'We are only here to serve the cricketers': Tamim pushes back against BPL criticism
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Tamim Iqbal has defended his decision to postpone this season's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), pushing back against critics by asserting that only a "partial story" of the controversy has been told.
The postponement of the country's premier T20 tournament sparked discontent among cricketers, who recently urged the board to find alternative ways to compensate for their loss of income. Tamim himself came under fire, particularly because he had previously pressured the former Faruque Ahmed-led board to hold the tournament despite their reluctance.
Addressing the media following a board meeting on Thursday, Tamim tackled the criticism head-on, urging his critics to look at the full picture.
“I have heard many say that I took players with me and forced [the board] to hold the BPL. Of course, there was no question over forcing someone. It was a request that ‘even if players’ payments reduce by 25-30 percent, hold the BPL still’," Tamim explained.
"Since people are talking about it, I hope they also remember that one week later, I went to meet the same person and said, ‘please don’t give these two franchises teams as it will bring trouble.’ It’s not right to say just one side of the story and leave out the other. When you say something, say it wholly. I did say don’t give a team to Rajshahi because it would create problems, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Tamim also dismissed the notion that the board postponed the tournament solely to avoid a financial hit. He clarified that the BCB is fully capable of absorbing losses, provided everything else, particularly players' payments are managed properly, something he feels has been completely absent in recent years.
“If the cricket board makes a loss of a certain amount, the BCB has the ability to incur that loss. If players’ payments, hotel payments, transport, and other things related to cricket were being done perfectly, then absolutely... we are ready to take it," Tamim said. "But in the last two-three years, which things were okay in the BPL?”
Standing firm on his administrative stance, Tamim assured that the tournament is not dead.
“I will tell you one thing; BPL is postponed, it’s not been scrapped. We will try so that the BPL is held in a better way.”
While acknowledging the players' frustrations regarding their sudden loss of earnings, Tamim maintained that tough calls are necessary to clean up the system.
“I agree that players are disappointed, but there are certain decisions I have to take, and I will take them. I won’t think 30 times about who is saying what, since I have seen what happened in the last two-three years,” he stated.
To offset the financial blow and prove the board's commitment to the players, Tamim used the press conference to announce a massive hike in domestic match fees. He framed the move as a more sustainable, inclusive solution than the BPL, which only caters to a select group of local players.
“We are only here to serve the cricketers, so there is no question over having a bad relationship with players,” Tamim said. “I never wanted a one-year solution. I wanted a solution that will benefit them year after year. Why would I do something for 60 cricketers? If we do something, it has to be for everyone that plays.”
Under the newly announced pay structure, men’s first-class cricketers -- whose match fee was raised to Tk 1 lakh in April by the Tamim-led ad hoc committee -- will now receive Tk 1.5 lakh per match. In List A cricket, the fee has been doubled from Tk 50,000 to Tk 1 lakh, while National Cricket League (NCL) T20 match fees have risen from Tk 40,000 to Tk 80,000.
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