Still no place for Barisal Bulls in the BPL
The 2018-19 Bangladesh Premier League [BPL] next year will also be a seven-team tournament like the previous edition, BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus confirmed. Barisal Bulls, who were suspended from the competition last season due to financial mishaps, will not participate in the next season as well.
The T20 franchise league was earlier scheduled to take place in October-November this year. However, it was later postponed considering the national election of the country, which will be held at a similar time.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] announced January 5, 2019 as the opening date for the sixth edition of BPL. Following the tournament, Bangladesh will tour New Zealand for a full-fledged series.
“I don’t think Barisal bulls will be there [in the tournament]. There will be seven teams from the previous year, because we don’t have enough time. Adding a team will increase the number of matches.
“Moreover, the team will tour New Zealand once the BPL ends, in February,” Yunus reportedly said.
“We already have announced a date of January 5 for the next BPL. We have no further choice for shifting the tournament as the national team will have a tour of New Zealand then. We have no slot before that.
“The election campaign may get started from November and we are yet to know the specific date of the election. So keeping all these in our minds, we have gone with a safe date of January 5.
“We may have some problem with the schedule as a lot of international players will be on busy schedule on that time. But we have to adjust for the tournament,” he added.
The BCB spokesperson also confirmed the slot for the seventh edition of BPL. According to him, the board is considering holding that edition in a different financial calendar year than the next one. Hence, the seventh season will take place in March in 2020.
He said: “The seventh edition of BPL will be held in March 2020. We are not willing to arrange two BPLs in one financial calendar year. There will be some adjustments as the tournament which usually is being held in November will be shifted two months later.”
