T20 opener for DPL?

The future of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) had been uncertain after a new grading system was proposed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) has finally accepted the scheme, and according to source, the DPL will start with a T20 tournament. Under the new system, players’  have been divided into six grades – A+, A, B+, B, C and D – based on their monetary worth, and the clubs will choose players by way of a rotation policy. The BCB is yet to finalise the grading list for players. Their initial list was given to the clubs, who made a few modifications, which were sent back to the Board. Earlier, BCB president Nazmul Hasan had set June 20 for the players transfer and the tournament is scheduled to begin on July 1. Meanwhile, according to sources, clubs are willing to start the tournament with the T20 in the belief that it will give some match practice to the cricketers before the start of the 50-over tournament. “We are looking to start the tournament with the T20’s, as you know, most of the cricketers are out of cricket for long time. So we will ask the Board to start the tournament with T20,” explained a club official, who requested anonymity. The official added that club representatives will sit in a meeting with the Board within the next few days to further discuss the grading system and the structure of the upcoming tournament. The clubs will ask the Board to start the 50-over tournament in September, when matches are less prone to be interrupted by rain. “Right now as you all know, the rainy season is going on and the 50-over game is hard to play as most of the matches will be curtailed. So, we want the major tournament to start in September,” said the club official. Chairman of Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) and a member of BCB’s ad-hoc committee Jalal Yunus said the structuring of the tournament is yet to be settled on. “We are yet to decide about the format. Maybe we can start with the T20, but nothing is decided yet. “We are giving more attention to the main tournament, which is the 50-over competition and we want to finish the tournament according to our plan,” said Jalal.