In the forthcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) each of the seven teams that are set to participate in the league have been asked to include at least one overseas pacer who bowls at 140 kilometers per hour and above and a leg spinner in their team.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has come out with this policy to ensure maximum participation from the national pool of players.
“BCB wants this BPL to be about improving Bangladesh’s cricketers in T20s, so we want to make sure that our batsmen and bowlers get enough opportunities (against quicks and leg-spinners), something that was not possible when it was a franchise-based BPL,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director Mahbubul Anam as saying.
Apart from the above guideline, each of the seven teams has been asked to appoint an overseas coach, a physiotherapist and trainer. Although the board has allowed local coaches to be part of the league, they can only work as an assistant to the head coaches of the teams.
The forthcoming BPL will not be run by the franchises. It will instead be owned by the cricket board after the board’s clash with six of the seven-team owners. Dhaka Dynamites were the only team that was at peace with the existing setup.
It remains to be seen how the decision taken by the board affects the quality of cricket played in the league.