Dhaka Premier League ‘not possible’ this year: BCB Director

Bangladesh Cricket Board ( BCB) director Khaled Mahmud has said that it is ‘not possible’ to go ahead with 2019-20 season of Dhaka Premier League which was initially scheduled in March due to coronavirus crisis.

“It is not possible to conduct this league in 2020. We can only start this in January next year. We are already committed to the T20 tournament which starts in November will only finish at the middle of December” ESPN Cricinfo quoted Mahmud as saying.

He further stressed that the apex body is working on all combinations to organise this league in January next year.

“We have to arrange training facilities for the clubs and allow them to get players back to Dhaka, so I think we can only start this around the first week of January,” said Mahmud.

The BCB director further said that we have to ensure that the proposed T20 tournament should end by mid-December so that the organizers gets time to prepare for the upcoming league.

“If West Indies are touring in January, we will run the DPL side by side. Those playing International cricket won’t be playing domestic cricket. It has happened before. We can’t control every single thing” said Mahmud.

In recent past several tours of Bangladesh has been cancelled due to COVID-19. Dhaka Premier League have provided great platforms for young talent to showcase their skills and learn the nuances of cricket from experienced players to a great extent effectively and efficiently.