bangladesh premier league - Dhaka Mirror

BPL names seven franchisees for the next three editions

Admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 02:50:54 +0000

Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 Governing Council has asked seven companies to complete the process of acquiring franchise ownership for the next three (9th, 10th and 11th) editions of the league on Sunday, according to a press release from the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

Although there were rumours, two of the most successful franchises, Dhaka Dynamites and Khulna Titans, did not take the team in the end.

According to the BCB Governing Council, Pragati Green Auto Rice Mills Limited has got the ownership of Dhaka instead of Beximco. Mindtree Limited will own the Khulna team. The Barisal franchise is under the ownership of Fortune Barisal Sports Limited.

Besides, the Chattogram team will be run by Delta Sports Limited, Togi Sports Limited (Basundhara Group) has got the ownership of Rangpur. Future Sports Bangladesh Limited is in charge of Sylhet.

Among the well-known franchises is the defending champion Comilla Victorians, which will be owned by Comilla Legends Limited.

The eighth and last edition of the BPL was held in January-February of this year, featuring six franchises. Comilla Victorians won the championship for the third time after defeating Fortune Barishal in the final.

The ninth edition, with seven franchises, will take place in January-February of next year. In fact, the ICC has reserved the next three tournaments for these seven franchises.

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Amir among Pakistanis listed for BPL

Admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 06:07:24 +0000

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who served out a five-year ban for his part in spot-fixing scandal, is among 51 Pakistani cricketers listed for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament, said an official on Friday. Amir completed his ban in September and has already made a return to competitive cricket, taking 27 wickets in last three four-day matches in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy qualifiers.
‘Amir is one of the Pakistani players, who made themselves available for the BPL,’ BPL technical committee member Khaled Mahmud told New Age.
‘He is playing domestic cricket so there is no problem with his participation in BPL,’ said Mahmud.
‘If an ICC clearance is required, the interested franchise will obtain it from them to make him play,’ he said.
The BPL players’ lottery will be held on October 31.
Each franchise will be able to register seven foreign cricketers but only four will be allowed to play at a time.
The highest price for the foreign cricketers is $70,000 while the lowest payment will be $35000.
West Indies’ Chris Gayle, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara are among the stars expected to play in the BPL this time.
Gayle and Sangakkara are unlikely to be auctioned as Sylhet and Dhaka franchises have already struck a deal with them.
The six-team BPL will start from November 21 with the opening ceremony scheduled on November 19.

-With New Age input

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BCB names 6 BPL franchises

Admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 13:41:04 +0000

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday confirmed six franchises for the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament, which gets underway from November 24. Eastern city Comilla will join Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur and Barisal for the event that will resume after a gap of two years. The BCB excluded Rajshahi and Khulna from the third edition as there were no takers for them in the bidding.
Beximco was awarded Dhaka franchise while DBL Group took Chittagong. Royal Sporting Limited, a company linked to former International Cricket Council President AHM Mustafa Kamal, was given the newly inducted Comilla franchise.
Alif Group, who owned Barisal previously, had to settle with Sylhet this time. Axiom Group took the ownership of Barisal while I Sports were given Rangpur franchise.
All six companies were given the franchises for a period of four years, said the BPL governing council at a press conference adding that they have plans to increase the number of teams to 10.
BRB Cables secured the title and in-stadia sponsorship rights while Channel-9 will continue as the broadcasting partnership.
The BPL authority said they were waiting for a written petition of Dhaka Gladiators to be disposed before making the formal announcement about the new franchises and sponsors.
‘On Tuesday, the honourable Supreme Court dismissed their petition, so we thought we don’t have to wait anymore,’ said BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman.
Gladiators, champions in the first two editions, were unwelcomed in the new bidding after the team’s two owners were banned for 10 years by a special tribunal for their part in match-fixing scandal.
The BCB kept the door open for other franchises to return, but officials said only Alif Group, Royal Sporting and I Sports took the chance by clearing their dues and giving the necessary financial assurances.
BCB officials said the agreements with all the seven previous franchises have been terminated and arbitration is going on with three franchises over financial matters.
‘The arbitration is only about financial dispute. There is no way that they can reclaim the ownership of the franchises,’ said BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider.
Ismail added that the BCB will engage its own anti-corruption unit this time to tackle match-fixing unlike the previous two editions when a private agency and ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit handled the matters.
Ismail added that members of the BPL governing council have been barred from involving with any teams.
The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held on November 22 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
The matches of the tournament could be held in three venues – Mirpur, Chittagong and Khulna.
BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said that the fixtures and other details of the tournament will be announced in due course.

