Faruque Ahmed asked to step down as BCB's president

Aminul Islam is the front-runner to replace Faruque © BCB
Faruque Ahmed, the president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, has stated that the national government has asked him not to continue in his role with the cricket board.

Faruque, who took over as the president of the board following the exit of Nazmul Hasan on August 21, was called by the Youth and Sports Affairs Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan on Wednesday (May 28).

Cricbuzz understands that during the meeting, Faruque was informed of their intention. Faruque admitted to the development and added that he is yet to decide whether he will resign or not.

"The advisor said that they don't want to continue with me," Faruque told Cricbuzz on Thursday. "I have not taken any decision yet (regarding resignation). Let's see what happens.

"No, I'm not resigning. There's no reason for me to resign at the moment. They haven't given me any explanation, so why should I step down?," he added.

There can be complications if Faruque does not resign. If he is removed without resignation, it can be termed as government interference, which goes against the ethics of the International Cricket Council. Earlier ICC had banned Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe for government interference.

It is understood that former national skipper Aminul Islam is the front-runner to replace Faruque. It was learnt that Aminul, who is working with ICC as the development officer, will be seeking a three-month notice from his role in ICC to fill the post as the next board president in the next election, which is scheduled for October.

Aminul arrived in Dhaka earlier this week, and since that point, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the change in BCB regime.

Cricbuzz understands Aminul also sat with government high-ups where several issues were discussed, including his taking over as the BCB president. Faruque, who played seven ODIs for Bangladesh, has previously served as BCB chief selector for two terms: from 2003 to 2007 and from 2013 to 2016. He had resigned without completing his second term as chief selector. This was because he was not ready to accept the expansion of the three-member selection panel.

The National Sports Council (NSC) appointed Faruque Ahmed and Nazmul Abedin, a prominent local coach who recently spoke out against the BCB board, as its new directors. Following the announcement, they participated in the board of directors meeting held at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

This move comes as the NSC replaced former directors Jalal Yunus and Ahmed Sajjadul Alam with Faruque and Nazmul. While Yunus resigned, Alam refused to step down, leaving the matter to the NSC's discretion. The move came after Nazmul, who was serving his fourth term as chief of the country's cricket governing body, decided to quit.

Nazmul has been in London with his wife ever since the unrest in the country began, triggered by the student protests against the recently dissolved Sheikh Hasina government.