Imrul Kayes questions player grading in BPL

Bangladesh batter Imrul Kayes has questioned the player grading process considered when sorting players into categories in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 

Imrul, who played his last international match for Bangladesh in 2018, raised doubts about the criteria on which players are graded, hinting that a lack of fairness looms large in the process. He questioned whether players are graded on reputation or performance ahead of the draft of the 11th edition of the BPL, starting on December 27.

"After seeing grading of the cricketers ahead of the BPL draft, I have been wondering what the grading is based on," A post on Imrul's official Facebook page read on Friday.

"Is it [playing in the] national team, performance in the domestic cricket throughout the year, BPL performance or just names? 

"A cricketer who has not been near cricket throughout this year found his place in 'B' grade but cricketers who were brilliant in the last edition of the BPL were placed in 'C' grade. So, is it just the name or the reputation that is considered when determining the grade of a cricketer?"
Thirty-seven-year-old Imrul, who is one of BPL's most successful captains with three titles under his belt, was placed in 'C' grade where the price cap is Tk 25 lakhs. The left-handed batter was preferred in only five matches in Comilla Victorians' road to the final of the 2024 edition in which he scored 152 runs at a strike-rate of 114.28.

Imrul's dissatisfaction may have come from his former national teammate Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's sorting into 'B' grade. Mashrafe, who turned 41 earlier this month, played his last competitive match in the 2024 Dhaka Premier League for Legends of Rupganj in April. Before that, he came under immense scrutiny for playing in the 2024 BPL in which he took a break after playing just five matches for the Sylhet Strikers. He was captain in all five matches and cited political engagements as the reason for the sabbatical. There was, however, another key element in his short stint; The then 40-year-old, who has struggled with knee injuries throughout his career, was often seen hobbling to complete his strides to the crease while bowling and found it difficult to keep himself in proper shape which put the quality and the competitiveness of the franchise tournament into question.  

Imrul expressed his dissatisfaction at the lack of clarity and performance-based system when it comes to grading players, revealing his own experiences of how he lost his place on the national side in the aftermath of an underwhelming BPL season.

"I could not do well in the 2018-19 edition of the BPL which is why I was dropped from the national team after the West Indies series. Subsequently, when I talked with a BCB official about that, he told me that my performance in the BPL was relatively poor which is why they dropped me. Since I could not perform to my expectations, I accepted that decision without hesitation.

"But I worked very hard to make a comeback to the national side and even scored 442 runs in 13 matches for Chattogram Challengers in the 2019-20 edition of the BPL but, even after such a performance, I was not called up. Moreover, I was not even included in any national team camps. So, does that mean that you are out if you do not perform in the BPL? But even if you perform, it is not being taken into consideration. Will the dire times in our cricket never end?