Aminul invoked govt in WC standoff, now seeks ICC intervention against it

Aminul Islam Bulbul, the ousted president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, has knocked on the doors of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the very body he had disregarded during the T20 World Cup, steadfastly stonewalling its requests to participate in the global tournament in February-March.

It has come to light that Aminul has written to the ICC, stating that his removal from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is illegal and seeking the intervention of the world body. His letter to the ICC comes a day after the Bangladesh government deposed him from his position and appointed Tamim Iqbal, an accomplished former cricketer, as the BCB's interim president.

The exact contents of Aminul Islam's letter are not clear, but a current director of the ICC wondered how the former president could seek protection from the actions of the Bangladesh government, whose ruling he had earlier sought recourse of to boycott the World Cup, despite fervent appeals from the global body.

"It is surprising that the same Bangladesh Cricket Board, which cited the Bangladesh government's instruction to not play in India as the reason for its non-participation in the recently concluded ICC Men's T20 World Cup in complete disregard of a binding Members Participation Agreement with the ICC, is now seeking protection from the ICC and its constitution from an enquiry by and directive of its government," an ICC Director said.

Earlier in the day, Aminul released a statement calling upon the ICC to intervene in the BCB affairs, as reported by Cricbuzz. "We call upon the ICC to intervene immediately to protect the sanctity of our elected board. The "Ad-hoc Committee" is illegal. The probe report is illegal. The legitimacy of the October 6, 2025 election conducted by a neutral, three-member commission including a Supreme Court advocate and a senior CID officer cannot be questioned by any government body after the fact," he said.

He further said, "I unequivocally state that the report submitted on April 5, 2026, is a defective, whimsical, and legally untenable document that holds no standing in the eyes of the law or the constitution of the BCB," Aminul said in a statement.

During the online meeting with ICC officials, Aminul was the most difficult BCB official to deal with for the global body and, at one stage, he refused to continue participating in the talks, taking a hard line against the global body. Throughout the meeting and standoff, he was invariably citing government instructions to justify the BCB's stance against participating in the World Cup if their demand to relocate their games from India were not met.