Franchise cricket in Bangladesh, and Durbar Rajshahi, has suddenly stolen the limelight. A recent report on the foreign players affects the payment of fees. Earlier, the owner of Rajshahi, Shafiq Rahman, had also booked tickets for the foreign cricketers to fly back to their home countries; however, due to non-clearance of dues, many big names are stranded in the team hotel in Dhaka.
Cricbuzz reports that the foreign players were trying to reach the management of the team to get their payments but heard no reply.
Waiting for disbursing some portion of their payment are Mohammad Haris (Pakistan), Aftab Alam (Afghanistan), Mark Deyal (West Indies), Ryan Burl (Zimbabwe), and Miguel Cummins (West Indies).
“The team owners promised that they would clear the payment, so some local cricketers of Durbar Rajshahi checked out from the hotel room without getting payment,” the report said.
Last but not least, Durbar Rajshahi was stuck in another mess with the failure of the franchise to pay its bus driver, who has been driving the team across the country throughout the tournament.
He had learned how to settle it against the franchise, the bus driver who has locked the kits bags and other belongings of all the Rajshahi players inside the bus. He has also said that after all his dues are paid, only then the players will get their bags back again.
“This is a regret and a reason for shame. If they had paid us, we would have handed the bags to the players. For now, I had kept my mouth shut but now I am saying that we can go if they pay us,” said Rajshahi team bus driver Mohammad Babul to the reporters outside the team hotel.
“The kits of our local and foreign cricketers are there in the bus but I cannot pass them on as a good chunk of our dues is still unpaid,” he added.
About the team itself, Durbar Rajshahi had a forgettable outing in BPL 2025. They didn’t reach the playoffs, which was disappointing.
They ended in fifth place with just six wins out of 12 matches, and their last match was against Sylhet Strikers on January 27 in Dhaka.
