Dhaka Premier League begins today

The much-awaited Dhaka Premier League, which has been on the shelf for over a year, will finally commence on Monday in a bio-secure environment and also as a Twenty20 competition for the first time.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan had earlier said that all players and support staff would get vaccinated before the DPL but due to the countrywide shortage of vaccines, the board is now going ahead with the tournament in a bio-secure environment. BCB tested all players support staffs for Covid-19 before letting them enter one of the four designated bio-secure hotels in the capital. Imrul Kayes and Tushar Imran, who have signed on to play for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Brother’s Union, were the only cricketers to twice test positive in the tests. Other than them, three other club officials had also initially tested positive but they were cleared of the virus when the result of the retest came out on Saturday, however, Imrul and Tushar remained Covid positive. They are expected to provide samples for another test, the result of which should come out today. The tournament, which got halted initially in March last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will start afresh and some of the player’s remunerations have also been adjusted, informed Cricket Committee for Dhaka Metropolis’ member secretary Ali Hossain.

‘The [six] matches played in 2020 are scratched. Now the point table will start from nil. But the team members will remain the same,’ Ali told on Saturday. ‘But due to the corona pandemic effect, 20 per cent of the contract fee will be deducted from those who are getting more than Tk 10 lakhs remuneration,’ he added. This is the first time the traditional 50-over tournament will be held as a T20 competition, where 12 teams will play in every matchday in double headers at the three chosen venues– Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, BKSP ground 3 and 4. Shakib Al Hasan, who will lead Mohammedan Sporting Club in the league, spoke about his team’s goals and his personal affection for the club. ‘Our goal is to finish on top. But as this is T20 format and it’s a long league, it will be difficult as in the shorter format the difference between the two sides gets smaller,’ said Shakib in the jersey unveiling ceremony at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Saturday. ‘Before Joining BKSP, I was a Mohammedan supporter. After joining BKSP everything changed for me. 

This is really a proud moment for me to lead the club which I was a fan of in my early days,’ said Shakib, who opted out of the Pakistan Super League to play in the DPL. Shakib had a terrible run with the bat at number three in the just-concluded Sri Lanka series and said he is willing to change his position if his team requires it. ‘For me, always the most important thing is to do what will benefit the team most. For that, batting in three, four, five and even at 11 is not a problem for me.’ He said. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who played for Sk Jamal in the previous year, is still in their roster but will join the team later said a club official. ‘He [Mashrafe] said that he needs to work on his fitness, he will join us later. As he is our registered player, I don’t think it will be a problem to take him inside the bio-secure bubble,’ said Mehrab Alam, advisor to the club president of Sk Jamal.