Two Bangladesh stars -- Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman -- have not signed with any clubs for the upcoming Dhaka Premier League (DPL), and the latter may not play the league at all this season.

This DPL is set to be played with reduced budget from March 3. Clubs, officials and players have all confirmed about their pay-cuts. One club's official yesterday informed that even the staffs' salary has been slashed by over 50 percent.

"We did not approach Mustafizur since we had budget issues," a Prime Bank official told The Daily Star on Thursday.

While Liton has been unable to agree on a remuneration with Abahani, Mustafizur was released by Prime Bank ahead of the players' transfer.

"Yes, Prime Bank released him and he would have to take a [No Objection Certificate] NOC if he wants to play for another club," a Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) said about Mustafizur.

As per the transfer rules, Liton submitted a token to be picked from the transfer list on February 22 and 23. Meanwhile, Mustafizur, who is away on Champions Trophy duty with the national team, did not register.

Mustafizur will require a NOC from Prime Bank to play for another team in the league but the player has not prioritised playing the DPL in the past.

With Bangladesh playing Zimbabwe in March, he may be prioritising that series. Also, despite remaining unsold in IPL auctions, Mustafizur still has chances of appearing in the IPL if a franchise require replacements.

Liton has been in negotiations with clubs but his salary demands were not yet met by any clubs. It has been rumoured that he is in discussions with Gulshan Cricket Club while Legends of Rupganj appeared to have hit a dead end on negotiations with Liton.

Many of the players have talked about reduced salaries in this DPL but since a player-by-choice system does not exist anymore, players have been free to choose clubs.

"Last year, Partex and Brothers had low-budget teams and Abahani had huge budget. So a team's budget is set according to their personal preferences. So, CCDM or other clubs don't set a club's budget.

"According to players' current market, the clubs who made strong teams, felt that they could not spend more than what they are offering this year. The players remain free to choose not to play. So clubs have not been able to negotiate on a salary with Liton and it depends on the players in the end how they negotiate," a CCDM official explained the reduced budget scenario this DPL.

The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, BKSP 1 and 2 have been picked as venues for the start of the league while PKSP and Bashundhara have been kept as backup options.