BPL’s empty stands and Mushy’s prescription

The lack of crowds have been a matter of concern for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) organisers and Bangladesh wicket-keeper and Chittagong Vikings captain Mushfiqur Rahim feels that the crowd should come to watch the big-name stars on the field instead of watching cricket on handheld devices or TV.

BPL have seen pull in large crowds in its previous seasons but this year, despite having many top-class cricketers, a lack of crowd in the stadium has been noticeable.

"There are going to be empty galleries," Mushy opined. He said that technology has made it more convenient to watch cricket but it has also meant less supporters are present on the field. "People can now watch it live on their mobile phones in the comforts of their home. Even when they are out, they tend to watch on TV or phone.

"Previously, when there were Abahani-Mohammedan league fixtures, people had no way of seeing them without coming to the field and so back then therer were a lot of crowd in the stadiums," he stated.

The lack of crowd could also be put down to there being a lot of international fixtures that the national team plays and most supporters prefer watching the Tigers according to the Chittagong captain.

"There are international games throughout the year and people think they will rest a bit [during BPL] and watch when international cricket is on. What I want to tell the fans is that the big players are coming to play. So, if you don't come to watch the big players like Smith, Warner or Pollard in action by being in the stadium then where else will you watch it," he concluded.