Live Correspondent: Less than a week after he had voiced doubts about the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) starting on December 6 as originally scheduled, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media committee chairman Jalal Yunus expressed optimism about the T20 tournament starting on time.

“As I said before, we have a strong intention to start the special BPL on December 6. The BCB is already working, involving the CEO and different managers of the board, on maintaining the schedule. They are at the moment doing the homework. Soon, the plans will be set and we will sit with the companies that have shown interest to be team sponsors,” Jalal told reporters yesterday.

The BCB had floated a notice seeking team sponsors on September 17 with a submission deadline set for September 22. The board have so far received six Expression of Interest (EOI) applications from parties wanting to sponsor teams in the upcoming edition.

The upcoming edition of the BPL -- which will be different from previous editions as it will not involve any franchises -- will be dedicated to father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to mark his 100th birth anniversary.

Jalal said that behind-the-scenes operations or player selections of this season, the seventh, will be carried forward to the next season and that the interested sponsors will be involved for this season only.

However, he added that the format of the tournament will be similar to previous editions, with each team allowed to field four overseas players in the playing eleven. “The format will be similar to those we have seen in the last few editions of the tournament. Four overseas players will be allowed to be fielded.

There are a few overseas cricketers that were signed with the franchises [who are not part of the tournament this time] and we can offer them places in this edition if they are free,” he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the BPL governing council (GC) Sheikh Sohel and member secretary Ismail Haider Mallick has not been seen at the BCB headquarters in Mirpur recently, and Jalal informed that they are out of the country for personal reasons and that their unavailability shall not affect preparations for the tournament.

According to Jalal, BCB president Nazmul Hassan has taken charge of organising the tournament and the board will come to a decision within a week after the various tournament paperwork is completed.

Dhaka 07  October (campuslive24.com)//Az