BPL 2021 postponed due to unavailability of national stars
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been forced to postpone this year’s edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to early next year due to the unavailability of top national players.
Cricbuzz revealed, as per the yet-to-be-made-public domestic calendar for 2021-22 chalked out by the BCB, that the BPL won’t be held in 2021. The board’s governing council’s member secretary, Ismail Haider, confirmed that it is due to the unavailability of senior national players in November when they’ll be touring Pakistan.
BCB clears window for BPL 2022 and 2023
The next BPL will now be held in early 2022 from January 14 to February 18, with the following edition of the tournament scheduled for January 3 to February 17, 2023.
“We have a couple of windows open for the tournament (BPL). We can either arrange it for November, but the national team is scheduled to tour Pakistan during that time. We could have had it in December but again New Zealand is scheduled to visit Bangladesh during that period. So, ultimately, we have to postpone it until January next year,” Ismail was quoted saying by Cricbuzz on Saturday (March 13).
“National team cricketers may not be able to participate in several NCL, BCL, or the Dhaka League competition, due to the international tours and series. We want to make sure we get all the front-line cricketers of Bangladesh in the BPL.”
A fall out with the six franchises at the end of the first cycle, which featured six editions, the BCB took control of the BPL in its hands. Following this, the seventh edition of the tournament was held from December 11, 2019 to January 17, 2020. It was named ‘Bangabandhu BPL’ to mark the birth centenary of Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The BCB couldn’t organise the BPL next season due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The board, however, still managed to host two domestic tournaments, the BCB Presidents Cup and the Bangabandhu T20 Cup, last year.