B’desh player revolt may hit India tour
NEW DELHI/DHAKA: Bangladesh’s tour of India in November was thrown into jeopardy on Monday after their national team players refused to participate in any cricket activity until their 11-point demand is met. The boycott was announced by Test and T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan along with senior players like Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim at a press conference here. Nearly 50 players are part of the protest. ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza wasn’t present at the press conference.
A boycott of any cricket activity for the foreseeable future will have an immediate impact on the four-day National Cricket League, currently in progress. The action could also jeopardise the training camp for next month’s tour of India and possibly the tour itself. In the tour starting November 3, Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20Is and two Tests as part of the World Championship. “We just came to know about it we will discuss it in
the board and try to resolve it as soon as possible” BCB CEO Nizamudin Chowdhury was quoted as saying by ‘Cricbuzz’.
India responded with a guarded statement, labelling it as Bangladesh’s internal matter. “It is their internal matter, but they will sort out, they will come,” said BCCI president-elect Sourav Ganguly in Kolkata on
Monday.
A similar situation had occurred in October, 2014 when West Indies had pulled out of an ongoing tour of India because of a pay dispute. The BCCI suspended all engagements with the West Indies Cricket Board before slapping them with a $42 million fine. The fine however was waived in April, 2016, just in time for India
to undertake a four-Test tour of West Indies in July-August of the same year.
If sources in the BCB are to be believed, the tour of India is still on as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to attending the second Test at the Eden Gardens from November 22. In case Bangladesh forfeits, the ICC will award the Test series to India who will get 120 points. However, many in the BCCI feel Ganguly’s cordial relations with Bangladesh cricket might help salvage the situation. “I believe that they will pay heed to our president’s request if the situation demands,” a BCCI official said.
One of the major points raised by the players was better remuneration for those competing at the first-class level. “Match fee for the first-class cricket should be increased to one lakh (Bangladesh Taka), which is now 35 thousand only. At the same time, the salary of first-class cricketers also should be increased by 50 per cent,” said Shakib, their most popular player and the best allrounder in the world.
Some of the other demands are restoring the franchise model of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), open market transfers in the Dhaka Premier League (their domestic List A competition), raising central contract salaries and include more players, higher first-class match fees and a players association without conflict of interest.