Bangladesh State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque has backed the Bangladesh Premier League being held every year and indicated that the government will engage with the Bangladesh Cricket Board over the future of the country’s franchise T20 competition.
The intervention comes with the BPL currently on hold under BCB President Tamim Iqbal. Haque, however, revealed that he had not known about the tournament’s immediate status before being questioned about it by the media.
Haque calls for regular BPL schedule
Speaking to reporters in Dhaka, Haque said: “I only got to know from you (media) just now, I wasn’t aware BPL will not take place. BPL is a popular tournament for Bangladesh.”
The Minister’s position introduces another consideration into the debate around the BPL’s future, with the government favouring regular editions while the cricket board works through the issues surrounding the competition.
Haque added: “You’re saying the board president presented some logical reasons to you all. I think a tournament like the BPL should be held every year.”
The next step will involve engagement over why the competition has been halted and how it can operate on a more regular basis in future. Haque stated: “Why it didn’t happen, we need to discuss. We will obviously monitor in future that this kind of competition takes place regularly.”
BCB overhaul shapes BPL’s return
As previously reported by cricexec, Iqbal has opted against staging another BPL simply to preserve its place on the calendar, with the BCB instead seeking to rebuild the franchise system before committing to the competition’s return.
The Board’s concerns extend across the financial and contractual framework underpinning the league. Problems identified during its review include franchise defaults, unpaid obligations, bank guarantees and compliance failures, while several operators had either not completed contracts or had breached requirements.
The BCB also wants franchise arrangements settled substantially earlier in the preparation cycle. Completing that process around April or May would provide more time to respond if a team operator failed to fulfil its commitments, rather than leaving the Board responsible for resolving a franchise problem close to the tournament.
Financial performance has added another dimension to the overhaul. The BPL generated losses of around Tk40 crore (approx. US$3.2 million) for the BCB over the previous two years, strengthening the Board’s determination to establish a model capable of producing returns from franchise cricket.
Iqbal has maintained that the BPL remains a valuable product with considerable interest, but has declined to tie its comeback to a fixed deadline. The restructuring could take six, 12 or 24 months if required, with the Board prioritising the underlying model over an accelerated restart.
BCB responds to player income gap
The BPL pause has also forced the BCB to address the financial consequences for domestic cricketers, for whom the franchise tournament represents a major earning opportunity.
As reported previously by cricexec, the Board approved substantial increases in domestic match fees following discussions over how to support players during a season without BPL income. The approach was designed to spread the financial benefit across the wider domestic playing pool rather than provide a short-term solution limited to players who would ordinarily secure BPL opportunities.
Under the revised men’s structure, first-class match fees have risen to Tk1.5 lakh (approx. US$1,200). List A payments have doubled to Tk1 lakh (approx. US$800), while domestic T20 fees have increased to Tk80,000 (approx. US$640).
The changes also extend to women’s domestic cricket, where match fees have doubled across the formats. Four-day payments have increased to Tk40,000 (approx. US$320), one-day fees to Tk30,000 (approx. US$240) and T20 payments to Tk20,000 (approx. US$160).
BPL future remains tied to restructuring
The BCB’s longer-term review could also change the composition of the league’s franchise ownership. Established overseas franchise organisations are among the possibilities being considered, subject to the Board examining the relevant policies and determining how such participation could operate.
That leaves two priorities surrounding the BPL running in parallel. Haque wants the competition restored as a regular annual event, while the BCB’s current approach makes its return dependent on completing changes intended to address the financial, contractual and compliance problems in the franchise system.
For now, no fixed timetable has been established for the BPL’s comeback. Haque’s planned discussions with the BCB will bring the government’s preference for annual staging into a process in which the Board has so far prioritised restructuring the competition before putting it back on the calendar.
