Five-player rule hit local cricketers in the BPL

The fifth edition of the BPL is just six weeks away now. The Sylhet franchise will make a comeback into the fold after missing the last season while Barisal Bulls will not participate in this season leaving the tournament to be a 7-team affair. The tournament will be played in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet.

The BPL Governing Body had earlier decided to allow teams to field 5 overseas cricketers in their XI instead of the previous 4. It was foreseen that this rule will affect the local cricketers as they will get less number of opportunities to showcase their talent. The 2017 player’s draft saw a decline in the number of local players procured by teams. The primary role of BPL was to promote young talent and that objective is not being fulfilled because of the new five-layer rule.

Dip in number of locals bought by franchises

The Players draft saw the trend of going for young players rather than experienced ones. Only 79 local layers were picked by the seven franchises as compared to 86 last year. Teams are allowed to rope in 13 local players but none of the seven franchises utilized that quota. Only Rangpur Riders and Khulna Titans picked 12 local cricketers while defending champions Dhaka Dynamites, Chittagong Vikings, the returning franchise Sylhet Super Sixers, Comilla Victorians and runners-up Rajshahi Kings picked 11 each.

Rajshahi Kings coach Sarowar Imran was of the opinion that due to the last minute exclusion of Barisal Bulls, the five-player rule could have been revoked. “I think the decision to play five foreign cricketers could have been altered as a team was stripped off in the last minute,” said Imran. “We had opposed the idea of playing five foreigners from the beginning as it will decrease the chances for local players to showcase their talent. Since it did not go our way, we had to form our team that can put up a fight against other sides in the tournament. But we need to make sure that this kind of tournament becomes a platform for the local cricketers as well,” he added.

‘Our cricketers must get priority’

Comilla Victorians coach Mohammad Salahuddin was of the same opinion. He said that Bangladesh’s budding cricketers will get lessened chances to express themselves at the big stage. “We were always against playing five foreign cricketers. It is a matter of concern because after all, we need to make sure that our cricketers get the priority,” he said. “There are some prominent names who failed to grab a team and it can be extremely demotivating for some of them as they are expected to lose faith in their ability.”