-With New Age input

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BCB starts clearing dues

Admin — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 15:22:42 +0000

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Sunday started clearing the dues of players for their participation in the Bangladesh Premier League domestic Twenty20 competition.
The BCB disbursed Tk 2.20 crore among 65 cricketers who had remained unpaid or partially paid after the second edition of BPL. The BCB, who were the guarantor of local and international players’ payment, took the initiative of clearing the dues as it is planning to hold the third edition of BPL from November 25 to December 25.
The BPL governing council entrusted BCB’s cricket operation chairman Naimur Rahman with the responsibility of clearing the payment after discussing the matter with concerned players.
Naimur hold negotiations with the players at personal level and decided their amount keeping their base-price for the tournament in mind.
National one-day international captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza received highest $10,000 on Sunday while off-spinner Sohag Gazi received lowest $1,000.
Among others Sakib al Hasan received $6,000, which made him the highest paid player in the BPL for the second edition as he had received $71,000 from Dhaka Gladiators already.
BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha distributed the cheques among the cricketers including Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim and opener Tamim Iqbal.
‘It’s a big relief for us as we were the guarantor of their money,’ Afzalur told reporters at Mirpur. ‘Hopefully we can complete the payment within a day or two,’ he said.
Players, who played for Rangpur Riders, however is yet to receive payment as the franchise said they will pay the players by themselves.
BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick assured that they won’t be left far behind.
‘We will clear them if Rangpur fails to clear,’ said Mallick. ‘They requested us that they would like to clear their players by themselves and we agreed. Probably they will take three to four days,’ he said.
Though the payments were made it could make hardly everyone happy.
‘I was expecting to receive Tk seven lakh while I got only TK 77,000 taka,’ Sohag Gazi told reporters.
Rubel Hossain claimed that he received Tk seven lakh while he was expecting Tk 20 lakh.
Naimur said that he knew it would not satisfy everyone.
‘You cannot make everyone happy,’ he said. ‘It was a difficult job. Many players had dues to their respective team. We could give them only a part.’

-With New Age input

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Five bidders pay within deadline

Admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 11:41:13 +0000

The Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Sunday it had received financial guarantee from five interested bidders for Bangladesh Premier League franchises.
The deadline for submitting a pay order of Tk one-crore and a bank guarantee of Tk 4.5 crore ended on Sunday. But BCB said among the 11 new bidders, only three – DBL Group, Dhaka Dynamics representing Beximco and Axiom Technologies – could meet the deadline.
They were joined by two companies – I Sports Limited and Royal Sporting Limited – who had represented Rangpur Riders and Sylhet Royals respectively in the previous editions.
The BCB indicated that they might extend the deadline to give other interested parties to come up with proper financial back-up.
‘As you know that 12 [11] companies had expressed their interest, now if they have any valid reasons for submitting the money late, the BCB may accept that as well,’ said BCB’s chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
‘This is not a case about being flexible. The way the board thinks is that it wants to make the tournament successful. And that is our number one priority,’ he said.
New team that had submitted their expression of interest were – Beximco Group, Mediacom on behalf of Square, DBL Group, Sohana Group of Industries, Blues Communications, BBS Cables, Index Group, Axiom Technologies, Bengal Communications, Networld Bangladesh Limited and Fiber @home Limited.
Nizamuddin said that they have decided to give some more time to the interested bidders as some of them told the board that they are still trying to figure out the business module of BPL.
‘They are trying to understand the entire financial module and that is probably why they are taking time. Maybe they are working to understand on it,’ said Nizamuddin.
‘They want to stay with us, and discussed with us how they can stay with us,’ he said, adding that there will be no formal deadline further. ‘We have a BPL board meeting next week. Hopefully we will resolve all these issues by then,’
The BCB chief executive insisted that submitting the financial assurance alone will not guarantee that they will be awarded the ownership of a franchise as the BCB has few other issues to consider.
‘It’s absolutely a policy decision,’ he said.
‘Today five companies have come but they aren’t confirmed as yet. We have to see their documents and judge them properly before making a final decision. If there is a shortfall in any document then we will want to know more information.’

