Courtesy: BPL

Courtesy: BPL

The ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024-25 season has been marred by crisis one after another, and the latest one has been the worst of all in regards to outstanding payment to a bus driver. In a shocking incident, when Durbar Rajshahi, the BPL franchise, failed to pay the dues to the bus driver, he took the matter into his own hands by locking the kit of the team’s players inside the bus as a mark of protest.

Notably, as per the report from the Circle of Cricket, the bus driver has also indicated to the Durbar Rajshahi team management that the players will get back their kit bags only after his outstanding payment is cleared. The franchise is yet to clear some portion of the payments to foreign cricketers, who are namely Mohammad Haris, Aftab Alam, Mark Deyal, Ryan Burl, and Miguel Cummins.

The kit bags of local and foreign cricketers are there in the bus but I cannot give them: BPL bus driver

Mohammad Babul, the bus driver of Durbar Rajshahi, said to the reporters in front of the team’s hotel, “It's a matter of regret and shame. If they had paid us, we would have given back the kit bag to the players. Till now, I have not opened my mouth but now I am saying that we can leave if they clear our payment. The kit bags of local and foreign cricketers are there in the bus but I cannot give them as a large portion of our remuneration is yet not paid.”

Moreover, during the ongoing BPL 2024-25 season, Durbar Rajshahi failed to reach the playoffs after having a forgettable campaign on the field. They finished in fifth place in a seven-team tournament, ahead of Dhaka Capitals and Sylhet Strikers, with just six wins in 12 matches, to accumulate 12 points, equal to Khulna Tigers, but their net run rate (NRR), which was (-1.030), costed them a spot up on the points table.