Bangladesh Cricket crisis deepens: BPL boycott to BCB-ICC standoff to Mustafizur Rahman row - What has happened so far?

The crisis in Bangladesh Cricket deepened after cricketers boycott the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match between Chittagong Royals and Noakhali Express on Thursday. The player's boycott came as a protest against the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Director and Finance Committee Chairman M Nazmul Islam following his controversial remarks on the national team cricketers.

Led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto, the players of both Chittagong Royals and Noakhali Express refused to take the field and demanded Islam's immediate resignation in a press meet. Both Shanto and Miraz are also a part of the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB). The BCB sacked Islam shortly after on Thursday.

During the presser, Miraz spoke on a lot of issues including their source of income. Describing Islam's comments "shameful for entire cricket fraternity", Miraz stated most of their incomes come from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and sponsors. Players nowadays also earn by playing various franchise leagues globally.

He also added that all the players play about 25-30 per cent of their income in tax, thus contributing to the government.

Islam's comments came a day earlier when he stated publicly that the national cricketers should be asked to return “crores of crores of taka” spent on them by the BCB also questioned why the players will get compensation if they were to miss a major event like T20 World Cup.

That's not all. Earlier, Islam has called former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal as “India's agent”, that triggered a strong backlash from the players and other BCB officials. Iqbal had advocated on January 9, the urgency to resolve the cricketing ties between the two nations keeping the game's interest in forefront.

Timeline of events happening in Bangladesh cricket

In a latest development, fans outside the Sher-e-Bangl