Khaled Mahmud, former Bangladesh captain and head coach of Noakhali Express, created a stir on Thursday when he walked out of his team’s training session at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The 12th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is set to get underway on Friday. Later this evening, Noakhali Express will play against Chattogram Royals in what would be their season opener and second match of the tournament overall.
Ahead of the game, though, the head coach was clearly unhappy with how the team was being managed and decided to leave the practice midway. Mahmud was accompanied by Noakhali Express pace bowling coach and former Bangladesh fast bowler Talha. Speaking to reporters at the ground, Mahmud made his frustration very clear. “I will not do the BPL under any circumstances,” Mahmud said, as quoted by Cricbuzz. “I have never seen this in the BPL,” he added. Talha also expressed similar feelings, adding, “I don’t want to work. I don’t know about you, Sujon (Mahmud) bhai, but I am not working.” The incident happened after Mahmud and the team arrived at the ground around 1:30 pm to prepare for the upcoming BPL matches in Sylhet. Soon after, Mahmud and Talha were seen leaving the ground while angrily speaking to someone on the phone. Their sudden exit caught everyone’s attention. According to reports, the main issue was a lack of proper equipment during the training session. There were not enough cricket balls available for practice, which left Mahmud deeply disappointed. When he raised the issue with the owner of Noakhali Express, the situation worsened. It is understood that the owner misbehaved with Mahmud, leading to a heated exchange and the coach deciding to walk out. However, the drama did not last long. A few hours later, both Mahmud and Talha returned to the practice session. A close friend of the duo convinced them to stay as he was told that leaving the team abruptly could harm their careers in the long run.Earlier, the Bangladesh Cricket Board took over the ownership of Chattogram Royals, surprising the entire BPL governing council. BPL chairman Iftekhar Rahman said the move helped avoid further embarrassment. Speaking about Noakhali Express, Iftekhar added, “As far as Noakhali is concerned, what I heard their plane hasn’t arrived (carrying the balls and other things), but if they had asked to BPL governing council, we would have given them 10 balls, but having said that, this means they are unprofessional.”
