The lottery and grading system for recruiting players for the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) took place for the first time yesterday and for a change, some of the players were not aware of which team they would be representing in the tournament. Many local players and several members of the Bangladesh “A” team that are currently touring England, called the media to ask which team had picked them.
Traditionally, the cricketers would talk with the clubs before the start of the league and negotiate their own salary. The new system was strongly opposed by many players and even after it was decided that the system would be used, players remained mistrustful of it.
Being away from the country, the Bangladesh “A” team’s players were naturally keen to follow the recruitment process and players such as Shamsur Rahman, Robiul Islam, Roqibul Hasan, Sohag Gazi and Farhad Reza were eager to know which team they would be playing for.
“We don’t know for which team we will be playing for this year because of this new player recruitment system and it’s natural for us to be curious about it, since the DPL is the biggest tournament for all the cricketers of Bangladesh,” explained Shamsur Rahman.
Though the cricketers stopped short of commenting on the new system, some of the players, who requested anonymity, were unhappy to be picked up by certain clubs that have a reputation for not clearing the salaries they owe to the cricketers.
