Cricket

BPL yet to find solid ground after 10 editions: Faruque 

Photo: Screen grab from a BCB video.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Faruque Ahmed admitted that the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the country's premier franchise T20 tournament, is yet to find solid ground after 10 seasons. 

With that in mind, Faruque addressed the limitations of the BPL that put the tournament's overall standard into question and said he would aim to make improvements in the upcoming edition, starting on December 30, and broaden the scope of the BPL in future editions. 

"Ten BPLs have passed but we haven't been able to find a solid platform for the tournament. This BPL is the last edition of the current cycle and we will make bigger and long-lasting plans for the next edition," Faruque said in a video message on BCB's official Facebook page on Tuesday.

"I am hoping this will be a very good tournament. This BPL will be different.

"We want TV production to be excellent. You already know that DRS and Hawkeye will be there. We are trying to improve top-quality umpiring and there will be foreign umpires. Commentary is a very important factor. To improve the standard of the tournament, we are trying to bring in a few big names. Considering all of this, I think it is going to be a good BPL."

Several issues have downgraded the standard of the BPL over the years, including the standard of the on-field cricket. Franchises are struggling to attract top-quality cricketers from overseas and the tournament is still constrained to the same three venues – Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. Sub-par scoring rate is still a big issue for BPL, as last season the tournament's average runs per over was 7.92, whereas in the IPL it stood at 9.56. 

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BPL yet to find solid ground after 10 editions: Faruque 

Photo: Screen grab from a BCB video.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Faruque Ahmed admitted that the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the country's premier franchise T20 tournament, is yet to find solid ground after 10 seasons. 

With that in mind, Faruque addressed the limitations of the BPL that put the tournament's overall standard into question and said he would aim to make improvements in the upcoming edition, starting on December 30, and broaden the scope of the BPL in future editions. 

"Ten BPLs have passed but we haven't been able to find a solid platform for the tournament. This BPL is the last edition of the current cycle and we will make bigger and long-lasting plans for the next edition," Faruque said in a video message on BCB's official Facebook page on Tuesday.

"I am hoping this will be a very good tournament. This BPL will be different.

"We want TV production to be excellent. You already know that DRS and Hawkeye will be there. We are trying to improve top-quality umpiring and there will be foreign umpires. Commentary is a very important factor. To improve the standard of the tournament, we are trying to bring in a few big names. Considering all of this, I think it is going to be a good BPL."

Several issues have downgraded the standard of the BPL over the years, including the standard of the on-field cricket. Franchises are struggling to attract top-quality cricketers from overseas and the tournament is still constrained to the same three venues – Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. Sub-par scoring rate is still a big issue for BPL, as last season the tournament's average runs per over was 7.92, whereas in the IPL it stood at 9.56. 

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