Mustafizur Rahman remains without a team after Barisal Bulls’ ouster

The preparations for the fourth edition of the Bangladeshi annual T20 entertainment is on full swings with the teams trying out different permutations and combinations to get the best possible team that can give them the coveted Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title. However, one franchise among the eight enlisted teams is not joining the bandwagon to sign players that can be an asset to the team.

Barisal Bulls have found themselves in deep water on Wednesday, where the BPL governing council announced that the Barisal based franchise will not be able to participate in the fourth edition of the tournament. The reason behind this shocking and harsh decision was that the Bulls’ owner failed to pay the appearance fee even after getting multiple chances.

Set to go ahead with 7 teams

Hence, the governing council decided to have only seven teams in this year’s tournament, leaving the people of Barisal in utter darkness.

“Since they have not met the financial terms and conditions, we have decided not enrol them in this year’s BPL. We had twice extended the deadline by seven days for them, and both times they failed to comply,” said the secretary of BPL governing council IH Mallick while speaking to The Daily Star over the phone. The Bulls’ owner MA Awal Chowdhury, however, has asked for another chance but it seems that for this season, the council will not give another opportunity to the double B’s.

What will happen to the ‘Fizz’?

With the ouster of Barisal Bulls, another important decision is yet to be made by the council. They will have to decide what will happen to the Barisal players, who are at the moment left with no team. Bangladeshi left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman is among the many players who are ‘free’ at the moment. Although a final call is yet to be taken, according to the secretary, an open auction is the best possible way to find a team for the Barisal players.

“We have not yet finalised it, but there will likely be an open auction where Mustafizur will be assigned a base price and the franchises will bid on him,” concluded Mallick.