-With New Age input

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Doping rules set for domestic debut

Admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 03:04:08 +0000

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is all set to introduce domestic anti-doping code in the upcoming edition of Bangladesh Premier League, bringing all local players under its purview for the first time in a bid to create a doping free environment in domestic cricket. The domestic anti-doping code’s amended version will be placed in the next board meeting for approval as International Cricket Council asked BCB to do so, especially after their recent success.
In the past only national cricketers had to face dope tests during different international cricket competitions, but other players of the domestic circuit were spared.
Earlier, the BCB also tried to introduce the anti-doping code but could not do so because of perennial uncertainly over the schedule of domestic competitions.
‘We will try to implement it in any of our first-class competition though the plan has not been chalked out yet. But we will definitely introduce it in the BPL,’ BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told New Age.
The anti-doping code will now allow the BCB officials to examine any cricketer at any stage of a domestic cricket competition.
The board will employ an anti-doping unit that will monitor each game and whenever they have any suspicions about any player they will take his urine sample for the dope test, said the officials.
There may be a random test and a player can be chosen randomly for providing sample that will be transferred to National Anti-Doping Organisation for tests.
NADO will send the samples to any of the accredited anti-doping testing laboratory.
In the approved doping code it has been defined that the occurrence of one or more anti-doping rule violations and the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or marks in a player’s urine sample will make a player guilty.
Any kind of steroid, cough syrup ephedrine related medicines, stimulating drugs that can enhance muscle power along with several other drugs are often considered as prohibited specified substances.
Under the code all prohibited substances shall be considered as ‘specified substances’ except substances in the class of anabolic agents and hormones and those stimulants and hormone antagonists and modulators so identified on the prohibited list.
‘The result management is the key area as we are not accustomed to this system,’ said BCB physician Debashish Chowdhury.
‘As it will no longer remain simply a medical issue if anyone is tested positive, we would like to appoint a legal team to address the issue on case basis.
‘The result management would be the critical part of the whole process as even if a player is tested positive, he has a chance to appeal,’ he said.
On August 27, the ICC anti-doping manager Venessa Hobkirk held a meeting with the national cricketers to brief them about anti-doping code of conduct.
It was learnt that the national players were asked to avoid herbal and homeopathic medicines along with supplementary medicines.
‘In allopathic medicines all the ingredients are written down but in the other two groups it is not the case, so it becomes difficult for players to judge whether there are any dope substance in it or not,’ said Debashish.
Several national cricketers complained that it looks to be very complicated to them as they are not sure whether they are using dope substance or not in time of crisis.
‘Suppose someone had a migraine and he is suffering than he won’t wait to get the approval of the doctor before taking medicine to get relief,’ asked a cricketer.
‘There can be a dope substance in any medicine, how can we know that and all of a sudden we will get into trouble without knowing,’ he said.
Debashish also added that, players might be granted permission to use one or more prohibited substances or prohibited methods for therapeutic reasons in the circumstances set out in international standard for therapeutic use exemptions.

