Barisal Bulls set to miss BPL-5

The Bangladesh Premier League’s chairman made a shocking revelation that Barisal Bulls won’t take any part in this year’s tournament. The BPL is set to begin on November 2 and it was originally an 8-team event after the authorities allowed the Sylhet franchise to participate this season.

Chairman confirms their non-participation

In all probability, the BPL is expected to compete amongst 7 teams again this year. The members of the BPL governing committee met on Wednesday and decided to eradicate the franchise after they failed to respond back to the committee. Chairman of the league, Afzalur Rahman Sinha, confirmed that Barisal failed to meet the financial conditions.

“Today we met in a meeting for BPL-5. We have discussed and took a decision about lots of things. Barisal Bulls didn’t meet financial terms & conditions. Hence, we have decided, not to allow Barisal in BPL-5.”

This comes as a big jolt to the fans of Barisal. After finishing at the bottom of the table last year, fans were hoping for a better show this season. Their skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, though, has shifted bases to Rajshahi Kings, who finished as the runners up in the previous season. It is being said that the management of the Barisal Bulls franchise wasn’t happy with Mushfiqur and even lashed out at the Bangladesh Test captain for not taking responsibility of the side.

Tickets to be cheaper this year

The management of the Barisal team still remains confident of taking part in this year’s season, despite the governing body opposing their participation. The players and coaching staff will be the worst hit as they would be out of a contract if BPL stays with their decision of not including Barisal this year.

Earlier, the governing body of the league had decided to slash the ticket prices for the forthcoming season in a bit to attract more crowds to pour into the stadium. The prices for the lowest ticket stood at BDT 200 but it has now been reduced to 100 for this year.