Alamgir branded Kamal a supporter of a certain franchise and Mushfiq said that the BPL was a national disgrace. Here are the excerpts of Kamal’s conversation with reporters.

Q: Chittagong Kings alleges that the Bangladesh Premier League has become a fixing hub. What do you think?

MK: We did not make it a fixing hub. Cricket is played here. It is not just in Bangladesh. You will see an attempt at fixing wherever there is a tournament like this. The same thing happened here. You all know that we have just completed the investigation of an involvement of a local player. We will let you know of our observation in time. A few other names also surfaced and we have kept them under surveillance. We cannot name them. If we do it, it will not bring any results. This is why we are taking some time. But I tell you that we are on the right track.

We have taken action against a foreigner as well. He was handed over to the police. We are not aware of what happened next. I have seen the allegation levelled by Chittagong Kings in newspaper. They should have come to me first. My door is always open. If I had failed to resolve the matter, they could have gone somewhere else. But instead of coming to me, they moved court. If it is like this, we need to think otherwise about franchises. We need to make a scrutiny before taking a franchise. We need to see if they have any contribution to cricket. I would advise the board to scrutinize anyone before involving them in the game. If someone takes us to court, we also have to think about him.

Q: Why was Nasir Jamshed allowed to leave?

MK: We have cautioned the franchisees. It was their duty to let us know if they see anything fishy. I would like to thank them for telling us about it. But what they have said afterward was their opinion. The government will take action against Nasir Jamshed. As long as the government is not telling us anything, we are nobody.

Q: Chittagong Kings alleges that the decision of excluding them from semi-final was influenced by bookies. What do you say?

MK: It is their opinion. I do not like to make comments on it. They should not have said it.

Q: Will you ask them to provide evidence?

K: The cricket board will not seek any evidence. But the government agency concerned can do this. Fixing is a criminal offence. When you say this it means you have evidence. But why should we ask for it? The government will do it.

Q: The BPL secretary said that you supported a team. Did you really do this?

MK: A Barisal fan called during the talk show [on television] and I said something to satisfy him. I do not know what Alam [the BPL secretary] said. It was asked only to make me controversial. Alam can give his opinion. Anybody can do this. We are not employees here. Alam works for 18 hours every day these days. He is under pressure. So we must not react. But we all should be careful about making comments. The best person was [the national captain] Mushfiqur Rahim around. But he also started saying so many things.. But we cannot drop Mushfiq just because he made a comment. You can have the president if you drop me. But where will we get a player?