Old franchisees show interest as BPL second cycle gets rolling
Pic: Bcb
CF Correspondent
Bangladesh Premier League’s second cycle officially started rolling as BPL’s governing council sat with three franchises- Dhaka Dynamites, Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
BCB stated earlier with the conclusion of the sixth edition of BPL, the first cycle of the tournament is now considered complete, which also marks the expiry of the tenure of the franchise agreements.
In these circumstances, as per clause 3.1 of the franchise agreements executed between the BCB and the Franchises, with the view to renew the said agreements, the BPL Governing Council will send out immediate invitations to the teams that had participated in the sixth edition for of BPL for a discussion on the issue of renewal of the Franchise Agreement and execution of a fresh contract subject to mutually agreeable terms and conditions.
BCB has also added that governing council has decided that the duration/tenure of the second cycle of the BPL T20 will be for a further period of four editions. In this connection, BCB has already published an advertisement seeking Expression of Interest (EOI) from interested applicants for franchisee rights of two BPL sides since the previous right holder of Chittagong Vikings have informed the governing council about their decision "discontinue as a team" and BCB is also exploring the possibility of adding another new franchise team to the tournament.
The decision to grant franchisee rights to interested applicants will depend on the outcome of the discussion about the renewal of Franchise Agreement and settlement of disputes (if any) with previous right holders to BPL Franchise Teams. "The relevant processes, player draft/auction etc. for holding the next edition of BPL T20 will be set in motion after the execution of the fresh franchisee agreement/contract and as a result BPL governing council called the franchises to hear their side of the story.
Dhaka Dynamites chief executive Obaid Nizam said that they had shown their interest to continue in the BPL and added that now they are waiting for the LOI (Letter of intent) that is expected to be provided by the council soon to decide their next course of action.
‘’We were interested as all of us know that a cycle has been finished in BPL they called us for the new cycle,’’ Obaid told reporters at the BCB premises after the meeting.
‘’They wanted to hear what we want and we have told them about our demands as owner of Dhaka Dynamites. They have told us that a lot of new rules and regulation will be applied from this year but we have not received full details about it. Once we get the new LOI we can get a clear picture about it,’’ he said.
Kazi Inam, owner of Khulna Titan said that they would be happy if BPL governing council allows them to take one local cricketer and two foreign direct signing.
‘’If we can have two or three direct signings we should be allowed to take one local player as that would help us form the team around him,’’ said Inam.
