Shocking! Durbar Rajshahi players boycott game over unpaid dues in BPL 2024-25

Durbar Rajshahi has yet again hit the headlines for a payment dispute in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League 2024-25 (BPL 2024-25). After troubling the Bangladeshi players, Durbar Rajshahi left the overseas stars frustrated by failing to pay salaries for their services in the league.

Earlier, Bangladesh’s local players boycotted the team’s training session after they were denied payments again and again, but the foreign players went a step ahead, as they opted out of the Durbar Rajshahi’s BPL 2024-25 group match against Rangpur Riders on Sunday, January 26.

Durbar Rajshahi’s payment issues lead to a boycott by foreign players in the BPL 2024-25

On Sunday, Durbar Rajshahi played against Rangpur Riders without any foreign players under special consideration approved by the technical committee of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The overseas players of the franchise refused to take the field against Rangpur in Dhaka because of a payment dispute, reported Cricbuzz.

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Notably, Ryan Burl, Mohammad Haris, Mark Deyal, Miguel Cummins, Aftab Alam, and Lahiru Samarakoon are the foreign players signed by Rajshahi for the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League 2024-25. Earlier, Ryan Burl helped Durbar Rajshahi make history by becoming the first team to beat Rangpur in the ongoing BPL 2024-25. Ryan Burl had taken four wickets against the Riders.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said in an official statement: “The Durbar Rajshahi team, currently competing in the 2025 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20, has applied to the BPL Technical Committee for special approval to field a team consisting solely of Bangladeshi players for today's match against Rangpur Riders due to the non-availability of overseas players.”

The BCB added, “After a review of the request and in accordance with the provisions outlined in Clause 1.2.8 of the Match Playing Conditions of BPL 2024-25, the Technical Committee has granted approval for Durbar Rajshahi to field a team consisting of only Bangladeshi players for this match.”

BPL rules mandate a minimum of two overseas players in every match

According to the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) rules, each team must have at least two overseas players in their playing XI for every match this season.

The BCB's guidelines in the BPL players' draft rulebook say, “Franchises must include a minimum of two (02) and a maximum of four (04) overseas players in their playing XI on the field of play in any match all the time in relation to the 11th edition/season of BPL T20.”

However, despite the absence of the overseas stars, Durbar Rajshahi pulled off a narrow win of two runs against Rangpur Riders in the 34th match of the ongoing BPL 2024-25 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.

Mrittunjoy Chowdhury was adjudged Player of the Match for his four-wicket haul against Riders. He also made 10 runs off 10 balls in the match.

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Mrittunjoy Chowdhury's heroics lead Rajshahi to a thrilling victory over Rangpur amid payment struggles

Rangpur Riders had won the toss and opted to bowl first in Dhaka, where the Rajshahi team didn’t have a great start, but little contribution from all players saw them post 119/9 on the board with Sunzamul Islam being the top scorer for the team with an unbeaten 28 runs off 29 balls on Sunday.

Khushdil Shah was the star for the Rangpur side with the ball, taking three wickets, while Rakibul Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin each scalped two wickets against Rajshahi. Chasing 120 runs to win the Bangladesh Premier League 2024-25 match, Rangpur had an even more terrible start in Dhaka.

Rangpur’s top-order failure led to a dramatic batting collapse before Mohammad Saifuddin’s fightback, but the all-rounder's unbeaten fifty was enough to save his team from defeat, as they could manage only 117 runs in 20 overs, conceding a two-run win to Rajshahi.

Mohor Sheikh and Taskin Ahmed each snared two wickets for Durbar Rajshahi, while Mrittunjoy Chowdhury finished with the match-winning spell of 4/18 with one maiden over against Rangpur Riders in the BPL 2024-25 clash to win the Player of the Match award.