All-rounder Sakib al Hasan on Monday said that he has no regrets representing lowly-ranked Kalabagan Krira Chakra in the upcoming Dhaka Premier League but insisted he had every reason to believe that payments will be not cleared on time.
Sakib arrived from the West Indies via London after featuring for Barbados Tridents in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 and stated his candid observations in front of the media at the Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board is the sole guarantor of the players’ payment on behalf of the premier league clubs, similar to the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 this year when they also acted as the guarantor for the franchises.
Despite the cricket governing body’s involvement in BPL 2, both local and international cricketers are yet to receive their full payments as the franchises hardly bothered to acknowledge several deadlines announced by the BCB.
‘I am sure the [DPL] will be the same as [BPL],’ Sakib told reporters on the basis of his personal experiences in the country’s lone cash-rich Twenty20 tournament.
‘I was expecting that this year, I would play in a team where I had not played earlier,’ said Sakib.
‘There is no regret that I will be playing for Kalabagan,’ he said.
‘I am happy where I eventually landed and there is hardly any problem regarding that,’ he added.
Sakib went on to express his reservation regarding the so-called ‘players by choice’ transfer policy introduced by the BCB for the very first time which hardly gave any club the opportunity to form a team as per their desire.
‘I don’t like the [players by choice] system and there is no reason to develop any liking for it,’ said Sakib.
‘I was very comfortable with the old system though I don’t know why it was changed,’ said Sakib.
It was widely circulated in the media that Gazi Tank Cricketers owner Lutfor Rahman, an avid fan of Sakib had earlier advanced him Tk 35 Lakh.
He further stressed that this transfer policy
will be eventually dumped as the players will not accept this formula which had downsized their payment structure substantially.
‘I don’t think it will continue apart from this year neither do I think that this will be accepted by any cricketer,’ he said before adding, ‘this year there were a lot of problems that also need to be adressed,’ he said.
-With New Age input
