Shakib’s Rangpur move not endorsed by BPL GC

One cannot expect a new season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to approach without any twists and turns. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had already announced that the seventh edition of the franchise-based T20 competition will start on December 6 and disclosures from a few franchises about their new acquisitions for the season had created some buzz among fans.   

The BPL governing council (GC) however made it clear during a press conference at Mirpur yesterday that the deals struck by franchises -- like Shakib Al Hasan’s high-profile move back to Rangpur Riders -- has not been endorsed by the governing council as the seventh edition of the BPL will be part of a new four-year cycle.

“With the conclusion of the sixth edition, the first cycle of the tournament is now considered complete, which also marks the expiry of the tenure of the franchisee agreements with the respective rights holders. The seventh edition will be part of a new cycle that will require a ‘fresh franchisee agreement/contract’. Since we have not yet made a new agreement for the new cycle, we cannot endorse whatever deals have been struck by franchises for the seventh edition,” explained BCB director Mahbubul Anam.

Other high-profile moves that would be rendered null and void include Tamim Iqbal’s move from sixth edition champions Comilla Victorians to Khulna Titans, who had also announced that they roped in former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.

BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said that the BPL governing council will send out invitations within 48 hours to teams that had participated in the sixth edition for a discussion on the issue of renewal of the franchise agreement and the execution of a fresh contract subject to mutually agreeable terms and conditions.

“Technically speaking, what they [BPL GC] raised is okay,” Rangpur Riders CEO Ishtiaque Sadeque told The Star yesterday.

“When we spoke to them after the last season, they assured us that everything would be done as per usual because the [new] agreement was a formality. Interestingly, they sent us an email on May 11 thanking us for our efforts in the last season, informing that a date was fixed for the next [seventh] edition and asking us to ‘take necessary preparations’ for the next edition. If everything changes to benefit one franchise, then why would people spend all the money to participate? As they said they would contact us within 48 hours, let us wait and see what happens.”

“We cannot acknowledge anything as we are going to make a fresh start with the new cycle. All the rules and regulations for the second cycle for a further period of four editions (7th, 8th, 9th & 10th) will be determined after the new agreement. Everybody should start afresh. There will be a level playing field for all franchisee,” Anam added.

Anam, however, was confident that they would be able to finalise everything within this month as the BCB has already published an advertisement seeking expression of interest (EOI) from interested applicants for franchisee rights of two teams as the previous rights holders of Chittagong Vikings communicated its decision to ‘discontinue as a team’ and the BCB is also exploring the possibility of adding another new franchise team for the seventh edition.

“The decision to grant franchisee rights to interested applicants to EOI will depend on, amongst others, outcome of the discussion about renewal of franchise agreement and settlement of disputes (if any) with previous right holders to BPL franchise teams,” said a BCB press release detailing the major outcomes of the governing council meeting.

According to the press release, ‘the 7th edition will see an open draft/auction for listed players (local and overseas) on all categories. Player retention option will come into effect from the BPL T20 8th edition onwards’.

During yesterday’s press conference, Anam also added that the BPL governing council was now more matured after the experienced gathered over six editions.