BCB CEO opens up on absence of DRS in BPL

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and controversy go hand-in-hand. There have been many discrepancies in every event and among them, there has been a strong discussion on the Decision Review System (DRS). The absence of DRS in the BPL is surprising to say the least given the current times.

There was no DRS in the last season of BPL as well and an Alternative Decision Review System (ADRS) was deployed.  Like last season, there will be no DRS this time around too. The BCB said it was not possible to bring DRS due to other franchise leagues around the world especially with the impact of IPL. The teams in the SA20 in South Africa and the ILT20 in Dubai have been funded by several IPL franchises.

The curtain rises on the ninth season of the BPL at the Mirpur Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday. Earlier in the day, Ispahani was announced as the title sponsor of the event. In a press conference organised on this occasion, the BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury was questioned about various inconsistencies in BPL with one of them being the DRS.

Regarding this, Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said, "Two-three months ago, our production team informed us about this matter. After that we tried our best to bring DRS. I had also contacted the ICC about this. But for some reason it could not be brought. Several international cricket series are going on at the same time. Some franchise leagues are also going on. Due to these reasons, we could not bring DRS."

The BCB CEO admitted that the IPL factor has also contributed to that. 

"We definitely had limitations here and that's why our production house could not bring it. We also tried hard enough on our part after knowing this. But currently those who provide DRS services do not have enough manpower. The DRS equipment is there [that were used in the India series] but there are no people who can operate that."