Former Bangladesh Cricket Board president Saber Hossain Chowdhury dismissed any talk of pulling out from the BCB election and reiterated his call for an open debate with his rival Nazmul Hasan.
Nazmul recently accepted Saber’s challenge for open debate saying he was ready for the event at any place to give his account of the BCB activities. ‘I welcome his decision of participating in the debate,’ Saber said at a press conference at his residence on Thursday.
‘It should have happened already. I came to know he is ready to participate anytime and at any place, though he is not saying anything now. I just hope it will happen at the earliest possible time.’
‘It will remove much confusion, so I hope he will keep his word,’ said Saber, who is backed mainly by the district and divisional sports organisers in the election against club-backed Nazmul.
Saber’s main backers Forum recently saw a division among its members, prompting a rumour that he could quit from the race at any time, but the lawmaker said the rumour has no base.
‘Whenever I go abroad somebody circulate this rumour. But I can assure you I have no intention of quitting
from the race. All I want is a level playing field,’ he said.
Saber alleged that his rival groups were deliberately delaying the election. which is long overdue.
‘They took permission from the court citing emergency situation. The case was pending in court for 7/8 months. But the BCB hardly showed any urgency. Now we have got a directive, but two months have passed since then, still there is no sign of an election,’ he said.
‘The couth was told Bangladesh will lose its ICC membership if there is no election and Bangladesh will also lose the right to host the T20World Cup. But still we are seeing many issues are unresolved,’ added Saber, who ran the BCB from 1997 to 2001.
-With New Age input
