Former Bangladesh national team captain Tamim Iqbal slammed the current Bangladesh Cricket Board again for its ‘recent’ activities. He also said that the board should give Shakib Al Hasan the respect he deserved.

Tamim, an aspirant in the last BCB elections, withdrew himself from the race, citing partiality. Since then, he’s been vocal in criticising the Aminul Islam-led board.

‘Of course, this board is illegal. Aren’t you seeing their activities?’ Tamim said in a podcast show on Monday.

While Tamim didn’t want to elaborate, he reiterated his position of dubbing the board as ‘illegal’.

‘See why I say they are illegal. Because you all have seen the last election. The simple thing is, I am not completely wrong when I say the board is illegal. I don’t want to elaborate, but I am holding my stance,’ he said.

The former left-hander also admitted that there’s some bitterness for him with the current board.

‘I wanted to participate in the elections. I won’t deny that there’s bitterness after what happened in what process. But why would I say something illegal without any reason?

‘There’s a reason. I wondered why there’s liking or disliking or favouritism on this board? Don’t we want to do everything in a new way?,’ he questioned.

He also clarified his alleged business deal with the BCB. Tamim now runs CA Bangladesh, a Pakistan-based sports equipment company.

‘If people sit in the cricket board with such low IQ, then it’s difficult [to understand]. The CA has been doing business with the board for the last 30 years,’ said Tamim.

‘There is no financial relation between the CA Bangladesh and the board. The relation between the mother company of the CA and the BCB is 25 to 30 years old,’ he said.

Tamim also denied that the recent boycott of the cricketers was instigated by him. However, he said that the cause was justified.

Tamim, who’s been out of competitive cricket since suffering a heart attack on the field, also talked about his once friend—Shakib Al Hasan.

The BCB recently announced that Shakib, who was a former MP of the now-ousted Awami League government, would be considered for national team selection.

Tamim said, ‘He’s the biggest sportsman in Bangladesh. If you really want to bring him back after discussing it with the government, then do it.’

‘But don’t do it for the sake of covering up something else. It’s difficult from my position to realise their understanding because they had different views earlier.

‘[But] don’t do it for eyewashing. Because I think he deserves respect. If you put aside politics and everything, as a cricketer, he deserves respect,’ said Tamim.