BCB plans to reduce tour budget, could even send fewer players overseas

A number of important issues were discussed at the board meeting at the BCB headquarters today. The most important decision made in the meeting was the appointment of Shakib Al Hasan as the new Test captain. Reducing the cost of tours was one of the things discussed and the BCB wants to implement that from the upcoming tour to the Caribbean. 

The BCB is worried about the increase of the expenditure during tours and for this reason, the number of cricketers in the squad for the West Indies tour could be reduced. 

"We have noticed that the cost has gone up at an impossible rate. I am not talking about the country. The cost of many things has increased. For example, the ticket which was worth 3-4 lakhs earlier, has now become worth 10-11 lakhs. The hotel rent used to be about 250 USD. That now costs at least 400-500 USD," said the BCB president Nazmul Hassan. 

A number of reserves used to travel with the team as a precaution but now that the Covid situation has improved, the BCB has plans to pull out of the process. "The way we've been sent so far [on foreign tours], we've sent a lot of extra player-staff as a precaution, especially during the Covid times."

"Since nothing can be said about the prices of things outside the country now, the board as a whole has been asked to reduce the budget, "the BCB president added.

"It will start with the West Indies tour. We may not send many reserve players and
this means that the number of players in our squad may decrease. But it is not final."

The BCB president advised everyone to be careful when it comes to budgeting for the new year. "Everyone has been told that this year's budget should not be higher than the previous one. We had a lot of new things to do. Except for important issues, the rest will be postponed for 3-4 months," Nazmul Hassan concluded.