BPL to be named after Bangabandhu

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has confirmed that the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will be named 'Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League' and will be governed completely by BCB. 

The BCB president has also confirmed that there will be no franchises this term around as the terms and conditions from the franchises are unacceptable. 

The BCB president held a press conference at BCB on Wednesday. He said, "Bangabandhu's 100th birthday is next year. We want to celebrate it by naming this year's BPL after him. There will be no franchises. The teams will be as they were. BCB will oversee the whole tournament, the salary of the players, transportation, etc. I hope everyone will be happy with this. It will be like the Big Bash."

The four-year contract with the franchises has run out and BCB is unwilling to renew them. "The first part is completed. We were supposed to come to a new agreement. We discussed it with them. We understood that they have some demands but those were contradictory with our BPL structure. Some of the franchises said that they didn't want two BPLs in one year. Considering everything, we have decided to run the BPL by ourselves." 

Asked about the teams and player drafts, he said, "Every team will be owned by BCB. The rules will stay the same. Player draft will be available; teams will be made from the draft." 

The BCB president also said that they are considering taking sponsors. He said, "If someone comes forward, team sponsors might be taken. The team names will depend on the sponsors. But we will try to keep them the same."

Asked about the foggy situation around Shakib joining Rangpur Riders, the BCB president answered, "Shakib issue was completely unambiguous. There is player retention, you just can't sign someone from another team. Everybody knows this, every franchise knows this. This is a basic principle. Shakib should know it better. He plays in the foreign leagues the most. Tell him, that he will play for Chennai instead of Hyderabad next season. Impossible. It's only possible in Bangladesh. These will not happen anymore. From now on, everyone has to follow what we do." 

Asked about what went wrong with the franchises, he said, "Sharing the revenue is not possible. If we get 80 crore BDT, we will give them 40 crores. We want whoever comes to BPL, comes here to improve the quality of BPL and the cricketers, not to do business."

The 7th edition of the BPL will kick off on the 6th of December, with an opening ceremony scheduled to be held on the 3rd of December.