Veteran Bangladesh wicket-keeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has raised his voice against the disparity in the players' payment in the 7th edition of the ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2019-20 that kicked off on Wednesday (December 11) in Dhaka.
In the ongoing T20 tournament organized by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Bangladesh’s A+ category cricketers received 50 lakh Bangladeshi Taka (around 59,000 USD) while the overseas A+ category players get paid 84 lakh Bangladeshi Taka (around 99,000 USD).
On the other hand, Bangladesh’s A category cricketers get 25 lakh Taka (around 30,000 USD) which is less than half of what received by the foreign cricketers in the A category get – TK 56 Lakh (around 66,000 USD) and Mushfiqur feels that is a “discredit” for Bangladesh’s cricketers.
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Rahim said on Wednesday: “If you see our players, Tamim or Shakib - we perform the whole year consistently but some players who are playing just the T20 format whole year get more wage. It is a bit of discredit for us. If you see the other leagues, their local players are the highest-paid players.”
However, the wicket-keeper batsman, who will lead Khulna Tigers in the BPL 2019-20, hopes that the BCB will sort out the issue in the next edition, as the board has organized the tournament facing many problems, taking control of the teams while bringing a few sponsors on the board after differences arises with the franchises besides players’ strike.
The veteran batsman further added, “We never get the expected wage and we tried to notify them about it (when we put across the demands). They (BCB) also gave us hope. Maybe this BPL was arranged in a hurry and luckily it is happening. I hope everything will be fixed next year. So I am hoping, the demand that we have is reviewed next year.”
Rahim signed off by saying, “And I am not saying that only about top players, the other grades should also be under review. The players who perform consistently the whole year should get higher ranks. Maybe there are only four-five top players who perform well consistently in the year. If I say Shafiul or Taijul, they played outstanding last year. They are in the B or C grade. So I think they should see these matters. And this will be good for Bangladesh cricket.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
