Bangladesh Cricket Board's former president Mujibur Rahman passes away

The former Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Mujibur Rahman passed away on Wednesday, July 28. Rahman was struggling with cancer for nearly 7 years and breathed his last in Canada owing to related complications. He served as the BCB president from September 1981 till January 1983.

Nazmul Hassan Papon, the current BCB president, expressed condolences to the family of Commodore Mujibur Rahman. The BCB also issued a media release to convey their condolences on his death. “The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) expresses deep bereavement at the passing away of the former president of the Board Commodore Mujibur Rahman,” the media release read.

The BCB flag will fly at half-mast tomorrow as a mark of respect for the late Commodore Mujibur Rahman. Mujibur Rahman along with Syed Shamim Ahsan was a part of a two-member committee that was formed to examine the dismaying performance of Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup. The recommendations that came in from the committee further benefited and helped cricket in the country to grow.

The DRS dilemma in the Bangladesh-Australia series

Meanwhile, Bangladesh will battle Australia in a five-match ODI series. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has not yet confirmed the DRS ahead of their series against Australia. The crew of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is yet to be arrived in Bangladesh to conduct the DRS. Having said that even on its arrival, they might need to undergo 14-day quarantine which in turn raises the concern.

“The broadcaster is ready. Now an ICC technical crew has not yet arrived. If he comes we can conduct the DRS. We are ready to manage the DRS, it all depends on the crew,” said BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury to Cricfrenzy.

For the conduct of the series, the broadcaster group has already reported to have arrived in the country. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were restrictions on air travel, so the group took the road to reach Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Australia will lock horns against each other for the first T20I on August 3 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

“The crew has arrived here by road. They drove past the Akhaura border with special permission from the authorities. They are currently quarantined at the hotel. Because there are restrictions on air travel, they arrived by road,” explained Nizamuddin added.