"Politicians have taken over Cricket, Jay Shah never played the game": Ex BCB secretary

Former Bangladesh Cricket Board general secretary and former Asian Cricket Council CEO Syed Ashraful Haque has delivered a blistering critique of modern cricket administration, alleging that the game across the subcontinent has been overtaken by politicians with little understanding of cricket.

“The whole cricket ecosystem in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan — everywhere — has been hijacked by politicians,” Haque told Times of India. “Would this ever have happened if people like Jagmohan Dalmia, IS Bindra, Madhavrao Scindia, NKP Salve or even N Srinivasan were in charge? This would never have happened because they were mature people. They understood the game, and they understood the implications.”

Taking direct aim at the current power structure, Haque said cricket administration has now fallen into inexperienced hands. “Now it has been hijacked completely. You have people who have never held a bat. In your case, you have Jay Shah, who has never even held a cricket bat in a competitive match,” he said, expressing alarm at the tone of public statements coming from within Bangladesh as well.

Criticizing calls from Bangladeshi officials suggesting the team should avoid travelling to India, Haque warned against irresponsible rhetoric. “Our sports adviser gives a statement that Bangladesh should not go to India. Think about it. This is a World Cup event. This is not the IPL. IPL is a domestic tournament. This is an international World Cup event. You cannot come out with rash statements like this,” he added.

Haque also accused cricket boards of allowing religious and electoral politics to cloud sporting decisions, putting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in jeopardy. Questioning the selective outrage surrounding Mustafizur Rahman, he asked whether the response would have been the same if another player had been involved.

“Instead of Mustafizur, had it been Litton Das or Soumya Sarkar, would they have done the same thing? They wouldn’t. It is all cheap religious sentiment that politicians are playing. It’s what happens when immature politicians take over,” Haque said. He linked the controversy to upcoming elections, claiming cricket was being weaponized for political mileage. “You have elections in West Bengal and Assam, so you play this political card to get votes. And you put an international event of World Cup stature into difficulty.”

Calling for pragmatism, Haque suggested shifting Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka as a compromise if security concerns persist. “If they can move it to Sri Lanka, it’s a win situation for everybody. If they can’t, I doubt whether Bangladesh will come to India to play this. Maybe it will cost us financially. But national pride is much bigger than financial losses,” he said.

He also underlined the historically close ties between the two nations, rejecting any comparison with India Pakistan relations. “You cannot compare India–Pakistan relations with India–Bangladesh relations. It’s very different. India and Bangladesh are like brothers. It goes back a long way. India came to play Test matches in Bangladesh. The BCCI played a big role in helping us get Test status.”

Haque’s remarks have reignited debate over political interference in cricket governance, with growing concern that electoral considerations are increasingly dictating decisions that impact the global game.