BPL cancels opening ceremony to aid flood victims

The fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will not have the glitzy start of its earlier years as there will not be an opening ceremony, with the governing council of the lucrative T20 tournament choosing instead to donate the funds allocated for the purpose to flood victims.

BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha informed The Daily Star of this development today. 

“We all know the dire straits the country is in because of the floods,” Sinha said. “Keeping that in mind we don’t think it will be right to hold an opening ceremony, which is why we have decided to donate the money we would have spent on an opening ceremony to the flood victims.

“Next Friday, the BCB president [Nazmul Hassan] and some other board officials will visit Sirajganj to distribute relief to the victims there,” Sinha added. 

Unlike the first three editions of the tournament, the last edition of the BPL in 2016 also did not have a festive opening ceremony. The last edition got off to a false start as the first two matches of the event were washed out, forcing the governing council to shift the start date from November 4 to November 8. 

With the reintroduction of Sylhet this edition was supposed to feature eight franchises, but the ejection of Barisal Bulls because of their failure to comply with regulations reduced the number to seven, the same as the last edition.