-With New Age input

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Only two franchises clear BPL dues

Admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 03:37:54 +0000

Only two old franchises of the Bangladesh Premier League — Rangpur Riders and Sylhet Royals — have cleared their dues within the stipulated time, said an official on Thursday.
The payment deadline ended on Thursday, but BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha said his committee did not receive any positive response from four other defaulters.
‘Rangpur and Sylhet completed their dues,’ Sinha told reporters at his office.
‘Sylhet also paid Tk one crore through pay-order for next season and gave a bank guarantee of Tk one core. They will give the bank guarantee for rest of the amount by August 30.’
BPL chairman also ruled out the opportunity of payment in installment basis as demanded by Barisal Burners.
‘Some people are saying that they want to complete the payment in installment basis. They could not pay the money in two years. How can you trust them now?’ said Sinha.
BPL chairman said that the BCB’s board of directors will make the final decision about awarding the franchises to old franchisees.
The BCB recently received 11 bids from interested companies for the next edition of the BPL.
The BCB asked all interested parties to pay Tk one crore in pay-orders and give a bank guarantee of Tk 4.5 crore by August 30.
Sinha said they are still working on few details about the payment of players for the first two editions.
BCB director Naimur Rahman was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a list and the board will complete the payment accordingly, he said.
Sinha added that they will involve both the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit and its own anti-corruption body to check the corruption during the third edition.

-With New Age input

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BCB’s battle with BPL teams rages on

Admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 04:58:18 +0000

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is divided into two camps over giving the old franchises of the Bangladesh Premier League another chance provided they clear their dues.
BCB officials said apart from Dhaka Gladiators and Khulna Royal Bengals the owners of all other franchises have contacted with them and expressed their interests to stay involved with the tournament.
The owners of Rangpur Riders and Sylhet Royals publicly expressed their interests and said they will clear out the payments to get back their ownerships.
With holders Gladiators barred from participating because of their involvement in match-fixing scandal, the BCB asked six other franchises to clear their dues by August 27.
BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick said on Sunday that he is in favour of retaining the franchises considering the humanitarian ground provided they fulfill all conditions.
‘If they can pay their old dues and also fulfill the other conditions required to own a new franchise,’ said Mallick. ‘Of course this is my personal opinion as the final decision will be taken by the board.’
‘They had spent lots of money in the first two editions and now if we don’t allow them to take part despite clearing their dues it will be an injustice,’ he said.
BCB insiders said the BCB is also considering the legal aspects as some of the old franchises already threatened to take legal action if they are not allowed to play in the tournament despite clearing all their dues.
The BCB already admitted that despite all the fuss involving the tournament it has proved to be a profitable venture and it insiders said they don’t want to drag it to the court which can make the next edition uncertain.
Mallick said that the BCB already profited Tk 15 to 16 crore from the tournament and if all the franchises clear their dues the profit will augment to approximately Tk 50 crore.
BCB president Nazmul Hasan on Saturday informed that six franchises owed TK 36 crore to the BCB.
Nazmul however did not make it clear whether they will allow the old franchises in the next addition.
Asked about the issue, BCB chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury said if the old franchises clear their payment they will be definitely included in the bidding process.
They will be surely included in the bidding process if they complete the payment. But there is no guarantee that they will get the same franchise as it is completely a new bidding,’ he said.
‘We will judge every bid according to its merit.’
The BCB already wooed 11 new bidders for the franchises, though it was alleged that some defaulters are trying to get involved under the fresh banner.
Mizanur Rahman, once a co-owner of Sylhet Royals, submitted a fresh bid under the guise of Sohana Group.
BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman said that he is still unsure how they will consider his bid.
‘Mizan informed us that he has parted away with Sylhet Royals through a letter. But still we have to be careful about him as it’s all about the reputation of the owners that is our most important consideration,’ he said.

