Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Durbar Rajshahi insisted that the franchise would be clearing 50 percent of players' payments by today.

"We were committed to making payment on January 16th," Rajshahi's operations in-charge, Jayed Ahmed, said in a video message on Wednesday.

"To be very frank, the payment has been delayed and that's why we apologised to all. It should never have happened. As it is Thursday and the next two days are holidays, the management decided to 25 percent in cash [today]. In addition to that, we will be providing a cheque for the other 25 percent. In total, we will be clearing 50 percent of players' payment by tomorrow [today]," he said.

The cheques, however, would be dated for January 19th, Sunday -- the next working day. 

Earlier, it was reported that cricketers boycotted the scheduled practice session on Wednesday due to payment issues, including reports that some had yet to receive their daily allowances. 

On Thursday, cricketers returned to the field at the M A Aziz Stadium in Chattogram for a practice session ahead of their first Chattogram phase match against Sylhet Strikers tomorrow. During the practice session, Rajshahi manager Mehrab Hossain Opi also mentioned that the players were promised clearance of 50 percent of their payment by the franchise today.

Meanwhile, Jayed also clarified that as the owner was out of the country, the payments couldn't be made through cheques and he also denied the fact that the players boycotted the practice session on Wednesday over their unpaid salaries. 

"Our honourable team owner's wife sustained a fracture during a Dhaka phase match. A ball hit her when she was on the sidelines while watching the match and she was instantly taken to Bangkok [Thailand] for treatment. We had already given the cheques before the incident. Our owner told us that as he wasn't in the country, we should tell them not to deposit the cheques until he arrived in the country. He was worried that the bank would not be able to reach him as he was out of the country. The same thing was told to every player but one or two players submitted the cheques by mistake.

"There was no issue with the practice. When we came to Chattogram from Sylhet, some players stayed in Dhaka. Some of them went for a rest and many of them didn't check in at the team hotel at the same time….Overall, the players opted for a rest and that's why the management gave them rest. About payment, they will be receiving the payment on the 16th and that's very clear. There shouldn't be any confusion regarding it," Jayed added.

Jayed also said that the franchise has already talked to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed and informed him about the overall situation.

"Our team owner has talked to the honourable BCB president over the phone. I also met him. He wanted to know the overall situation. It was a short meeting. We briefed him regarding the current situation and where the gaps are. We also apologised to him for not providing the payment on time. We all made a commitment to him regarding tomorrow's [today's] payment.

"After winning the first match, we declared to give the players a bonus. We gave the bonus during the Sylhet phase. In addition to that, as our payment was due, we provided Tk one lakh each to 14 of our local players in order to motivate them," he said.

"We are a new franchise. We are obviously making some mistakes and there is no way to reject that. But it's not intentional. We are trying to rectify our mistakes in the shortest possible time.

"We have played six matches and we have won games. We are currently in a flow and hope that we will qualify after winning the next four to five games in our remaining six matches. Our target is to qualify for the playoffs. We will do every thing possible to qualify. I seek everyone's support and hope," he concluded.