‘All of us are, sort of, unashamed T20 mercenaries these days.’
The former New Zealand captain and England’s present coach, Brendon McCullum, said the line with a guilty look on his face during a programme in London in 2017.
The programme was for Cricket South Africa’s inaugural Global T20 tournament, which was supposed to be held that summer. The Bangladesh Premier League was already five seasons old then.
The Global T20 tournament, however, never saw the light due to the lack of a broadcasting deal.
But that never-held tournament was the progenitor of the current SA20, which is having its third season.
CSA had to change their strategy to stage a successful and durable T20 tournament in the long run.
SA20, as well as the ILT20 of the UAE, are clashing with BPL in terms of schedule. The ever-shrinking cricket calendar is continuing to fail to accommodate these T20 tournaments.
As a result, the ‘unashamed T20 mercenaries’ are on a run from tournament to tournament more often than not.
SA20 and ILT20—both the tournaments have strong links with IPL—the big boss of franchise-based cricket leagues.
All six teams of the SA20 are owned by IPL franchises, whereas three of six are the same in the ILT20.
ILT20, in fact, can have as many as nine overseas players in the eleven.
BPL is a brand that continues to fail in getting established as a proper brand, thus is lacking the influx of ‘big names’ of overseas cricketers.
They prefer the other two leagues over BPL, except in some rare cases, i.e., Dawid Malan choosing BPL despite having ‘other offers.’
However, because the laws require a club to play two foreign cricketers in each match (a restriction that was waived for Rajshahi when their overseas players boycotted a match owing to a non-payment issue), teams are compelled to bring in some unknowns or players who have passed their prime.
And as the tournament comes to a close, the teams are eager to bring in some 'big names' ahead of the crucial playoff games.
Rangpur Riders, who lost their balance after their best performer Khushdil Shah left, brought as many as three stars for their Eliminator match against Khulna Tigers on Monday.
Andre Russell, Tim David, and James Vince—all were busy in the ILT20 and only were roped in by Rangpur as their respective teams were no longer in the run for the next phase of the tournament.
Russell even took part for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders the previous night. The three foreign stars failed miserably and understandably, as Rangpur were knocked out by Khulna after their humiliating defeat.
Barishal got Kyle Mayers back in their team, who left them for his ILT20 franchise and came back only after they were knocked out.
Khulna brought Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmayer, though their services weren’t required that much.
Barishal will have James Neesham in the final as the Kiwi all-rounder arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Chittagong Kings, who face Khulna in the second qualifier today, however, will rely on their ‘not so big name’ overseas stars.
Interestingly, the foreigners they recruited were available for most of the season, and they delivered for them.
BPL being a stopover for the overseas players is nothing new. But in an age where T20 tournaments are struggling to find their feet, you need a stable ecosystem, and that includes a stable influx of overseas players that can attract the fans.
So what could be the solution to that?
Tamim Iqbal, who is leading Fortune Barishal in the tournament, said that the governing body could think of rescheduling it back to October-November when it would not clash with the other two major leagues.
However, in the crazy scheduling of international cricket, it won’t be easy for the BCB to reschedule the BPL.
But until BPL finds a solution, it will continue to be a stopover for the overseas cricketers, even if they think of themselves as ‘unashamed mercenaries.’
Ìý
