BPL 2019: Steve Smith's participation doubtful in the tournament

Just before India’s tour of Australia, there were talks of the bans on Steve Smith and David Warner being lifted. However, Cricket Australia (CA) rejected the request of the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) on the same. However, it seems like the problems of the former Aussie captain appear to be never-ending.

His participation in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League is under the scanner now. The Comilla Victorians had signed Smith as a replacement for the injured Asela Gunaratne. However according to the laws, since Smith wasn’t a part of the BPL draft, he isn’t viable to be picked by any team.

A decision will take place soon

The BPL technical committee chairman Jalal Yunus had a meeting with the franchisees recently over the same. He asserted that the issue was raised by several teams and hence it couldn’t be sorted. Now the same has been escalated to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) following which a final decision would be taken.

“We have referred the issue to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. At first Rangpur Riders raised the issue but later other franchises joined them and informed about their reservation. So it turned out difficult for us to solve so we referred the issue to the board to solve it. We will take the decision in the next board meeting or we will inform it to them soon,” Yunus was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Jalal conceded that it was against the rules of the league. However, considering Steve Smith’s stature, they decided to nod their heads. Following the recent objection, the decision is now likely to be revoked. He remarked that unless the board had a solution for the same, Smith won’t be allowed to join the Victorians camp.

“To be honest they are not entitled to take any player outside of the draft if they are replacing someone. They have to take it from the draft but we obliged to their request of recruiting Steven Smith taking larger picture into consideration. But now it seems that cannot be implemented after the objection of other franchises unless BCB comes up with any other solution,” he added.

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