Bashar first at BCB door

Habibul Bashar was the first to come forward to take the opportunity of “amnesty” announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for the players who joined the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The former national skipper submitted a letter to BCB president Lt Gen Sina Ibn Jamali yesterday mentioning that he wanted to avail the “amnesty” to come back to the main stream.
“I gave a letter to the board president but I will disclose the details tomorrow [Monday]. What I can only say that I took my own decision,” said Bashar without elaborating.
BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus was however not only admitted that they received a letter from Bashar but also revealed the details of the letter.
“He [Habibul Bashar] has given a letter to the board president today [Sunday] where he mentioned that he had also sent a letter to the ICL authority asking them to terminate his contract. He wants to avail the board’s amnesty as the ICC [International Cricket Council] has imposed ban on all the players associated with the unapproved competition,” said Yunus.
“He also said that he was available for Bangladesh cricket. We welcomed his decision and expect that others will follow his footsteps,” he added.
It was learnt that Aftab Ahmed and Nazimuddin were likely to follow Bashar very soon.
BCB in it’s last board of directors meeting decided to allow the Bangladeshi cricketers playing in the ICL to participate in domestic cricket subject to their termination of the contract with the unapproved competition by June 15 this year.
It also warned that the earlier ten-year ban imposed by the board was still in place on the ICL contracted players who failed to terminate their agreement by the timeframe.
BCB imposed 10-year ban on 13 rebel cricketers in September last year including six centrally contracted players who signed for the ICL under the banner “Dhaka Warriors”. The ban effectively closed the domestic and international doors on players like former national skipper Bashar, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab, Dhiman Ghosh and Alok Kapali.

Courtesy of The Daily Star