Playing a leg spinner is priority but not mandatory - BCB alter stance on BPL

Bangladesh Cricket Board officials have stated that playing a leg spinner and 140 kmph pace bowler was a "priority but not mandatory" in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League. Monday's announcement was in stark contrast to earlier comments from BCB, mandating the inclusion of a leg-spinner and pace bowler faster than 140 kmph in a bid to address the two gnawing deficiencies in the senior men's side.

BCB director Enayet Hossain, who replaced Akram Khan as the team director of Rangpur Rangers, revealed the change of stance during the team's jersey unveiling ceremony. Rangers have included Rishad Hossain in their squad but his chance of playing in the BBPL is very slim, considering he is expected to play the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

"It is not being imposed [to play a leg spinner and a pace bowler over 140 kmph],'' Enayet told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. "But we will try to have a leg-spinner in the team. And for playing a pacer bowling at 140, the wicket has to be of that sort. Then there is also the fact of team combination. We will give priority to play leg spinner," he said.

"I do not think it is mandatory. We [Bangladesh] lack a good leg-spinner [in the national team] so we have to priorities. But there is nothing in the playing condition [that a team has to play a leg spinner or a 140 KMPH pace bowler]. For national interest we will try to play leg-spinner," he added.

BCB director Mahbub Anam during a press conference in October announced that they were making it mandatory to play a leg spinner or a pace bowler over 140kmph in the BPL once the tournament came completely under the ambit of the BCB. The board cut ties with the franchises, citing that they were making unreasonable demands and instead looked to make this BBPL a roadmap for the next ICC World Cup.

"We had made some rules and regulations for each teams participating in the tournament. The theme of BPL is clear that we want to bring out players from this tournament. The significance of the tournament will be lesser if Bangladeshi players cannot bowl or bat in the right position," BPL governing council member Mahbub Anam had said.

"We are looking for leg spinners. When a franchise come into a tournament they are more interested in winning and as a result in some areas we are lacking in the national team. So we have taken suggestions from the national team and they insisted they need leg spinners and so we have decided that every team will have to play a leg spinner and he have to complete his four-over quota and that will also ensure that he is playing in the best XI.

"And we want that international fast bowlers who bowl around 140 kmp because we want to grow our players through this balancing act. We want to make sure that our batsmen and bowlers get enough opportunities [against quicks and legspinners], something that was not possible when it was a franchise-based BPL," Anam had said.