Reports | BCB to postpone Bangladesh Premier League to 2022
The BPL 2021 will be pushed to next year
|Getty
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have reportedly been left with no option but to defer the 2021 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) by a year owing to the unavailability of national players. The board are now reportedly mulling hosting the competition in the Jan-Feb 2020 window.
There could be no Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in the calendar year 2021 as reports have emerged that the BCB have been left with no choice but to defer the competition by a year. Originally scheduled to be hosted in mid-to-late 2021, it is believed that the BCB have been forced their hand into postponing the competition owing to the unavailability of national stars. As things stand, Bangladesh are scheduled to tour Pakistan in November, following which they will feature in the World T20, meaning none of the national stars will be available to feature in the competition.
The board are reportedly now mulling pushing the competition to a January-February window in 2022, and the developments were confirmed to Cricbuzz by Ismail Haider, the BCB governing council's member secretary.
"We have a couple of windows open for the tournament (BPL). We can either arrange it for November, but the national team is scheduled to tour Pakistan during that time. We could have had it in December but again New Zealand is scheduled to visit Bangladesh during that period. So, ultimately, we have to postpone it until January next year," Cricbuzz quoted Ismail as saying.
"National team cricketers may not be able to participate in several NCL, BCL, or the Dhaka League competition, due to the international tours and series. We want to make sure we get all the front-line cricketers of Bangladesh in the BPL."
The previous edition of the competition, which was won by Rajshahi Royals, was hosted in December and January 2019/20. The pandemic threw a spanner in the works of the BCB, but the board did, however, host the Bangabandhu T20 Cup in November/December 2020 to mark the return of professional cricket to the country.
