Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said that they will be restructuring the design of the central contract so that players can decide which format they want to play before signing the contract. Following ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s decision to skip the upcoming Test tour of Sri Lanka to play in the IPL, the BCB president reinstated that no one is indispensable during a press conference following a board meeting.
The BCB president met with the players and later also the coaches before their departure for New Zealand tomorrow to play the ODI and T20 series. Then he sat down with the board members to discuss current issues including the case of cricketers being able to opt out of important international fixtures to play in other leagues.
“There is no way to deny [that board is hostage to cricketers] and its not like it hasn’t happened before. My mind in clear and we don’t want to force anyone to play. No one is indispensable. We want everyone to play but if someone wants to leave the national side to play elsewhere, they can do so without any worries. This is a message for everyone and not just Shakib Al Hasan,” the BCB president said.
BCB had previously reiterated that the new central contract list would be made after assessing performances of at least the next two international series. BCB president talked about designing the upcoming contracts differently. Shakib was not part of BCB’s last central contract after he was banned by ICC for a year from all cricket for failing to report corrupt approaches from a bookie. Although he is originally considered an automatic choice for central contracts in all three formats of the game, BCB’s restructuring could definitely change the scenario for Shakib and others who wants to play in franchise leagues. BCB’s previous stance on the matter was to provide two NOCs (No Objection Certificate) to a player per year to play in other leagues. However, the IPL’s current scheduling this year has seen a number of issues come forward in terms of players having to make a choice between an international Test tour or playing in the IPL.
“We will go for a contract and there it will be a new one. The previous contract agreement has ended and no new contract has yet been created. So this time there will be a few new things in the contract. The players will have to say who wants to play in what format. They will also have to notify whether they will be playing for the national side or elsewhere during the duration of that contract. Those who will sign the contract will not be allowed to leave [for elsewhere]”, Nazmul concluded.
