BCB scratching its head to solve the BPL problem

The newly-elected Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed has called a board of directors' meeting on Thursday where among several key issues, holding the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in scheduled time is likely to be discussed.

Faruque has inherited a BCB that has been in limbo ever since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 in the face of a student-led people's movement. Many BCB directors, who had links with the previous government, have gone into hiding since, leaving various standing committees at a standstill.

Resuming activities of those standing committees with changes in personnel will be a key agenda in the meeting, as will be the forthcoming BPL, which is facing a plethora of challenges at the moment.

The biggest challenge is the uncertain status of several franchises whose owners had strong ties with Awami League and are on the run after the recent political developments in the country.

Comilla Victorians, the most successful team in BPL history with four titles, was run by Nafisa Kamal, daughter of Awami League lawmaker and former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. Teams like Durdanto Dhaka, Fortune Barishal and Khulna Tigers are also known to have political ties.

The remaining three teams of the seven-team tournament – Sylhet Strikers, Chattogram Challengers and Rangpur Riders – are expected to continue but they are also facing financial challenges.

"The Awami League backed teams are not in the scene at the moment. Apart from that, the market situation is not good at all. There were sponsor issues in the previous editions and now the challenges will exacerbate," a franchise official told The Daily Star yesterday, wishing to remain anonymous.

"Previously, we would have to spend around Tk 15-16 crore each season and would hardly get Tk 3-5 crore from sponsors. Getting that same amount from sponsors is also unlikely for the next edition," he added.

Before the start of the last ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies, the BCB had reached out to the franchises, seeking their participation confirmation and some teams had responded positively.

However, since the change in government and Faruque taking over as BCB president, replacing Nazmul Hassan Papon who was an Awami League lawmaker, they are yet to establish any formal communication with those franchises.

Previously, the BCB had planned to hold the players' draft for the upcoming BPL in the first week of September as the tournament is scheduled between January 1 and February 11 next year. But after the recent changes in the board, holding the draft in the scheduled time seems highly unlikely.

"In these extraordinary circumstances, there is a big question whether the teams would play or not. The board is yet to receive confirmation from them as well. We have to see which teams are in a position to participate. We are currently working on that," a BCB official told the Daily Star, requesting of anonymity.

"We are trying to stick to the legal framework. If the franchises do not respond, the board will then decide whether or not to terminate the contract. Whatever we do, we have to maintain the legal framework.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. We are also considering what the impact would be like if the number of participating teams go down to five from seven."

Another huge challenge for Faruque, who has been a staunch critic of BPL's financial issues over the years, would be to introduce a new structure for the tournament, which has been thrown into controversy many times due to mismanagement since its inception in 2012.

The BCB would also need to address the issue of some teams still not having cleared players' payments from the previous edition.

Amidst all the challenges, there is one silver lining as it was learnt that some interested companies have already met the newly-elected BCB president, showing interest to buy new franchises in the BPL, and the board is still holding out hope of going through with the event.

"We are very optimistic to hold the tournament in time. We believe we can make it happen," concluded the board official.