‘Big players should stick to one franchise for a long time’ – Rohit Sharma gives his insights on improving BPL’s fan base

Rohit Sharma, India’s ODI and T20I vice-captain, gave his suggestions on how to increase the fan base of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The 33-year-old put forth his opinions on Tamim Iqbal’s Facebook Live on Friday, May 15.

The T20 tournament started back in 2012 and has been a witness to seven seasons with Andre Russell’s Rajshahi Royals being the latest winners. Rohit feels that certain players should stick to a franchise for a significant amount of time to gain the supporters’ faith.

Never seen any country being so passionate like Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma

The Nagpur-born Rohit himself has been a part of the Mumbai Indians for seven seasons and the franchise has garnered a massive amount of fandom. While giving his inputs, Rohit also lauded the Bangladesh fans for loving the sport to the hilt.

“Yeah it’s important, you see that’s how you create a fan base also and Bangladesh is a very very passionate country about cricket, I mean I have never seen any country being so passionate about cricket like Bangladesh, honestly speaking,” Rohit was quoted as saying during the chat.

“So, I think if you create that excitement within the fans with certain players staying with the certain franchise for so many years the fan base will also increase and you know the fans will look forward to going and supporting their team with that same passion,” he added.

In the sixth edition of the BPL, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Tamim Iqbal played for the Rangpur Riders, Chittagong Vikings, Khulna Titans and Comilla Victorians respectively. However, in the previous season, all three of them went to some new franchises.

Even as Mashrafe and Tamim represented the Dhaka Platoon, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah played for the Khulna Tigers and Chattogram Challengers respectively. They performed to expectations more often than not and took their respective teams to the playoffs.

In the final of the last edition, the Royals thumped the Titans by 21 runs after setting a target of 171. Russell became the Player of the Match after he scored 27 off 16 and dismissed Mushfiqur and Shahidul Islam under severe pressure.