BPL T20 governing council to stand beside flood victims

BPL T20 governing council has decided not to have a grand opening ceremony for the tournament’s fifth edition, scheduled to begin in November this year. Given that the tournament did not have a opening ceremony in its previous edition, both the BCB and the BPL GC had mulled organising a ceremony involving both local and international stars. However, the organisers of the money-spinning tournament had to step back from the plan, bearing in mind the suffering of the flood victims in the country. According to the Department of Disaster Management officials, 900 unions of 138 upazilas in 25 districts have so far been inundated by floodwater. BPL GC chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha in a press meet at his office in the capital on Wednesday said, “People in the country are suffering from severe flood and the suffering will only increase when the water goes down. So we thought it will not be wise to have a grand ceremony for the BPL 2017 opening. So we decided to cancel the opening ceremony in a meeting held [Tuesday].”

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Sinha, also a BCB director, informed that the BPL GC will have an amount separated from the BPL fund as donation for the flood victims. “We will definitely stand by the flood victims. BCB president (Nazmul Hasan) already has a plan to go to Sirajganj with aids for the flood victims. Alongside, we will donate a separate amount from BPL fund. This can be done directly or through the Prime Minister’s fund,” Sinha explained. The BPL GC in the meeting has also revised the opening date and host city for the tournament. The initial date, November 2, has been postponed by a day, to November 3 and the domestic T20 league competition will start in Sylhet, the third newest venue of the tournament. The decision came considering that the capital city of Dhaka in the first eight days of November will be hosting the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

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It is understood the government has already booked 800 rooms in different hotels to accommodate the visitors from different parts of the world. This has made it difficult for the top-notch hotels in the city to house the seven BPL teams. “There will be a very big conference during the first week of November in Dhaka involving representatives from different countries. It will be very tough for the teams to get hotels in Dhaka at that point of time. So we decided to have the first few matches of the tournament in Sylhet this year and then return to Dhaka. We will inform if there is any further change,” said the BPL GC chairman.