The just concluded Dhaka Premier League was free of corruption and subsequently the Bangladesh Cricket Board will heave a sigh of relief in spite of the country’s lone
limited-overs competition stirring up some controversies.
After this year’s Bangladesh Premier League match-fixing scandal threw quite a few talking points, underhand dealing in the DPL made it mandatory for the BCB to look
into the league with eagle eyes but cricket’s governing body was relieved that none of the matches were under the cloud of suspicion.
According to clause 11.6 of the DPL’s Rules and Regulations chart, if a particular match is proved to have been a pre-arranged result, in popular term ‘fixed match’,
then both the involved teams will not get any point(s) from the match and a further two points from each of their league points will be deducted.
The clause goes on to mention that the concerned club officials and players may also be suspended for a maximum of three years for their ill involvement.
The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, having considered all the evidence and reports from the match referees and umpires, concluded that there was no foulplay in
this season’s DPL.
‘We have completed the league without any fixing issue,’ BCB director Hanif Bhuiyan told New Age on Saturday.
‘There were certain issues regarding some club officials and they were punished accordingly but that was due to their behaviour and not anything else,’ said Hanif, who
was also once the vice-chairman of the CCDM.
‘There were some issues regarding the umpires but as there were no official complaints, we did not deem it necessary to take any step against them,’ he added.
Brothers Union remained at the heart of all controversies that took place in this year’s league, which included the demotion of a club to the second tier.
Cricket Coaching School were thrown out of the competition as they failed to reach the ground on time against Brothers on October 8 and after an investigation carried
out by the CCDM, the club were relegated to the first division cricket league.
In another development, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club challenged Brothers for fielding a suspended player in Sohrawardi Shuvo against them in a round-robin game on
November 9. Sheikh Jamal’s outcry was rewarded with a re-match which was won by the Dhanmondi-based club to seal their place in the Super League at the expense of
Brothers.
On both occasions, the BCB took some time over their decision-making which briefly halted the league but the CCDM duly intervened and all ordeals were overcome.
Brothers were not done courting another controversy though. Their Zimbabwean duo – Sean Ervine and Sean Williams – reportedly complained that they were being held
hostage for a week after being deprived of their outstanding match fees.
Brothers cleared the matter immediately and sent them back home. This was considered as one of the scars in an otherwise bright DPL campaign devoid of Pakistani
players which also failed to diminish the league’s prospects.
Earlier, the Pakistani cricketers remained the major attraction of the league but it was not the case this time around as several cricketers from the other countries
stepped up to the mark.
-With New Age input
