BCB president Nazmul Hassan has hinted at there being doubts over whether the Bangladesh Premier League will go ahead in 2014. With just two months left before the next scheduled edition, Nazmul said the board would have to "solve the problems" of the previous year before going ahead with it.
"We want to start the tournament before the 2014 World Twenty20s but for it to take place, we have to solve the problems from the last tournament. We still don't know how long it will take to solve all the problems," BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said.
The troubleshooting would include deciding whether to take the BPL forward or cut away from it altogether. Nazmul and the BCB have been troubled by the tournament's administrative issues, pay problems and alleged corruption, among other things. The latest doubts over the tournament have very likely been borne out of money issues with the franchises. The franchises owe the BCB money in various ways, including player payments. This issue has been quiet for a while, but that is because of a much larger problem: the corruption issue, brought out by the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit during last season's competition, which has become a moral issue in the country. The tribunal looking into the matter hasn't started its work yet, but it has poured more controversy into the BPL.
The BCB are already thinking of an "alternative tournament" if they end up shelving the BPL. "The BPL corruption tribunal has been put together, and they will start their work soon. If by chance we can't hold the tournament this year for some reason, we will have to look for an alternative tournament," Nazmul said. "We need to practice for the World T20s."
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent
