Two BPL franchises under scanner for not complying with Bangladesh Cricket Board's diktat

Two Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchises-handled by the Bangladesh Cricket Board- in the upcoming edition of the tournament, have failed to comply with the board’s diktat- that all squads will have to feature at least one fast bowler who can bowl in excess of 140 and a leg-spinner in the set-up.

One of the franchises, Rangpur Riders, do not have a fast bowler in their squad while their leg-spinner could be picked for next month’s ICC U19 World Cup in 2020.

The other franchise Cumilla Warriors are still looking to brace themselves for a fast bowler and aren’t even looking at selecting a leg-spinner. However, Minhajul Abedin, Bangladesh’s chief selector who also happens to be Cumilla Warriors technical advisor, disagreed on the same, citing the example of Afghanistan‘s leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

“We have picked Mujeeb, who is a world-class spinner, which fulfils the requirement. He bowls both leg-spin and off-spin, and he is a great bowler. So that’s not going to be a problem.” Minhajul said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

The franchise is hoping that they can get a No-Objection Certificate for fast bowler Oshane Thomas as the board hasn’t been able to get the same for other overseas players as well.

“Kusal Perera is not getting NOC. Dasun Shanaka and [Bhanuka] Rajapakse are yet to get theirs. We are in touch with Kyle Jarvis, who has a great record in Bangladesh while playing for Zimbabwe, but he too hasn’t been given the NOC. We are also in talks with Oshane Thomas. We are hoping that we get enough overseas players, otherwise, we have Mujeeb and [Dawid] Malan, who will play the first match.” Minhajul added.

Each franchise in BPL need to play at least one leg-spinner and a 140+ kmph fast bowler

As far as Rangpur is concerned, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, who also happens to be the team director of the franchise, asserted that there is no compulsion to play a leg-spinner. However, the franchise still has the services of 17-year-old Rishad Khan, who has done well in domestic cricket recently. However, with Khan set to be picked for the U19 World Cup, he may not be available for the franchise in January.

“It is not mandatory to play a legspinner, but we have some really good bowlers like Mustafiz [Mustafizur Rahman], Taskin [Ahmed], Mohammad Nabi and Arafat Sunny, as well as Lewis Gregory, who is a pace-bowling allrounder,” Akram said.

It is not only Cumilla and Rangpur but two other teams- Sylhet Thunders picked Mohammad Sami in place of Sheldon Cottrell who is unavailable due to international commitments while Chattogram Challengers signed up legspinner Jubair Hossain, but not a 140-plus fast bowler.

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