
BPL: Foreign players from the Rajshahi team remain stuck in Dhaka, having no way to return home. The franchise defaulted on a payment deadline, but no one would communicate with team owners and management about updates; hence, players are left at their hotel and still waiting to receive flight tickets back to their respective countries according to the last reports.
Payment Issues Following BPL Elimination
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In an unfortunate turn of events, Rajshahi has left their foreign players in the lurch by not paying them. The franchise lost to the Khulna Tigers in the last match of the league stage in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). There are several such players who, along with these, were abandoned in Dhaka without any kind of explanation by the team management.
These foreign players include Mohammad Haris (Pakistan), Aftab Alam (Afghanistan), Mark Deyal (West Indies), Ryan Burl (Zimbabwe), and Miguel Cummins (West Indies).
A few of them have gotten 25% which is still to be paid, some are not receiving anything at all. Adding to their worries, the daily allowances of the foreign players have also remained unpaid for the last 11 days. With that, the frustration level of the waiting players is mounting as there has been no communication from the Rajshahi franchise.
Financial Losses of Rajshahi Franchise
Rajshahi has been suffering from financial difficulties throughout this BPL season. Even before the tournament started, local players, including Anamul Haque, said they had not received any payment. This led to a boycott of a training session in Chittagong last month, a move that was later followed by foreign players refusing to play in a match.
Despite these setbacks, players like Ryan Burl and Mohammad Haris agreed to play eventually and continued supporting the team as they fought their way into a playoff spot. However, their efforts went in vain as they missed out on a playoff position due to the net run rate.
BPL Governing Council’s Admission of Oversight
The Bangladesh Premier League’s (BPL) governing council has taken responsibility for not having conducted thorough checks when bringing the Rajshahi franchise on board to determine its financial stability.
Nazmul Abedin Fahim, the member secretary of the BPL governing council, admits that the BCB did not conduct a complete investigation of the franchise before asking them to become a part of this year’s BPL. Fahim mentioned, “I think we didn’t evaluate the franchisees properly.”. I feel that we did not verify their experience and financial strength.
Now we are in a troublesome situation because of this. The BCB’s failure to properly vet Rajshahi’s financial health has now created significant problems, not only for the foreign players left stranded but also for the image of the BPL as a whole. This issue is a stark reminder of the need for thorough background checks and financial assessments before bringing franchises into prestigious tournaments like the BPL.
A Wake-Up Call for the BPL
It can be seen that with Rajshahi, financial stability is what was crucial for any cricket franchise to participate in a major league.
The stranded players are now held captive, unable to get any solution, while BPL faces growing scrutiny on its due diligence process in scrutinizing the franchise. As the tournament progresses, it will be important for the BCB and future BPL franchises to ensure that proper financial structures and support systems are in place to prevent such issues from arising again.
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