Same old BPL, new ‘firefighting’ acts

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) governing council promised a unique 12th edition, and that promise appears to be upheld -- but only because all the wrong elements are present.

Historically, the tournament has rarely begun smoothly, and while that has not changed, this year's "uniqueness" lies in how the rules and processes have been set so far.

Initially featuring five teams, the tournament -- scheduled to begin on December 19 and end tentatively on January 16 -- has now expanded to six with Noakhali Express the latest to enter the fray. However, no clear explanation has been provided regarding the payment guidelines being followed by the franchises.

BPL member secretary Iftekhar Rahman Mithu said they "saw an opportunity at the last minute" to include a sixth team, following a request from the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) to ensure the participation of "15-16 more local players."

Mithu emphasised that they want this edition to be "very clean in terms of payment and integrity," even warning that the council may "take over teams" that fail to comply with financial and integrity guidelines.

Interestingly, the BPL governing council has already extended the deadline for franchises to submit bank guarantees multiple times. Yet, Mithu informed that two teams had still not made the required payments, while four teams had apparently "covered" their part of the agreement through financial instruments provided by the BCB.

With so many inconsistencies emerging ahead of the 12th edition, Mithu was asked whether he was effectively stepping into a fire with this BPL.

"Definitely, it's a tough job. If we had gotten 7-8 months, we could have organised everything properly. Right now, we are firefighting," he said.

Of the 11 entities that originally submitted EOIs (Expression of Interest), five were cleared for participation before Noakhali Express (Desh Travels) "responded by submitting the financial instruments and thus was included." The other five franchises are: Chattogram Royals (Triangle Services), Dhaka Capitals (Champion Sports Limited), Rajshahi Warriors (Nabil Group), Rangpur Riders (Toggi Sports), and Sylhet Titans (JM Sports and Entertainment).

Meanwhile, Trans Production Technologies (TPT) has been awarded production service rights. Previously, Real Impact served as the production provider, but this time the BCB opted for TPT, considering their experience.

Overall, it appears that the same old process is being followed for yet another BPL edition: grand promises that have little reflection in how things are actually being managed so far.