Late interest from new buyers and the failure of meeting the requirement on time by the existing Expression of Interest (EOI) holders forced the Bangladesh Cricket Board to continue looking for new franchise owners for the Bangladesh Premier League 3.
Only five of the 12 EOI holders provided the Tk45m (4.5 crores) bank guarantee and Tk10m (one crore) in pay-order before the deadline on Sunday. This was the reason why the BCB continued its talks with potential companies said BPL Governing Council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha. The potential companies requesting the BCB for some more time priot to the deadline is also one reason for the talks to continue.
The BCB earlier said that it will do background checks on each EOI holders after they meet the requirements, and also hinted of increasing the number of teams if required. However, they are yet to get six concrete buyers for this time.
“What I know at the moment is – the deadline to submit the guarantee expired yesterday (Sunday). However, two or three companies have communicated with the BCB regarding their chances to participate in the run for a BPL team and they have also requested for some time,” said Sinha to the media yesterday.
“We (BCB) are still hopeful that two or three companies will come up. we had a deadline, no confusion with that but some have requested for more time, we may listen to them,” he said.
BBS Cables and Index Group cited lack of communication and the difficulty to understand the guidelines for stepping back even after purchasing an EOI. Meanwhile, slim chances of roping the Dhaka franchise have also been a reason behind losing interest. According to the sources it is almost confirm that the Dhaka franchise will be taken by Beximco Pharmaceuticals.
Among the newly interested buyers are Square Group and Alif Group, previous owner of Barisal Burners in the first two editions of BPL.
Political reasons kept Square away from meeting the deadline, though they are still a potential buyer while Alif still owes money to the BCB from the first two seasons and they stated they will clear the due and talk further only if they are guaranteed a franchise for the forthcoming edition.
“It is possible for new companies to show their interest to get a BPL team. We had eleven companies who submitted Expression of Interest but finally the number came down to five. So we will need to see where this is heading. Commenting on it at the moment will be premature,” said Sinha, one of the influential BCB directors.
“The BCB president (Nazmul Hassan) will reach Dhaka today (yesterday). Hopefully the BPL GC will have a meeting with him on this in a day or two and take a decision on the extension of the time and our next move,” Sinha added.
