Bangladesh cricketers earn pay rise after strike; BCB to announce T20I squad yet again

Bangladesh cricket recently saw a strike by its main players over 11 demands that were ultimately heeded to by the country’s board. The Tigers’ upcoming tour of India also looked uncertain for some time but a timely settlement of their inner problems will now see the twin series going forward. Bangladesh will play three T20Is and two Tests during the tour beginning November 3 with a 20-over match in Delhi.

While the settlement was a relief for the cricket authorities for both the countries and the fans, the players also got good news. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said in a statement on Monday that under the new deal that ended the recent strike, the players will see their match fees almost doubling.

According to the statement, the players in the top tier of the National Cricket League (NCL) will receive 60,000 Bangladesh Taka or BT ($705) instead of 35,000 BT per four-day match, News 18 reported. Other expenses also went up as per the deal. Fees for the second tier increased to 50,000 BT after the players had demanded at least 100,000 BT per match when they went to strike.

Bangladesh to announce squad yet again

There were reports that captain Shakib Al Hasan might skip the India tour. He didn’t attend the practice session in three out of four days so far. BCB chief Nazmul Hasan reckoned that some players especially Shakib Al Hasan might opt out of the upcoming tour. The team is supposed to leave for India on Wednesday. But, it is learnt by United News of Bangladesh that BCB will announce the T20I squad yet again with a few changes following Shakib-issue.

Bangladesh to announce T20 squad for India tour again tomorrow with at least two changes. Akram Khan, the cricket ops chairman, is not sure about Shakib's presence in the team. #BangladeshCricketNow

— Saif Hasnat (@saifhasnat) October 28, 2019

Bangladesh have played India in nine Tests and eight T20Is so far but are yet to beat them in the two formats. The only win that the Tigers have accomplished over the Men in Blue are in the ODIs where they have won five so far. They have lost seven Tests while two were drawn. The two teams play for the Ganguly-Durjoy Trophy in the longer format.

Incidentally, former India captain Sourav Ganguly is now the chief of the Indian cricket board. He was the captain when India played Bangladesh in their debut Test in Dhaka in 2000.