Tamim Iqbal withdraws from BCB election

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal will not contest in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) election.

At around 10:15am today (Wednesday), he went to the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur and withdrew his nomination paper.

The election is scheduled to be held on 6 October, with today being the last date for withdrawing nomination papers and publishing the final list of candidates.

Speculation over Tamim's withdrawal had been circulating since yesterday. According to sources, at least 10 to 12 club candidates have decided to withdraw from the election in protest against alleged government interference.

Representatives of the clubs held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the matter.

On Tuesday afternoon, the High Court suspended the inclusion of councillors or representatives of 15 controversial clubs, who had come through third-division cricket qualifiers, in the final voter list.

Following a primary hearing of a writ petition filed by former BCB president Faruq Ahmed, the bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice Syed Hasan Zobair issued a rule along with the order.

Since then, speculation grew regarding Tamim's potential withdrawal. It was also reported that more candidates may pull out of the election.

Earlier, on 21 September, Tamim alleged in a press conference that there had been government interference and abuse of power by the BCB president in sending the names of district and divisional councillors for the election.

BNP leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury's son, Israfil Khosru, also withdrew his nomination paper today. He was set to contest for a director's post representing Axiom Cricketers.

"I have withdrawn due to government interference," Israfil said.