The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), as expected, has a new president in the form of former ODI captain Faruque Ahmed, who replaced Nazmul Hassan Papon on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League’s downfall, of which Papon was a member of parliament since 2009, had already indicated the end of his term as the BCB president.

The BCB meeting, held at the National Sports Council (NSC) office in Dhaka on Wednesday, was attended by directors Mahbubul Anam, former cricketers Khaled Mahmud and Akram Khan, Salauddin Ahmed, Kazi Inam Ahmed, Iftekhar Ahmed and Fahim Sinha. The other 16 directors, including Papon, have gone missing from Dhaka since August 5.

Faruque joined the BCB directors’ meeting after the NSC nominated him and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who has coached the likes of Shakib-Al Hasan and Litton Das, as their directors on the board. “Papon sent his resignation today (Wednesday) via email,” a BCB source told The Telegraph.

“The interim government, with Asif Mahmud (adviser of youth affairs and sports) had been getting Faruque ready for the BCB chief’s role for almost a week. So, it was expected that he would be the one to get the appointment.”

As for Faruque, he happens to be the first BCB president to have played any form of competitive cricket. He played seven ODIs between 1988 and 1999 and led Bangladesh in the ICC Trophy in 1994.

Following his playing days, he served two terms as chief selector, the first from 2003 to 2007. He was credited for giving breaks to Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal, among other young players.

Faruque returned as chief selector in 2013 but resigned in 2016 when Papon had decided to include head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and then Bangladesh team manager Mahmud in the selection panel. During that phase, Bangladesh had beaten India and South Africa at home in 2015.

Faruque noted the need to establish clear guidelines for cricketers, including a decision on Shakib’s future with the national team. “We’ll discuss Shakib’s situation and whether he can continue under the current circumstances,” the newly-appointed BCB president said.

Now that the Bangladesh board has a new chief, how could its equation be with the Board of Control for Cricket in India? “Officially, Faruque doesn’t owe allegiance to any political party, while as of now, there isn’t any interference as such (in BCB affairs) from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or the Jamaat-e-Islami. Let’s see what happens in the days ahead,” a BCB insider said.