Rajshahi Faces Crisis as Foreign Players Boycott BPL Match Against Rangpur Riders

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is witnessing new twists every day, with the latest controversy surrounding the Durbar Rajshahi franchise. In a match against Rangpur Riders, Durbar Rajshahi found themselves without any foreign players after a complete boycott due to unpaid dues. Forced by the situation, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) allowed Rajshahi to field only local players in today’s match.

The issue of unpaid wages has once again brought Durbar Rajshahi into the limelight, as foreign players refused to take the field. Earlier, the Rajshahi players had threatened to skip practice sessions in Chattogram when their promised payments were not received. Following that, the franchise offered 25% of the agreed payment, but things escalated when a check issued to the players bounced, further fueling their frustration.

Today, the situation worsened when foreign players, angered by a change in their hotel arrangements and the failure to settle their remaining dues, threatened to boycott the remaining matches. Rumors started circulating in the morning about foreign players refusing to play. Initially, when Enamul Haque Bijoy posted pictures of local players with envelopes on Facebook, it seemed that the issue had been resolved. However, in the end, no foreign players showed up at the field, and Durbar Rajshahi had to play the match with only local players.

In a statement, the BCB confirmed that Durbar Rajshahi had sought special approval from the BPL Technical Committee to field only Bangladeshi players for the match against Rangpur Riders. After reviewing the request and according to the rules under section 1.2.9 of the BPL 2024-25 match conditions, the Technical Committee granted the approval for Rajshahi to field a team made up solely of local players for this match.