The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) paid Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, and Litton Das for choosing to play for the national team over the recently finished Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
On Monday, July 3, BCB officials verified that the senior cricketers received a total of $65,000 for prioritising national duty over the lucrative T20 league in India. Jalal Yunus, head of cricket operations for the BCB, stated in an interview that the players were partially compensated for their decision. For the well-being of the players, the BCB will not make this a regular practice and will instead evaluate each instance individually, he added.
“This is merely a token of our appreciation. They did not formally request payment from us, but we felt they should be compensated at least partially, if not in full. We believe participation on the national team should be mandatory. However, our board will evaluate it on a case-by-case basis, as the welfare of the players is also a priority,” Jalal Yunus was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
Shakib Al Hasan, who was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the IPL 2023, had to withdraw from the competition because the Bengal Tigers were scheduled to play Ireland at the same time.
Similarly, the BCB denied authorization for vice captain Litton Das, whom KKR also recruited prior to the IPL season. However, Litton joined the KKR squad after the one-off Test against Ireland but returned home after just one match.
In contrast, pacer Taskin Ahmed went unclaimed at the auction due to a lack of interest from the franchises. The BCB’s head of cricket operations confirmed that Taskin was offered a position as an injury substitution by an IPL franchise. Mustafizur Rahman was the only Bangladeshi participant in the lucrative division, but he only appeared in two matches for the Delhi Capitals.
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