Inevitable relegation looms for Brothers

Brothers Union are facing relegation from the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL) after their players refused to take the field against Agrani Bank Cricket Club on Friday, handing their opponents a walkover — a decision that carries severe consequences under the league's by-laws.

The match, scheduled to begin at 9am at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan Ground No. 4, never got underway.

Brothers' captain Zahiduzzaman failed to appear for the toss despite match referee Enayat H Chowdhury Tamim waiting nearly half an hour.

With no representative forthcoming, Agrani Bank skipper Imrul Kayes was awarded the walkover.

Under DPL regulations, any side that concedes a walkover faces automatic relegation — a punishment that now appears inevitable for Brothers.

The club had already been teetering at the bottom of the standings, managing just one win from nine matches prior to Friday's no-show.

Senior cricketer Sohag Gazi said that the boycott was the players' last resort.

"It is purely a payment issue. There is nothing else," he said.

"We were forced into this at the last moment. We gave them time, spoke with them and went wherever we needed to go. Having exhausted all options, all the players collectively made this decision," he added.

According to Sohag, Brothers paid the initial 20% installment before the tournament opener but failed to deliver the next 30% ahead of Eid.

"Eid-ul-Adha passed, then the days after Eid passed, and we still did not receive a single Taka," he stated.

The human cost was stark.

"We have families too. Many players could not pay their house rent. Some could not buy groceries," Sohag pointed out, adding that around 25 to 30 families were unable to celebrate Eid properly after players were handed token amounts ranging from Tk6,000 and Tk35,000 following a three-hour wait outside a club official's house.

Brothers' manager Amin Khan did not respond to calls or messages.

The response from Brothers officials left little room for negotiation.

"The message we got was: play if you want, don't play if you don't want to. If the team goes down, that's not a problem. If that's the attitude, then there is not much left to discuss," Sohag said.

The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis meanwhile, said that it had no official information regarding the reasons behind the boycott.

In the evening, Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh released a statement, expressing solidarity with the players’ stance, and also calling for Amin to be handed a lifetime ban from all Bangladesh Cricket Board-related activities and strict action to be taken against the Brothers club.