Six Bangladesh players quit team to join ICL

Bangladesh cricket plunged into a crisis on Sunday with six players quitting the national team to join the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Former captain Habibul Bashar and five of his colleagues - Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mosharraf Hossain, Farhad Reza and Dhiman Ghosh - conveyed their decision to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, according to Prothom Alo.

The embattled BCB has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the scenario after the player resigned, citing "personal reasons".

According to the daily, these six current national players are among the 14 Bangladeshi cricketers who will form a new team - "Dhaka Warriors" - in this year's ICL to be played in venues across India beginning on October 10.

Retired spinner Mohammad Rafique, Alok Kapali, Nazim Uddin, Manjurul Islam, Tapash Baishya and Mohammad Sharif are among the 14 cricketers who took the ICL plunge.

The newspaper also claimed that current captain Mohammad Ashraful was approached to lead the team but he turned down the offer.