BCB starts meeting franchisees to set rules for next circle of BPL

The Bangladesh Crickest Board (BCB) started meetings with the franchise-based Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 teams at the board office in Mirpur on Monday to chalk out a new agreement for a new circle of the event.

The BPL governing council conducted meetings with Dhaka Dynamites, Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings on the first day today (Monday). 

“We have talked with three franchise teams- Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi on Monday and the meetings were successful. The teams agreed that they will obey the rule that BCB b will finalize in coming weeks,” Mahbub Anam, the member of BPL governing council and BCB director told the media on Monday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. 

Mahbub Anam said they are up to talk to more four franchisee before finalizing the rules and regulation for the new circle of the event, which will be valid for the next four years. 

“We have talked with BCB today and they were really nice to us. We always want the BPL to be a sustainable event and like to see BPL will be lucrative financially so that the franchise can earn something from it. BCB listened to us and they will come up with a final call,” Kazi Inam Ahmed, the managing director of the Khulna Titans told the media. 

At the same time, Inam Ahmed requested BCB to count Khulna as another BPL venue along with Sylhet, Chattogram and Dhaka. 

He said: “We are a team based in Khulna. So we want Khulna to be a venue of the most prestigious cricket event of Bangladesh. It was our earnest request to BCB. They told us that they will discuss the matter.”

Obayed Nizam, the CEO of Dhaka Dynamites, was present at the meeting with the BPL governing council and talked about various issues. 

“We were interested to join this meeting because it was the next circle of BPL. We are ready to know the rules and regulations for the next circle of the event. We have talked about the revenue-sharing issue and there were some more issues that we discussed,” Obayed told media present at the Home of Cricket while leaving the venue after meeting BCB. 

The Rajshahi Kings also expressed that they want a revenue-sharing system in BPL. In a press release on Monday evening, they said they have talked to BCB about a model whereby the revenue is shared equally among the franchises. At the same time, they asked BCB to ensure consistency in the rules and regulations during the coming new circle of BPL. 

However, Mahbub said they are yet to finalize a revenue-sharing model for the franchises of BPL. He said: “Many franchises want a revenue-sharing system in BPL. We have listened to them and we are seriously thinking to come up with a final decision. We are yet to talk to other franchises. After that, the board will conclude the matter.”

Some of the BPL franchises asked to introduce home and away system in BPL. But Mahbub said at this point of time they have no intention to do that as there are not enough venues ready to host BPL games.

The next season of BPL will kick off on December 6. Before that, the players’ auction or draft will take place in the middle of October. It means the franchise will get a little time to finalize their squads and gel together before the event. 

Mahbub said the franchises have no complaints about the time they’ll be getting.  “The three franchises we have talked to today are fine with the time. They said they’ll be able to finalise their teams before the BPL starts on December 6.”