BPL won’t be held this year: Tamim

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will not hold the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) this year as it seeks to overhaul the troubled franchise-based tournament, with BCB president Tamim Iqbal insisting that the board will not rush into staging the competition without first resolving its financial, contractual and compliance problems.

“I don’t think so. The BPL will not happen this year,” Tamim told reporters on Thursday at the launch of the Game Development (GD) Trophy in Dhaka.

The BPL’s future had remained uncertain since Tamim’s board took charge, but the president made it clear that the competition would be put on hold rather than organised under the existing system.

“I have said before regarding the BPL that I do not want to do the BPL the way it was done before,” the former cricketer mentioned.

Tamim said the BCB had suffered around Tk40 crore in losses from the BPL over the past two years, while several franchises had failed to meet compliance requirements.

“Apart from Rangpur and Rajshahi, there are compliance problems with the other franchises. Many have not signed contracts, and many have broken the rules,” he said.

The BCB president warned that the BCB could once again be forced to take responsibility if a franchise withdrew after the tournament process had begun.

“If I start in August with five franchises and go to the draft in September, and if someone withdraws in between, then the BCB will once again have to take responsibility for that team,” he said.

He said the board wanted to make the BPL a profitable competition and would take as much time as necessary to fix the system.

“Our intention is 1000 per cent to do this. But I do not want to rush. I want to do it properly. If it takes six, 12 or 24 months, I will take that time,” Tamim said.

The board has started communicating with franchises over defaults, missed payments and bank guarantees. Tamim said the franchise process should ideally be completed by April-May, giving the BCB sufficient time to find alternatives if any franchise defaults.

“I could put five teams together tomorrow if I wanted to, but do you want that?” he said. “The BPL is a big product and people have a lot of interest in it.”

Tamim, who is also chairman of the ICC’s Franchise League Committee, said his international role made fixing Bangladesh’s franchise cricket even more important.

“If franchise cricket in my country is not properly structured, then stopping it and starting again will send a big message to my committee,” he said.

The BCB is also considering the possibility of bringing foreign franchises into the BPL, although Tamim said the board would first review its policies with lawyers.

“If a renowned foreign franchise comes, the acceptability of the BPL will increase,” he said.

While the BPL remains on hold, the BCB has introduced the GD Trophy as part of an effort to provide more competitive opportunities for young cricketers and identify players ready for the next level.

The tournament will feature Bangladesh’s Under-17, Under-19 and Under-23 teams, with Tamim saying the biggest objective is to challenge young players against stronger opposition.

“When Under-17 plays against Under-23, it will be challenging,” he said. “But if an Under-17 boy takes three wickets or scores a 50, his confidence will increase a lot. It will be a very good platform for us to identify whether he is ready for the next level.”