BCB omits eight cricketers from BPL auction list
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has omitted at least eight cricketers from the final draft list of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) auction as they were found in red flag zone due to their activities in the last edition of BPL. This is in relation to match fixing.
Earlier, BPL governing council member and current BCB vice-president Shakhawat Hossain told Cricbuzz during an exclusive chat that they would not keep tainted cricketers in the final list of players draft to make sure that there is no fixing controversy in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
According to the players draft list that was sent to the franchises on Sunday, both seen and obtained by this website, there are at least eight cricketers missing from the latest list that was prepared on the basis of a report prepared by BCB integrity unit which is headed by Alex Marshall.
Bangladesh cricketers - Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mosaddek Hossain, Shofiul Islam, Alauddin Babu, Sunzamul Islam, Mizanur Rahman, Nihaduzzaman and Munir Hasan Khan - have been omitted from the final draft list. They were part of the previous draft list.
"They are omitted from the list as per the report of the integrity unit as they were found in red flag zone and we cannot tell anything further in this regard," said the official.
The move follows a 900-page report submitted by a three-member independent inquiry committee formed after widespread fixing allegations in the previous BPL season. It was learnt that the report of the investigation committee identified at least 18-19 individuals that included 8 to 10 players suspected in various degrees of fixing involvement in the last edition of the tournament.
Later in the day, the BCB offered more clarification on the issue. "The BCB takes all allegations of corruption extremely seriously," the board said in a statement. "In preparing for BPL Season 12, the Governing Council received advice from the Independent Chair of the Integrity Unit on steps necessary to further safeguard the League. Based on that advice, a number of individuals, including some players, have not been invited to participate in this year's tournament.
"This is a BPL-specific measure taken to ensure fairness of the investigation process and to protect the integrity of the League. It does not apply to other domestic cricket events conducted under the jurisdiction of the BCB."
