, April 8 -- In Bangladesh, cricket is far more than a national obsession. Combined with its enormous commercial appeal, the game has been converted into the ultimate political currency.

The recent dissolution of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the lightning-fast installation of a politically connected ad-hoc committee exposes a harsh reality: governments may change, but the state or ruling dispensation's suffocating grip on the country's most popular sport remains completely unbroken.

For decades, ruling regimes have understood that controlling cricket is a way to control the masses. During Sheikh Hasina's long period of rule, which is often called an authoritarian regime by political analysts, the BCB functioned as little more ...