Bangladesh Premier League: Presence Of Pakistani Players To Benefit BPL Teams

The cancellation of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s ODI visit to the West Indies gave the seven Bangladesh Premier League teams a much-needed boost in terms of luring in international sportsmen. The tour was planned to occur in the final week of January 2023. 

Pakistan’s players are anticipated to participate in the BPL following the home series against New Zealand, which concludes on January 15, as a result of the tour being postponed. By the way, the BPL will take place from January 6 to February 16. 

The BPL governing board has previously discussed moving the tournament’s dates starting in 2024 in order to avoid conflicts with other competitions including the Big Bash League, the ILT20 in the UAE, and the T20 league in South Africa. 

Pakistani Players Not In Demand In Other Leagues

On condition of anonymity, a franchise official stated that they anticipate having Pakistani players in the BPL given the fact that their “players are not in demand” in the UAE’s ILT20 or the South African T20 competition. 

“Look, what we understand is that Pakistani players are not in demand either in South Africa T20 (league) or in UAE’s ILT20 as most of the owners in those competition are IPL owners,” the official said.  

A Rangpur Riders team representative also stated that they had heard the Pakistan Super League may be moved by three to four days. In that situation, they anticipate that their Pakistani recruit, Mohammad Nawaz, would be available for the whole BPL season. 

The Riders have so far signed Shoaib Malik in addition to Nawaz. They also selected Sri Lankan cricketers Pathum Nissanka and Jeffrey Vandersay as well as Afghan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai. While India may travel to Sri Lanka for three ODIs around the time the BPL is contested, the participation of the Sri Lankan duo is contingent on their availability. 

Champions Comilla Victorians, who have added the Pakistani trio of Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, and Shaheen Afridi to their roster in preparation for the competition, appear to be enjoying the current situation as well. It is known that other teams prioritise purchasing Pakistani cricketers over all other players. 

BPL Franchises: Fortune Barishal Sports Ltd (Barishal), Mindtree Limited (Khulna), Progoti Green Auto Rice Mills Ltd (Dhaka), Future Sports Bangladesh Limited (Sylhet), Bashundhara Group’s Toggi Sports Limited (Rangpur), Delta Sports Ltd (Chattogram) Comilla Legends Limited (Comilla). 

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