Mohammad Humayun Morshed and BPL tournament in-charge Saiful Amin heard the respective accounts on the matter.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz had marked his captaincy debut at Chattogram Challengers with a four-wicket haul Raton Gomes/BCB

The Chattogram Challengers And Mehidy Hasan Miraz Were Summoned And Board Was Satisfied With The Matter Being An Internal Management Issue

The Chattogram Challengers’ owner Rifat Uzzaman and chief operating officer Yasir Alam were summoned by the four-member panel representing the cricket board. A couple of hours before the Chattogram Challengers’ match against Sylhet Sunrisers on January 29, the franchise officials had replaced Mehidy Hasan Miraz with Naeem Islam as captain.

They explained that outgoing coach Paul Nixon, who they claimed had to leave the BPL because of an emergency call from Leicestershire, had recommended the change at the top.

The following day, an angry Mehidy Hasan Miraz was talked out of leaving the team hotel. Standing outside the hotel, Mehidy Hasan Miraz had singled out Yasir Alam for spreading lies. BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick said that both parties admitted that they behaved “unreasonably” and left the league and the BCB embarrassed.

“We decided to speak to Miraz and the Chattogram Challengers officials to find out the reasons for their reaction in public, which gave birth to unwarranted speculations,” Mallick said.

“Both player and the franchise officials admitted they had acted unreasonably without considering the consequences. It was a case of miscommunication, which should have been settled amicably within the team. They have expressed their regret for allowing the situation to escalate and accepted responsibility for causing embarrassment to the board and the tournament.”

“After meeting the player and officials, the board is satisfied that this was an internal management issue of Chattogram Challengers which has since been resolved.

“We also understand that the decision to replace Miraz as captain, which apparently triggered the misunderstanding, was communicated to the player by the management well in advance of the team’s ensuing match. The board has reminded the player and franchise officials of their responsibility towards the event and has reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on discipline and integrity.”

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday (03 February) summoned Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League T20 franchise the Chattogram Challengers’ team owner Rifat Uzzaman, chief operating officer Syed Yasir Alam and player Mehidy Hasan Miraz and sought an explanation from them on their recent controversial public disagreement.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz Would Never Lead Chattogram Challengers Again

Earlier Mehidy Hasan Miraz threatened to return back to Dhaka and never lead the franchise again after he was removed as captain. The franchise however managed to convince the Bangladesh international cricketer to continue playing. The franchise is currently placed fifth on the points table having won just three games from 8 matches.

Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Naeem Islam walked out for toss in the Chattogram Challengers’ match against Sylhet Sunrisers on January 29 given that the team had won two of their four games under spin all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the Chattogram team in its first four matches in the ongoing season, where he picked eight wickets and scored 70 runs. Chattogram Challengers won two out of their first four matches under his leadership and they won their third match against Sylhet Sunrisers by 16 runs. This was Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s second stint with the captaincy in BPL after he led Rajshahi Kings in the 2018/19 BPL season.