Departure of a cricket pioneer
Islam left behind his wife, four sons, their wives, children and a bunch of well-wishers to mourn his death.
His namaz-e-janaza was held at the Azad Mosque in Gulshan in the evening and he was later buried at the Banani Graveyard.
Islam pioneered Nirman School Cricket, a popular school tournament of the united states in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the most important elements behind the rise of cricket in Bangladesh in the pre-Test era was the Nirman School Cricket Championships, popularly known as 'Nirman Cricket'.
It all were only available in the first 1980s and gradually became children name for greater than a decade over which Nirman Cricket produced future stars such as Javed Omar Belim, Khaled Mahmud and Mehrab Hossain.
In the late '90s when the amount of participating schools rose to over 400 as Nirman Cricket emerged as the initial step for cricketers chasing the imagine one day representing the national team.
Islam served as the BCB president from January 30, 1983 to February 18, 1987.
The BCB expressed deep bereavement at the loss of life of its former president.
BCB's current president Nazmul Hassan paid his tribute to K Z Islam, saying: "He was first a pioneer and Bangladesh cricket will forever be grateful to him for his vision and belief. He patronised and encouraged generation cricket with the Nirman School tournament throughout a period when the game was far from being truly a professional sport. Because of resourceful personalities like him so many budding players could imagine turning out to be cricketers and cricket reached every corner of the united states. With respect to the board, I lengthen deepest condolences and sympathies to the category of K Z Islam."
As mark of respect to the late K Z Islam, the BCB flag will fly at half-mast today.
