Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is not ready to welcome the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to invest in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). This is because the governing body is fearing that they might lose their rights.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises are asserting their authority over the world. They have invested heavily in the leagues around the world and are ruling the cricket. They have owned teams in some of the major leagues in the World in SA20, ILT20, and MLC.
However, there still are a few leagues around that are operated by their own boards. One of them is the Bangladesh Premier League. The tournament came into existence in 2012 and since then has been doing decent. But with the presence of Indian franchises in the other leagues, they have surpassed BPL in a short span of time.
The Indian stakeholders are no doubt trying to invest in almost every league. Considering their success many have welcomed them with both the seams. However, some of the boards are still aren’t interested, and one among them the is Bangladesh Cricket Board.
The BPL governing council member secretary Ismail Haider revealed that IPL franchises approached them many times. He added that BCB decided to run the tournament as per its own rules and was against someone else running it. He also admitted that they didn’t accept IPL franchises’ demands because they didn’t want to lose rights. Speaking to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, he explained (as quoted by Cricbuzz):
“They (IPL franchises) don’t want to come or maybe there is no reason to come. They (IPL franchises) approached us many times. The board’s decision was to run the tournament according to our country’s style. We don’t want to do something where the tournament’s rights will not be in our hands and will go to someone else.”
We are losing money as they are not ready to welcome surrogate betting – BCB’s Ismail Haider
BCB’s Ismail Haider further added that BCB is losing a lot of money because they are against welcoming betting companies. As per the government rule in Bangladesh, one cannot allow gambling businesses to function.
Ismail Haider further added that apart from IPL and a few other leagues, almost every league is going through economic stagnation. He highlighted how betting companies are helping the country maintain the economy. He added (as quoted by Cricbuzz):
“The whole world is going through an economic stagnation. Apart from IPL and India’s cricket board, I also used Big Bash as an example. Shujon bhai goes to ICC and talks to every board’s CEO. We know how much everyone earns and what is being told to the media.
“It’s a difficult thing to do a T20 tournament [in this climate]. Not only T20 tournament, most of the national teams allow surrogates. Apart from one or two most are accepting it, even India.”
The 2024 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League organised by BCB will kick start on 18th January. Dhaka Dominators will take on Comilla Victorians in the first match.
