|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal and wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim said that if cricketers could play for longer period of time in a franchise it could have helped them grow a fan base like IPL.

Tamim Iqbal hosted a session with his close pal Mushfiqur Rahim in an Instagram live on Saturday where the two veterans disclosed many secrets in front of the audience.

Unlike the Indian Premier League, BPL franchises are yet to create a fan base of their own and that is largely due to the fact players are picked every years and no cricketers grow any bonding with any particular franchise.

Both Tamim and Mushfiqur accepted the reality adding that if a rule is in place that each franchise will have to keep certain players need that would have helped them grown bonding with fans.

‘’BPL is definitely a fantastic tournament. We learn so many things playing in this tournament. But in IPL, what we see is, a player represents a particular team. For example, Dhoni for Chennai, Rohit for Mumbai... don’t you think if we could play in particular team for 5-6 years then we could own the team more and the team could also get a fan base through the player. But what happens here, we play in different teams. So if we five could choose our own team and play for that team at least for three years, if not the team is not releasing us. So it could be beneficial for our cricket,’’ said Tamim.

‘’Like I have played for Cumilla for two years. So when I was playing the second year, it felt like I own the team. And every time you swap the team, you will eventually priorities your own performance. But when you are going to play for four or five years, then you will only play for the team. Your performance will become secondary. If you see Rohit Sharma or Dhoni, their championship is most important thing for them. So if we could play for a team for a long time, it will be very positive for us,’’ he said.

Mushfiqur echoed the same sentiment.