How a Cricket Corruption Probe Is Threatening Bangladesh's Premier League

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-09-02

The Bangladesh Cricket Board's anti-corruption unit just dropped a bombshell. They've charged three people—including a former board director—with serious breaches of the ICC's anti-corruption code. It's all tied to their actions during the last season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), and it feels like the tip of a much larger iceberg. Let's break down what's happening. Because this isn't just about a few individuals; it's a story about the integrity of an entire tournament. ### The Three Individuals Facing Charges The BCB named the three men in a press release. The most prominent is Mukhlesur Rahman, a former board director. The investigation into him started back in January, after a journalist named Riasad Azim published a report on Facebook. Rahman had joined the board after elections in October and was even made chairman of the audit committee. He stepped down once the report came out, but the investigation kept going. His charge sheet is heavy. It includes four articles from the ICC code. One of them, Article 2.1.1, deals with fixing or improperly influencing a match—specifically pointing to the 12th edition of the BPL T20. He's not alone. The other two charged are: - Zakir Hasan, a former BCB security liaison officer - Rakibul Islam Sunny, a BCB councillor who also sat on the audit committee ### This Is Part of a Much Bigger Investigation Here's the thing that makes this news significant. This isn't an isolated event. These latest charges are part of a probe that's been running for months, looking across several recent BPL seasons. Back in May, the same unit charged four other people in connection with the same investigation. One of them was a domestic player. That player, Saminur Rahman, who played for the Chattogram Royals, ended up with a lifetime ban for betting-related violations. When you put the two rounds of charges together—seven people so far this year—a clear pattern emerges. It's a pattern the BCB has been worried about for a while. BCB president Tamim Iqbal recently said he doesn't want to run the BPL in its current structure anymore. That comment speaks volumes about the concern within the board's highest levels about how the tournament has been managed. ### Who's Running This High-Stakes Investigation? The integrity unit leading this charge is headed by Alex Marshall. If his name sounds familiar to cricket fans, it's because he's a well-known figure from his prior work with the ICC's own anti-corruption division. He's got a small team of four or five investigators digging through conduct across multiple BPL seasons. On the legal side, Barrister Mahin M Rahman serves as the unit's general counsel. So, where does this leave the BPL? With seven individuals now facing charges across two separate rounds this year, the investigation shows no signs of stopping. The big, unanswered question is what happens to the tournament itself. If President Tamim follows through on his comments, a major restructuring could be on the horizon. The future of one of cricket's exciting leagues might just depend on the outcome of these corruption probes.