ICC Elite Panel umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat has chosen to quit his job with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and stop all of his domestic umpiring tasks. This is a big change in Bangladesh cricket.  This happened after the board narrowed the ban on cricket player Towhid Hridoy without following normal procedures. This made Saikat very unhappy.

A fight broke out between Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club during a Dhaka Premier League (DPL) game. This is what caused the problem.  Towhid Hridoy got into a heated fight with judge Saikat on the field, and then he made rude and angry comments to the media after the game. Because of this, Hridoy was banned from playing for two games.

But both Hridoy and his club, Mohammedan, asked for a lighter punishment.  The DPL Technical Committee turned down the plea, but the BCB's Umpires Department cut the ban short to just one match, even though they didn't have the power to do so. The choice has not only caused a lot of confusion, but also strong opposition.  A story from Prothom Alo says that Saikat has now officially told the board that he will no longer referee domestic matches or work for the BCB in any other way.

It's a big blow.  Many people admire Saikat for always making the right calls on the international stage. He is Bangladesh's first and only umpire to make it into the ICC Elite Panel.  After joining the panel for the first time in 2023, he kept his special standing again this year.

His leaving shows that a lot of people are very upset about how the power of umpires is being weakened in domestic cricket.

The entire situation escalated due to Hridoy’s post-match remarks, where he sarcastically questioned Saikat’s international credentials, stating, “If he's an international umpire, then I’m an international cricketer too.”