The domestic cricketers are on their toes as the unfinished edition of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League is set to resume at the end of this month.
As per the recent decision of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis chairman Kazi Inam Ahmed, the tournament involving 12 premier Dhaka clubs is set to begin on May 31.
The tournament, which is played in accordance with the 50-over format, will however, start afresh and be held in Twenty20 format to fit in the window available.
The tournament is the unfinished edition from March last year which got suspended at the initial stage due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The squads of the participating clubs will be the same as last year except the inclusion of all-rounder Shakib al Hasan in Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited.
Shakib was not part of the tournament when it had started last year as the cricketer was serving a year-long ban imposed by the International Cricket Council for failing to report corrupt approaches.
Dhaka League involves around 300 people and it has been learnt that this big group will be put in a bio-secured bubble ahead of the tournament.
BCB and CCDM will strictly observe the entire procedure and logistics of the league which was previously done by the clubs.
The first Covid-19 test of the players and officials will be on May 26.
The second round of tests will be on May 29 before the teams move into the hotels.
It is understood that the 12 participating clubs will be lodged at three different high-end hotels in the capital.
Six matches will played in a day, two games each at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, BKSP Ground 3 and Ground 4 respectively.
Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium will be kept as the reserve venue.
“The challenge is big for all of us. We all know the situation (Covid-19 pandemic) we are going through. But I must mention the support that has come from the clubs and the senior players in order to resume the league. We are hopeful of maintaining the necessary health protocol and safety of all the individuals related to the league,” said CCDM member secretary Ali Hossain to the media Monday.
A few clubs are set to start training camp from this week onwards.
Starting from Wednesday, Mohammedan will have a week-long residential camp at BKSP, informed their batsman Shamsur Rahman.
The right-handed top-order batsman is ecstatic that the league, which is a major source of earning for the domestic cricketers, is finally set to return to the field.
“We have a residential camp starting at BKSP from Wednesday. The tournament starting finally is good news for the domestic cricketers. We all want cricket to return to the field. My sincere thanks to the BCB and specially CCDM chairman Kazi Inam bhai for making the effort to start the tournament, despite many challenges. Dhaka Premier League is major source of income for most of the cricketers. This pandemic has been tough financially for the cricketers so the resumption of the tournament will of course come as a relief to the cricketers,” said Shamsur to Dhaka Tribune.
Shamsur pressed on the need for the cricketers to follow the health protocol that will be set by the BCB and CCDM.
The out-of-favor Bangladesh national cricketer has cited as an example this year’s Indian Premier League T20 which got suspended halfway as Covid-19 cases were reported inside teams.
“The cricketers participating must act responsibly to ensure the health guidelines that will be in place. We must understand that the board and CCDM are doing their part of the job to resume the tournament and help the cricketers. So it will be our job to ensure the tournament starts and ends well,” Shamsur added.
