Jamil, Sinha withdraw

Former board official Khondokar Jamil Uddin pulled off a surprise yesterday when he withdrew his candidature for the coming Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections.
Jamil, a vice-president of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) and general secretary of Bangladesh Hockey Federation, had submitted his nomination against three former national cricket captains -- Roquibul Hassan, Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu and Faruque Ahmed -- in Category 3 where only one director will be elected.
Afzalur Rahman Sinha was the other noted organiser among total seven to pull out on the day of nomination paper withdrawal. Sinha was to compete in Category 2 where Iqbal Yusuf Chowdhury and Gazi Golam Mortuza have decided not to compete for 12 directorial posts for clubs of Dhaka.
In Category 1, three candidates withdrew form the race for ten directors for district and divisions.
"I am withdrawing because I have lost interest in the election. I had expected a panel of consensus which has failed," Sinha told yesterday.
"I will vote as a councillor and I want honest and competent candidates to come to the board," added Sinha, who had submitted his nomination as an independent candidate although billed to be a member of the Mahbubul Anam-led 'cricket development panel'.
Iqbal Yusuf and Mortuza were both 'extra' candidates of the 'united sports panel' led by Ahmed Sajjadul Alam Bobby.
The two panels now have equal 12 candidates for same number of directors.
There will be 18 candidates for the ten directors from district and divisions while four are lined up for Category 3 for cricketers, education boards, women's wings and etc.
Jamil told The Daily Star last night that he thought a lot before taking the decision to quit.
"Initially, I had thought that the three ex-captains could work with the board in many ways due to their cricketing background even if they were not elected, which I could not," admitted Jamil.
"But when I talked with them, I found out that they were adamant to go for the polls. At this stage I thought that as an organiser, I should not compete with the top cricketers of the country, for whose contribution the game has come this far.
"I myself is grateful to them for leading us to this stage. And if I had to compete with them, I would have had to find their weaknesses for the sake of election, which I do not think is proper.
"I am not that selfish that I would say negative things about them only for votes' sakes," claimed the sports organiser.
"Also, as vice-president of BOA and general secretary of hockey federation, I think I would not be able to give enough time to the cricket board like the past. So its wise to quit," he said adding that he wanted to set an example for the others to follow in the future.
"They would be able to give full time to cricket and as cricketers, the have top priority."
The other candidate in Category 3 is Abdul Quayyum Chowdhury.
The election commission will publish the final list of 46 candidates and their ballot numbers today.