Conveyer belt of overseas players

‘Batters going in and out of the pavilion’ - is probably one of the most used clichés in cricket folklore, translating to quick fall of wickets.

In the ongoing ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League though, the players have been coming in and out of team hotels on a regular basis as teams have failed to put together a squad throughout the tournament, leading to constant arrivals and departures of foreign players, turning the season into a conveyer belt of overseas recruits.

Such a situation arose because of concurrent foreign leagues around the globe. South Africa’s SA20 and United Arab Emirates’ ILT20 happened almost simultaneously with BPL, while the Big Bash League in Australia finished just before and the Pakistan Super League started as the Bangladeshi tournament walked into its playoff stage.

The league stage saw almost all teams employ Pakistani players, notably Sylhet Strikers, Fortune Barishal, Comilla Victorians, and Rangpur Riders - the four teams who reached the playoffs.

Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir were crucial for Sylhet as they claimed the top spot, while Mohammad Rizwan played a big part in Comilla finding their feet. Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Jr were vital for Barishal, while Shoaib Malik and Haris Rauf were part of Rangpur’s core.

But as the playoffs commenced, these players left for the PSL, leaving the sides scrambling to fill those gaps.

Comilla and Rangpur, courtesy of their financial strength, managed to acquire marquee players as the former signed up Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Moeen Ali, while the latter secured Dasun Shanaka, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, and Sam Billings.

Sylhet signed Isuru Udana and Luke Wood while Barishal got hold of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Andre Fletcher, and Dwayne Pretorius.

This coming-and-going culture of the overseas players has created a gulf in the strength of the teams as teams with more financial muscle have created a team better than the others.

This was evident in the first qualifier, where Sylhet, who topped the table in the league stage, succumbed to Comilla, whose team turned into one filled with superstars following their latest inclusions.

However, the biggest problem seems to be the team combination, especially when these many players are being changed almost every match, let alone in the crucial concluding stages.

“There are too many changes (in overseas players) and there are no overseas players available. When we pick a team, we pick local players and then choose foreign players where needed. This has become very difficult. Changing two cricketers force us to change the whole team combination. This is very challenging,” Rangpur head coach Sohel Islam said in a press conference during the tournament.

He even said that they had to wait for results in other leagues to recruit players, “Who we are bringing in completely depends on who wins and who loses in ILT20, leading to players becoming free. We have talked with a few players. Once the results are out, we will pick the players best for us.”