Tamim Iqbal says he would have certainly won if contested BCB election

Former national team captain Tamim Iqbal said he had no doubt he would have won if he had taken part in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections.

He made this remark today, Wednesday at a press conference organised by the Club Organisers’ Association at the Lakeshore Hotel in the capital.

At the same event, the association announced a boycott of cricketing activities in Dhaka’s leagues as well as at the divisional and district levels.

Before the election, one faction of the Club Organisers’ Association, that did not participate, had already threatened to boycott league cricket. Now, they have announced a boycott of cricket at the district and divisional levels as well.

Newly elected BCB President Aminul Islam said yesterday that they would try to resolve the issue through dialogue.

However, rejecting Aminul’s proposal for discussion, the association reiterated their boycott decision today. When asked whether the boycott would financially hurt cricketers, Tamim said, "That’s something the people who conducted this election should have thought about.”

Tamim had submitted his nomination papers to contest in this year’s BCB elections. However, in protest against alleged government interference and the suspension of councillorships of 15 clubs promoted from the third division through a non-transparent process, Tamim and a total of 16 candidates withdrew their nominations. Later, the 15 clubs regained their councillorship status.

On the eve of the BCB election, Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan posted on social media that many could have become BCB directors if they had just been “patient.”

Asked whether he missed the “train” of the election due to a lack of patience, Tamim replied, “I’m sure you all have some idea about me. Do you really think, whether those 15 clubs were there or not, if I had contested the election, no one would have voted for me? For me, it was never about catching or missing a bus. What mattered to me was having a fair and transparent election. That was my stand.”

Expressing his confidence that he would have been elected as a director, Tamim added, “Let me guarantee you this much—had I contested individually, regardless of which team was for or against me, I would have easily won. I had no doubt about that, because I believe all of us are here for the sake of cricket.”

Tamim also raised several allegations about the BCB election process, questioning why most votes were cast electronically.

“If you’re at the polling center from morning till evening and still doing e-voting, then what’s the point of having e-voting?”