Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPDCL) will not resume this year, said Khaled Mahmud, chairman of the game development committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), report agencies.
DPDCL, which is also known as Dhaka League, had started right before the deadly outbreak of Covid-19 in March this year. But after six matches, the league was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19.
"I don't think it's possible to resume the league this year. We are already committed to hosting a T20 league after the ongoing BCB President's Cup. If we start it in November, it'll end in late December. So it's not possible to resume Dhaka League this year. I think we may be able to host Dhaka League after January 10 next year," Khaled Mahmud told in a recent media interaction.
He said the biggest problem of resuming the Dhaka League is the accommodation of at least 250 people in a bio-secure environment so that they can't get exposed to the deadly virus.
"The biggest question is where we can host at least 250 people. We have talked to BKSP. It's an option. We have talked about Cox's Bazar as well. We have to take the decision of the clubs too because they are also the stakeholders. However, still, we are discussing hosting DPDCL," he added.
The West Indies are scheduled to tour Bangladesh early next year to play a full series. The series might conflict with the Dhaka League. But Khaled Mahmud said it won't be a problem.
Meanwhile, BCB will organise a T20 tournament in mid-November. But they didn't find any star foreign players available in November to play the tournament to be held in Bangladesh.
"We want superstars to come. We will not consider any player of lower quality than our top cricketers like Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur. We can only consider good players," Khaled Mahmud said in the city on Monday.
"Honestly, we haven't got any such name yet, we haven't got any big name. If we don't get it, we will organise the tournament with local players. If we could give an icon player of the same quality who can inspire the team, a name or a player who can boost up morale, we can think about it. If it is not like this then I don't think we will go for something like this," he added.