Corporate executive and sports organizer Rubaba Dowla has been appointed to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), replacing Isfak Ahsan, whose nomination was withdrawn only hours after Monday’s board election.

The National Sports Council (NSC), which nominates two directors to the 25-member BCB board, confirmed the change early Tuesday following growing scrutiny over Isfak’s political background.

Isfak, a businessman from Chandpur, had previously sought the Awami League’s nomination for parliament and later ran as an independent candidate. His recent photos from political events triggered sharp criticism online, prompting the NSC to quietly replace him before the appointments were finalized.

Rubaba Dowla, the Country Director for Oracle Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, is widely regarded as one of Bangladesh’s leading corporate figures. A well-known advocate for women’s leadership in technology and business, she brings extensive experience in both the corporate and sports arenas.

Before joining Oracle, Rubaba spent more than a decade at Grameenphone, where she became a familiar name in cricket circles during the company’s long-term sponsorship of the Bangladesh national team.

Beyond cricket, she has also contributed to sports administration, serving as President of the Bangladesh Badminton Federation from 2009 to 2015, and currently sits on the board of Special Olympics Bangladesh.

Her inclusion on the BCB board marks a rare appointment of a woman in a key position within Bangladesh’s top sports governing body — a move that has already drawn positive attention from sports and business communities alike.