-With New Age input

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Jamal look for more success

Admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 04:57:29 +0000

Bangladesh Premier League champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club promised to retain their squad that gave phenomenal success domestically and internationally as the club eye more glory during the forthcoming season. In addition to winning the domestic league title, Jamal also qualified for the AFC Cup play-offs which earned them plaudits from many corners including one from the outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahudiin handed over the congratulatory letter to Jamal president Manzur Kader at a programme held at the club premises on Sunday.
Jamal, who won back-to-back Bangladesh Premier League titles, recently, became Group-B champions in the AFC Cup play-offs qualification round by beating Macau’s champions Casa Benfica 4-1 and drawing with Kyrgyzstan’s FC Alga 1-1 in Bishkek.
Jamal president Kader praised his side for delivering brilliant result both locally and internationally.
‘I am really grateful to my players for their outstanding performances,’ said the club president.
‘We travelled abroad four times and every time except 2013 IFA Shield we were crowned champions.’
Kader promised that they will again form a strong team to continue their success in the local and international arena.
‘We have a hat-trick league title up for grab and we don’t want to miss it. I have full confidence on my players who are equally eager for the success.
‘We have a great opportunity to take the team to a higher level after the qualification of AFC Cup play-offs and we do not want to lose that chance as well.’
Kader informed that the club’s growing reputation at international level earned them an invitation from Indian Super League franchise Atletico de Kolkata for a friendly match on September 19 in Shiliguri, India.
‘We felt really honoured by the invitation and we are considering it,’ said Kader.
‘We are really interested to play the game but we have to think about some issues including the availability of our foreign players who are scheduled to fly home.
‘We also have to think about the availability of our local players, many of whom will be engaged with their national duties.
‘After considering these issues carefully we will make our final decision.’
During the programme Jamal also greeted the national Under-16 football team for winning their SAFF crown recently.
DBL Group, a financial partner of Jamal, awarded Tk 10000 each for the all members of the young Bangladesh team.

-With New Age input

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BPL set to become a larger affair

Admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 05:31:54 +0000

Bangladesh Cricket Board is mulling the option of increasing the number of franchises at the Bangladesh Premier League because of wide interest, said BCB president Nazmul Hasan on Saturday.
According to BCB insiders, BPL is likely to be an eight-team affair, as Rangpur cleared their dues while Sylhet is on their way to clear it by August 27, the deadline set by BPL governing council to the old franchises to clear their dues.
BCB received expression of interest from 11 new companies during their bid for interested new franchises, which ended on August 17.
‘We have 12 teams to consider now,’ Nazmul told reporters after an impromptu meeting of BPL governing council at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
‘Among the old teams, Rangpur cleared their dues,’ said Nazmul.
Nazmul said they are confident of hosting a ‘payment dispute-free’ BPL this time, as they had asked for TK I crore as pay order and Tk 4.5 crore as bank guarantee for players’ payment.
‘We won’t have any risk if we get the money. All the expenditure, including foreign and local, will be covered. There will be no scope of a problem like in previous years. After that, we will scrutinise to see who will get the franchise,’ said Nazmul.
BPL was stopped after two years for payment problems, beside match fixing allegations.
Nazmul also gave a lifeline to the old franchises if they can pay the money by August 27.
‘First they have to pay the dues and then pay for this time. Then we shall decide who will be awarded franchises. I am not so sure, however, whether that will be ethical,’ he said.
‘But then it might go against those who cleared their dues earlier. But I suppose if they are paying now and as there will be a bank guarantee for players’ payment, there will be no risk this time around,’ said Nazmul.
Tk 36 crore 85 lakhs is currently due from five companies. Sylhet owes almost eight and a half crore taka from two sessions of BPL, Barisal has six and a half crore, Khulna has eight crore 19 lakh, Rajshahi has six crore nine lakh and Chittagong has seven crore and 45 lakh.
Nazmul added that at the BPL, players, including foreigners, will be assigned through lottery, known as ‘players by choice’.
‘Another thing being discussed is setting price ceilings from local and foreign players. The situation is such that we have to go by the lottery,’ he said.
‘We have to set players in categories to watch out for one team becoming too strong or weak. We will provide a big list of foreign cricketers as well,’ said Nazmul.
‘You can form a good team with Tk seven crore under this system. Besides, outside this, teams can bring more foreign players but BCB will not take responsibility for their payments,’ he said.
Syhet Royals owner Nafisa Kamal said she will pay the dues by the deadline, after meeting the board president after the BPL governing council meeting.

-With New Age input

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