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Mehidy Hasan Miraz captaincy row - 'Both player and franchise admit they acted unreasonably'

Mehidy Hasan Miraz is pumped after picking up a wicket Raton Gomes/BCB

The Chattogram Challengers captaincy row came to end in Dhaka on Friday after the BCB accepted the explanations provided by the franchise officials and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was removed as captain last week.

BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BCB's head of anti-corruption Maj (retd) Abu Mohammad Humayun Morshed and BPL tournament in-charge Saiful Amin heard the respective accounts on the matter.

Challengers' owner Rifat Uzzaman and chief operating officer Yasir Alam were summoned by the four-member panel representing the cricket board.

A couple of hours before Challengers' match against Sylhet Sunrisers on January 29, the franchise officials had replaced Miraz with Naeem Islam as captain. They explained that outgoing coach Paul Nixon, who they claimed had to leave the BPL because of an emergency call from Leicestershire, had recommended the change at the top.

The following day, an angry Miraz was talked out of leaving the team hotel. Standing outside the hotel, Miraz had singled out Alam for spreading lies.

BPL secretary Mallick said that both parties admitted that they behaved "unreasonably" and left the league and the BCB embarrassed.

"We decided to speak to Miraz and the Challengers officials to find out the reasons for their reaction in public, which gave birth to unwarranted speculations," Mallick said. "Both player and the franchise officials admitted they had acted unreasonably without considering the consequences. It was a case of miscommunication, which should have been settled amicably within the team. They have expressed their regret for allowing the situation to escalate and accepted responsibility for causing embarrassment to the board and the tournament.

"After meeting the player and officials, the board is satisfied that this was an internal management issue of Chattogram Challengers which has since been resolved.

"We also understand that the decision to replace Miraz as captain, which apparently triggered the misunderstanding, was communicated to the player by the management well in advance of the team's ensuing match. The board has reminded the player and franchise officials of their responsibility towards the event and has reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on discipline and integrity."