SPORTS REPORTER

As the dust settles on what has been a train wreck of a season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the time for retrospection has begun.

It would be unfair to say that nothing of note has happened on the field in the 11th edition. Taskin Ahmed’s record breaking 25-wicket season, Nurul Hasan chasing down 30 runs in the final over to pull off a miracle for Rangpur Riders, and the last-ball finish in the second qualifier that saw Chittagong Kings overcome Khulna Tigers and reach the final were all memorable events.

However, after 46 matches spanning 40 days across three venues, cricket still remained as an afterthought in the country’s premier franchise competition. On-field action got pushed out of the spotlight while the many off-field shenanigans took centre-stage.

Here, The Daily Star takes a look at some of the more notable incidents of the outgoing edition:

Morning shows the day

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had announced plans to introduce a full-fledged e-ticket system for the 11th edition.

However, till noon of the day before the opening contests, tickets had not been put up for sale.

Hundreds of fans had arrived at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on December 29, to purchase tickets only to see that the booths were closed and found no clear communication from the board about where and how they can buy tickets.

Some irate fans then tried to break Gate-1 of the venue and the law enforcement officers had to use force to disperse them. Later in the day, the BCB sent a press release, detailing where fans can buy physical and online tickets and also the prices.

The Rajshahi fiasco

On January 15, Durbar Rajshahi players boycotted a scheduled training session in Chattogran, protesting unpaid wages. The Rajshahi officials managed to appease their players and convince them to train and play. But the saga did not end there.

On January 26, the overseas recruits of Rajshahi boycotted their match against Rangpur Riders, again alleging unpaid wages. Rajshahi then sought and received a special approval from the BPL technical committee to field an all-local XI, a never before occurrence in the BPL.

The non-payment issue kept getting uglier as the days progressed as local players complained the cheques they had received bounced. Even the hotel accommodating the team and the team’s bus driver complained of non-payment.

The situation worsened to such a degree that the government had to step in, with law enforcement agencies picking up and interrogating Rajshahi owner Md. Shafiq Rahman in the early hours of January 3.

In the interrogation, the owner promised to clear all payment in three installments by February 10. But whether he will be able to keep his promise is anyone’s guess.

‘Self-satisfaction’

Chittagong Kings owner Sameer Quader Chowdhury got in hot water on January 24, after he told The Daily Star he did not pay his team’s opener Parvez Hossain Emon any portion of his payment because he was not ‘satisfied’ with the player.

This comment was panned by all and BPL governing council member secretary Nazmul Abedeen Fahim later said that Sameer expressed his regret over the comment.

Wide, Wider, Widest

The elephant in the room in this year’s BPL were the many sketchy on-field occurrences that raised fears of fixing.

Wides missing the pitch and going to the boundary, sometimes even from spinners, giant no balls, strange bowling changes and the fact that many of these events matched what the online betting agencies had predicted, all were ominous signs.

The BCB-ACU has already singled out suspicious eight matches, flagged 10 cricketers and the BCB has formed an independent inquiry committee to aid in the investigation.

The investigations has just begun and this saga is far from reaching its conclusion.

The tree falls, but makes no sound

In an attempt to make this BPL standout, the sports ministry organised a countrywide ‘Festival of Youth’, which ran co-currently with the tournament.

Kabaddi, athletics, chess, swimming, archery and many other sporting bodies held regional and divisional age-level competitions, rallies and educational institution in all 64 districts held sports events as part of the festivities.

However, as these events were not integrated with BPL, these competitions gained very little traction. For a lack of co-ordination, a novel and seemingly earnest attempt did not completely succeed.

The one-match disasters

Rangpur Riders, reeling from four defeats in a row in the league phase and pitted against Khulna Tigers in the eliminator, flew in heavyweight replacements in Andre Russel, Tim David and James Vince from the ILT20 in Dubai on the morning of the match.

However, this trio collectively made just 12 runs off 25 balls as Rangpur lost the match by nine wickets.

Runs flow and crowds turn up

In a tournament where most things have gone wrong, there were two big positives. Firstly, the pitches on average were much better, allowing batters to score big and secondly, fans in the stands, who turned up in big numbers in Sylhet and Chattogram. Even in Dhaka, the attendance was better than recent editions.