BPL, DPL Won’t be Held without Vaccine or Improved Situation: Nazmul

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) dismissed any hopes of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) going to be held without the Covid-19 vaccine or the dramatic improvement of the corona situation in the country.

While the DPL is the most popular domestic tournament, which is the only source of income for most cricketers in the country, the BPL also provides a good salary for a large proportion of cricketers, reports BSS.  

"The DPL could launch on two conditions — first, if the corona situation in the country improves and, second, if the vaccine is available," said BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papon on Saturday.

“Apart from those two, I don’t see any logic to start a league. At least one should have to be logical. One or two countries are trying to resume cricket and apart from England, no one can do it. We can’t be so brave and bring the risk to the door. We have no logical explanation to start the league. So basically we are now waiting for the improved situation or vaccine.”

He went on to say: “In the case of BPL, the explanation is the same. If the situation improves or if a vaccine is available, we will start everything. There is another thing that we are not resuming our cricket here. We will basically practice in Sri Lanka where we will play a Test series. Till some days ago, both New Zealand and Sri Lanka were safe but now New Zealand reported new cases. Sri Lanka still remains without any report after some months. That’s why Sri Lanka is safe now.”

Due to the situation of Covid-19, at least 14 international matches in Bangladesh have been postponed. The first was a partial tour of Pakistan, where Bangladesh is scheduled to take part in an ODI and a test match that is part of the current World Test Championship. In addition to these contests, the home series against Australia, New Zealand, the series against Ireland has also been postponed.

Apart from the two-game test series against Australia, all the matches should be rescheduled early, Nazmul said.

"We've already been rescheduled. The matches will not be cancelled, except against Australia. Until now, we can't fix the time and schedule for the delayed testing of Australia, "he remarked.