STAR SPORTS DESK

The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin today and it is set to differ from all previous seasons in at least two regards.

Firstly, there will be no glitzy opening ceremony before the tournament opener between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru today.

The ceremony is being skipped as a mark of respect to the 11 people who lost their lives at the same venue during RCB’s trophy parade last year.

Secondly, for the very first time, IPL won’t be telecast in Bangladesh.

On January 5 this year, the ICT Ministry had issued a letter, instructing all television channels and radio stations in the country not to broadcast the tournament.

The ministry claimed to have taken this decision in “public interest”, in response to BCCI removing Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL seemingly under pressure from right wing groups.

Mustafizur had been bought for INR 9.20 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and was set to be the only Bangladeshi player in IPL this year, before being removed.

The issue snowballed into Bangladesh getting replaced by Scotland in the ICC T20 World Cup after the Tigers refused to travel to India over security concerns.

Recently, however, State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Islam has hinted at a possible reversal of the broadcast suspension.

“We have to know why it [IPL] was closed [broadcasting in Bangladesh], and later we can make a decision,” Aminul was quoted by Cricbuzz. As it stands, however, the suspension remains in place.