Struggling Dhaka Premier League champions Legends of Rupganj received a further blow when their star opener Tamim Iqbal was ruled out of today’s crucial match against Prime Bank Cricketers for injury. Legends, who suffered defeats in consecutive matches to slip from the top of the table, were expecting Tamim and Sakib al Hasan to take the field today after completing their national duties.
But the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said in an impromptu press conference that Tamim was rested for 10 days by the national team physio.
‘He [Tamim] was not expected to play in the last ODI [against Zimbabwe],’ said Nazmul.
BCB’s cricket operations manager Sabbir Kahn told that Tamim suffered a Grade-1 groin injury during the Zimbabwe series.
It came as a double trouble for Legends, who were hoping to return to the summit by beating table toppers Prime Bank.
The BCB already turned down their request to hold the match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Legends officials feared they could be robbed of a win against Prime, who they said are taking privileges from the board on certain issues.
The club have already expressed their concern to BCB president Nazmul through a letter though he was not prepared to pay any attention to it.
Speaking to the reporters at Mirpur, Nazmul refuted certain allegations of Legends saying that the club played maximum matches [two] at the SBNS.
Nazmul also denied that Legends had become a victim in the league due to their distance with the BCB.
‘I don’t think we have any problems with any club,’ said Nazmul. ‘As far as I know they have played the maximum number of games at the SBNS.
‘I was told that they have problems regarding umpiring and only want their games to be officiated by the selected umpires, but we cannot allow this,’ said Nazmul.
Nazmul, who was conspicuously absent in Legends’ grand opening in October, also defended a controversial decision regarding an issue involving national players Abul Hassan and Taijul Islam.
Before the fourth ODI, the BCB did not allow Abul to play for Legends while Taijul was given the permission to play for Prime Bank.
‘As far as I know no players were allowed to play the day before if he had a chance to represent Bangladesh the next day,’ said Nazmul indicating that Taijul was allowed to play for Prime Bank as he had no chance of playing in the fourth ODI.
-With New Age input
