Franchisees want five foreigners

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) governing council will reassess the decision to allow each team to retain four players for the sixth edition of the T20 tournament following requests from the franchisees, informed Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media commitee chairman Jalal Yunus yesterday.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan had announced the new retention policy after a board meeting on Wednesday, where he also added that the foreign players' quota would be reduced from five to four players in the playing eleven for the upcoming season. Teams were allowed to field five foreign players with no limit on the registration of foreigners previously.

"A few of the franchises informed that they have already signed contracts with many foreign players and asked what to do in that situation. I think the matter can be resolved if we talk to the franchises. They will sit with us soon. There is a meeting of the governing council and as there are quite a few questions regarding the issue we will talk and if there are any suggestions, we will reassess so everyone remains in a win-win situation," Yunus told reporters yesterday.

When asked over the poor broadcasting quality of the tournament, Yunus also informed that the board were willing to introduce the Decision Review System (DRS) for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich T20 tournament alongside a few more additions to make the event more attractive.

"We want to improve the broadcasting quality and we are trying to use as many cameras possible. We are hoping to make the upcoming season more attractive and are willing to use LED stumps and if possible we will also use Spidercam. DRS was not there in the past and we have decided to include it for the upcoming season. To add it we need more cameras and there will be extra expenditure but we are ready for that. But if you compare with the Indian Premier League, then you should also think about the differences between the two markets," he said.

Sylhet had been included as a venue for the tournament for the first time in the last edition and, having recieved a positive response, Yunus said the board was willing to hold more matches at the scenic venue in the upcoming season.