“Have seen the movie Nayak?” Shakib Al Hasan claims he can revamp Bangladesh Premier League if given charge

Shakib slammed the organisers for not doing enough to promote BPL.

By Salman Anjum - 05 Jan, 2023

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has come down heavily on the organisers of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for not doing enough to promote the T20 tournament in the country.

Shakib called it a ‘big’ marketing failure and referring to Bollywood movie 'Nayak', he claimed that he can revamp the league in two-three months if given charge.

"If they made me the BPL CEO, it would take me one or two months to correct everything. You have seen the movie Nayak right? If you want to do something, you can do it in one day. I would do the players' draft and auction (on time) and hold the BPL during a free time. We will have all the modern technologies. There will be quality broadcast and home and away venues," ESPNCricinfo quoted Shakib as saying.

BPL’s players' draft was delayed to November 23 as the organisers took time in selecting owners of all seven franchises.

Meanwhile, two other new T20I Leagues, SA20 and ILT20, was able to fetch top talents. Even those who have been picked will not be available for the full BPL season.

"I do not see what's stopping us if we have the willingness (to correct things). If we are willing, I do not see any reason not to have the DRS, the draft or auction not being held three months in advance, or the teams wouldn't be confirmed two months in advance. The players are only available for one or two matches. Nobody really knows for how long they are available," said Shakib.

Furious with the current state of affairs, the all-rounder further said that BPL could be inferior to Dhaka Premier League (DPL), which is the country's domestic ODI competition.

"I saw in the news that the jersey is not ready. It is a messy situation. Maybe our DPL is more organised. They can arrange the team ahead of time. They know what their team is going to be. Every DPL team knows who is playing where for the next edition," said Shakib.

"We do not really know what is going in the BPL. It only starts when the BPL matches start. The tournament starts from January 6. There's no BPL before that. Before this, everyone is practicing on their own," he added.

In particular, Shakib was critical of the lack of marketing of BPL in Bangladesh.

"There's no market because we never created the market. If we could have added value to this market, it would have been really big. Cricket is played everywhere in this country, even in remote villages," he remarked.

"It is a very popular sport in a country of 160-180 million, so I do not believe there cannot be a market for cricket here. It is a huge failure in terms of marketing," he continued.

In the end, Shakib mentioned that the performances in the BPL do not carry the same weight as the Caribbean Premier League or the Pakistan Super League.

"They show a list of countries where the BPL is telecast, but nobody really watches the tournament. When an uncapped player does well in PSL or CPL, they get a national call-up. It does not happen when they play in the BPL. It is quite disappointing that we have remained at this stage," he concluded.

(With ANI Inputs)

By Salman Anjum - 05 Jan, 2023

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