Tossing away BPL’s charm
The combined uncertainty and the thrill of not knowing the outcome beforehand is what usually pulls and hooks spectators to a sporting event. But as far as the outcome is concerned, the ongoing 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is anything but irregular.
As expected, the first Dhaka phase of the country's only franchise-based T20 tournament followed a set pattern. It goes: win toss, elect to field, and win. There was not a single instance when the trend broke, although there were a few low-scoring thrillers produced at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur -- the designated venue for the Dhaka phase of the tournament.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. It, however, probably was not all that surprising for regular followers of BPL.
Even the previous edition of the tournament started almost in a similar manner -- with seven of the eight matches in the initial Dhaka phase seeing teams winning by batting second. Only one match -- the last game of that Dhaka spell -- saw Sylhet Strikers win in a game Dhaka Dominators had won the toss and elected to field.
The pattern is so discernible that it probably prompted teams to stick to the policy of always opting to field after having won the toss this time around -- given how Fortune Barishal had failed to buck the trend in the previous edition when they chose to bat, only to see Sylhet Strikers triumph in a 195-run chase during the Dhaka phase last year.
Not only does this set pattern of win-toss-and-win-match reduce the viewers' interest, but it must serve as major demotivation for the players out there, hindering also the quality of cricket in the process as overuse of surfaces acts as a major factor behind such outcomes.
The seven-team tournament is played in a double round-robin format with one single venue hosting two matches on each matchday till the eliminator and knockout phases, and that provides very little time for the outfield to get a breather. It is nothing but being over-ambitious to expect quality cricket under such circumstances in a competition that usually lasts for almost a month and a half.
The cry for making BPL -- a league that had started over a decade ago with aspirations of following in on the footsteps of the most demanding and watched franchise league, the Indian Premier League (IPL) -- a fan-favourite with competitive cricket and lucrative deals to lure in-demand foreign players has been a persistent one since the competition's inception in 2012.
While the IPL's main theme has always remained to nurture and boost the league by following a home-and-away fixture pattern -- akin to how the top football leagues operate -- with separate venues for each franchise, BPL has always revolved around three fixed venues of Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet in a pattern that was termed as the "country's style" tournament by BPL's Governing Council's member secretary IH Mollick before the start of this season.
Mollick had even said last year, after the end of the previous season of the tournament, that this edition could see at least one additional venue used for the BPL, keeping the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi ahead as a prospectus one.
It, obviously, did not pan out, with the overall unstable structure of the tournament -- the BPL has seen a total of 28 different franchises to date -- obstructing the franchises from investing a huge sum and preparing a venue on their own as the owners also remain uncertain about continuing in the BPL in the long run.
Even if different venues were prepared across the country, Mollick had also mentioned about a lack of quality hotels that can be used by the franchises for the tournament.
Aside from the ground limitations, BPL is also handicapped by other issues including the need for a bigger crew to operate the league simultaneously at different venues -- something which is common in the IPL. While it could stop one venue from being used twice a day, it probably would double the cost of operation.
In order to finally see a lift in the competitiveness of the tournament, the BPL Governing Council and the BCB might just have to find a way to make do even if it surges their operation cost and conduct the franchise-based league in a manner that meets the global standard. Only that way, the likes of Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna or the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura -- venues that once hosted international games -- could host BPL matches as well in the coming years.
Or else, while IPL grows in stature every year, the BPL would keep on operating on a bandwagon -- moving back and forth among the three designated venues as it always has been with no foresight for improvement in quality.
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