South Africa's T20 Global League irks BPL officials

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) officials and certain cricketers are not happy with the timing of the South Africa’s Global T20 League. The much talked about South African League is set to start from November 4 with the final to be played on December 16, directly clashing with the schedule of the fifth edition of the BPL, set to get underway on November 3 in Sylhet.

The BPL governing council had announced the dates, two months before the South African League did. Bangladeshi T20 tournament allows the franchise to hire players directly without any player’s draft. Hence, many of the teams started to rope in foreign players from the very first quarter of the year.

Major setback for BPL

The major setback came when player’s draft list for the African League was revealed and about 90 international player’s names were announced. Seven of those had already signed up contracts with BPL teams. Defending BPL champion Dhaka Dynamites had an agreement with Cameron Delport and Shahid Afridi.

Chittagong Vikings roped in Liam Dawson while West Indian cricketer Darren Sammy had signed to continue in his second year for Rajshahi Kings. Sammy is likely to lead the side after an impressive runner’s up performance last year. Khulna Titans are involved in the issue as well with the signings of English cricketer Dawid Malan, West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, the hero of the T20 world cup last year and Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan.

It is understood that among these players, a few had requested the CSA to omit their respective names from the draft list, but were included back in the later stages. With the window narrowing down to few days, it will be a worrying factor not only for the franchise owners but for the players too, as they will have to be available for the respective games.