'We need to rebuild the relationship at ICC with other nations, stakeholders'

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said on Saturday that improving fractured relations with the international community will be on his agenda if he were to be elected as a director in Sunday's Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) election.

The situation came to a head after Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahman was axed from the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League, despite being picked by Kolkata Knight Riders, owing to the then deteriorating relation between the two countries.

Bangladesh subsequently decided to sit out the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka citing security reasons. 

Back then, Bangladesh's diplomatic standing in world cricket was at an all-time low, and Tamim told Daily Sun in a one-on-one conversation that he is eyeing to build the trust again provided he gets chosen as a board director. 

"I think we have to build the trust issue first. With the international community. All international cricketing teams. We have to build the trust. Not participating in the T20 World Cup wasn't great for Bangladesh cricket. So we have to rebuild that relationship. The International Cricket Council — how many members sit there, 15, 20? It's very small," said Tamim.

"It's a community. It works like a family. So in that space, we need to… I need to start rebuilding the relationship. We need to rebuild the relationship at the ICC with other nations and stakeholders. Not just with one particular nation — I'm talking about everybody. We need to make clear why this has happened and start building relationships and look forward. We have to leave this behind and move ahead. We have to build relationships afresh, we have to convince them again — that what happened was exactly what happened. But from now on, we are starting fresh," he stated.

"Bangladesh is a major stakeholder in world cricket. It has 180m followers. Every person in Bangladesh watches cricket. So Bangladesh is a major stakeholder. How we leverage that positively for ourselves, so that the BCB, the players, and the national team benefit — sitting down with everyone, rebuilding that trust, rebuilding that relationship, we should go forward," he added.