There is talk among the DPL management that players who earn more than five lakh may need to take pay cuts
The 2019-20 Dhaka Premier League will be held from May 6, according to its chairman Kazi Inam Ahmed. The List-A tournament however will be played in the T20 format with six matches each day in three separate venues. Ahmed said that the matches held last year during the regular season will now be scrapped although the twelve clubs will have the same squad as then.
This is the second domestic competition that the BCB are trying to get off the ground. Already, they are making preparations for the National Cricket League, the first-class competition, to begin later this month. But the more lucrative DPL will be squeezing in Bangladesh players between their Test tour to Sri Lanka and the ODI series against Sri Lanka at home.
“We have very tight windows due to the international tours but after discussion and agreement from all, we will be holding the league from May 6,” Ahmed said. “It will be in T20 format as continuation from last season, so we are abandoning the single round that was held last year. We have held a CCDM meeting today with representatives from the Dhaka Premier League clubs.
“It will have both the Super League and relegation league matches, but the squads will remain the same. Some of the clubs have made payments to the players so there won’t be any player transfers for this competition.”
Ahmed, however, added that the players’ payment hasn’t been made final in light of the changed format, but he hopes that the BCB will take a decision that will be financially beneficial to the them.
“Players told me that they are desperate to return to competitive cricket, even if their payments get reduced. So we are doing this league for the players’ sake. Clubs have had financial difficulties too so we will make a decision about player payments after discussing the matter with the board president.
“We have recommended that those who will get less than five lakh, don’t have any reduced payments. Those who are in the next slab, get a 10% decrease. This is not final; we have to speak to the clubs, CWAB and the BCB,” he said.
The meeting of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) only included the DPL clubs, which means that there was no word on the rest of the league system. It looks increasingly likely that the 2020-21 season will not have a Dhaka league.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84