BPL governing body to launch investigation into Mehidy Miraz’s captaincy debacle

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) governing council is set to launch an investigation into the captaincy row between Chattogram Challengers' skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz and the franchise officials, Sheikh Sohel, the chairman, said on Tuesday (February 01).

The row between Mehidy and the officials reached a boiling point on Sunday afternoon after the former 'nearly' left the team a day after being removed as skipper.

Addressing the media during a press-conference in Dhaka on Sunday, Sohel condemned the actions of both parties involved, stating that neither of them acted in a professional manner.

"When (Ismail Haider) Mallick bhai, CEO (Nizamuddin Chowdhury) and I discussed the matter after hearing of it yesterday, we felt both (Mehidy Hasan) Miraz and the (Chattogram Challengers') management were at fault," Sohel said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo'.

"Miraz, being a top player from the national team, shouldn't have done this during the tournament. He should have waited, since we are in the disciplinary committee. The franchise also caused a problem. They should have been more patient. They could have discussed the matter among themselves. This shouldn't have become such a big incident. We will also not let them go. We will do a hearing shortly. We will ask both parties to attend it,” Sohel continued.

Meanwhile, Mallick, the member secretary of the BPL governing council, has said that while the council is yet to observe anything nefarious, they do have a proper mechanism in place in case they find something fishy.

"We are yet to observe anything suspicious. What we have seen through the press conference is that there was a miscommunication. We will call them for a hearing and will try to know the entire matter,” Mallick stated.

"Not only this but BCB's anti-corruption team closely follows every game. We have one person from the anti-corruption unit with each team and they are monitoring closely. Not only BCB, the ICC is also following everything properly."

However, he reckoned that the conflict could have been handled better by both parties involved.

"The incident took place on Sunday as Miraz, as a captain, said he wanted to open the innings in every game. Every franchise wants to win matches and they have a particular plan but obviously, this should have been handled professionally," he said.

"Since he wanted to open the innings, this should have been discussed by the entire team management. But what happened was not expected as the way he was removed from the captaincy and how Miraz broke the bio-bubble and gave a statement to the media was unexpected." He added.

As far as their BPL 2022 campaign is concerned, the Challengers have won three of their first six fixtures. They will next play Fortune Barishal on Monday.