The authorities in charge of cricket in Bangladesh said on Monday that they had paid a total of $65,000 in compensation to three prominent cricketers for their decision to play for the national side rather than compete in the lucrative Indian Premier League this season.
Jalal Yunus, the chairman of cricket operations for the Bangladesh Cricket Board, told AFP that the money will be given to Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, and Liton Das in equal amounts. “This is just a small gesture on our part,” Yunus said.
“They did not formally request any money from us, but we felt that they should be compensated for at least some of the work that they did, if not all of it.”
Jalal emphasized that this will not become a standard procedure.
“We believe that playing for the national team should be unconditional,” he said after saying that.However, our board will evaluate it on a case-by-case basis because the health and safety of our athletes is also one of our top priorities.
The all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders for this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but he ended up withdrawing from the tournament since it conflicted with Bangladesh’s series against Ireland, both at home and on the road.
Prior to playing the one-off Test against Ireland in Dhaka from April 4 to 8, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not give Test captain Shakib and vice-captain Liton approval to play.
Liton, who received his first call-up in the Indian Premier League this season, also from the Knight Riders, joined the franchise after the Test match, but he went home after having played only one game for them.
Jalal said that even though Taskin did not sell at the IPL player auction, he had been given a spot on the team as an injured substitute.
Mustafizur Rahman was the first player from Bangladesh to be given the opportunity to play for a lengthy period of time with his IPL club during this season. However, he ended up only playing in two matches for the Delhi Capitals.