Bangladesh cricketers’ strike unlikely to hit India series

The upcoming tour of India by Bangladesh team has become uncertain because of the Bangladesh players’ ongoing strike against their own cricket board over an 11-point agenda. The tour is scheduled to kick off on November 3 and comprises three T20Is and two Tests.

According to a report in Times of India, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is waiting to hear from the cricketers and is hoping the matter will be settled at the earliest. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is set to take over as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, was also hopeful that the series will go ahead as scheduled although he said the problem is Bangladesh’s internal.

The two South Asian neighbors play their bilateral series for the Ganguly-Durjoy Trophy named after the former India captain and Naimur Rehman Durjoy, the first captain to lead Bangladesh in a Test in 2000 which was against Ganguly’s India.

Bangladesh announced their T20I squad for the India series a few days ago with veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan being retained as the captain. The current revolt is also being led by the ace all-rounder who had a fabulous run in the ICC World Cup this year.

The 11 points over which the Bangladesh players have resorted to revolt include demanding hike in payment; protest against the discontinuation of the franchise-based system in the Bangladesh Premier League; better pay structure at the first-class level; revised central contracts; etc.

‘Revolts before India tours have become a trend’

“Revolts usually tend to happen these days before an Indian tour. It’s becoming a sort of trend. And understandably, considering all stakeholders know what’s at play when we’re talking about boycotting an India tour,” sources keeping a track of the developments were quoted as saying.

Australian cricketers also had threatened a boycott early this year ahead of their tour of India but the tour went ahead uninterrupted.
BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told Times that the problem will be resolved soon. He said the Bangladesh board will be taking the issue as a top priority.

Bangladesh are yet to beat India in a Test match.

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