Aminul Islam Bulbul


Mohammad Aminul Islam, popularly known by his nickname 'Bulbul', is a former Bangladeshi cricketer and captain, who has been president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board since May 2025.
Aminul Islam scored the first hundred for the Bangladesh [cricket team] when Bangladesh played their first Test against India, thus becoming only the third cricketer after Charles Bannerman and Dave Houghton to score centuries on their own and their country's Test debut. He was one of Bangladesh's most celebrated cricketers in the pre-Test-status era.

Early years

Just two years after quitting soccer due to an injury, Aminul Islam saw himself representing the International Cricket Council Associates Young Cricketers' squad in the first-ever Youth World Cup held in Australia, where he took six wickets with his off spin, one of which was that of Brian Lara. The same year, he made his ODI debut for the national cricket team at Chittagong in the Asia Cup (1988). He scored 27 runs in the match against Sri Lanka.
A year later, he scored a century against Malaysia in the U-19 Asian Cup. In 1995, he scored a century against the visiting England A side in a three-day match at Dhaka.

In ODIs

Although his ODI career started in 1988 and went on until 2001–02, he played only 39 ODI matches. This was due to the fact that before becoming a full member of the ICC in 2000, Bangladesh seldom got a chance to play official one day internationals.
Over the years, Bulbul's role in the side changed. In the initial years, he was a lower order batsman and off spin bowler. In later years, he mainly concentrated on his batting. His highest ODI score, 70, came against India at Mohali in 1998. His best bowling figures, three wickets for 57 runs, were against Zimbabwe at Nairobi in October 1997.
Career ODI batting performances:
OppositionMatchesRunsAverageHighest Score100 / 50
Australia25454.0041*0/0
England13030.00300/0
India827746.17700/2
Kenya59323.25370/0
New Zealand24545.0030*0/0
Pakistan812415.50420/0
Scotland100.0000/0
Sri Lanka56212.40290/0
West Indies36822.67660/1
Zimbabwe44110.25160/0
Overall3979423.35700/3

In ICC Trophy

Bulbul represented Bangladesh in three ICC Trophy tournaments, in 1990, 1994, and 1997. However, he failed to perform up to expectation in both 1990 and 1994. But, after a slow start in the 1997 event in Malaysia, he scored well in the big matches. In the semi-final against Scotland, he scored 57 runs, sharing a 3rd wicket stand of 115 runs in partnership with Khaled Mashud Pilot. In the final, he scored a quickfire 37 of 37. He shared a 53 run 4th wicket partnership stand with skipper Akram Khan.

As a captain

He took over the captaincy of the national team in 1998. He was the captain of the Bangladesh cricket team in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

As a coach and instructor

Aminul Islam is one of Bangladesh's most qualified coaches at the moment and was serving as ICC's cricket development officer for China, Hong Kong, UAE, Singapore, Thailand, and Myanmar. He completed his Level-1, Level-2 and Level-3 coaching degrees from Cricket Victoria and has trained club sides in Melbourne and Sydney. He finished the initial two levels of instructor courses from Cricket Australia in 2005. He began working for the Asian Cricket Council improvement program and, furthermore. finished the renowned Level-3 instructing a course in 2009. In eight years at the ACC, he led around 80 training courses in Afghanistan, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and the UAE. He became the development manager for the ICC Asia region in 2016. As of 2023, he lives in Australia.

As a cricket administrator

On 30 May 2025, he was appointed as the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

Football career

Before becoming a prominent figure in Bangladeshi cricket, Aminul played football at the domestic level. As a striker, Aminul represented Gendaria Famous Club in the Pioneer League and was league's top scorer once. In 1986, he played for East End Club in the First Division Football League|First Division], however, he was unable to help the club avoid relegation. The following year, he joined Victoria SC and remained a First Division player; however, he suffered a major injury while playing against Mohammedan SC, which ended his football career.