BPL franchise bus driver holds players' gear hostage

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Durbar Rajshahi is once again in the news, but for the wrong reasons.

According to reports, the franchise has not yet paid its foreign players and staff. This issue has resulted in several well-known players being stuck in a hotel in Dhaka.

Even though the team owners had promised to clear the payments, many local players have already left the hotel without receiving their dues.

The situation worsened when the franchise did not pay the bus driver either. In protest, the driver locked all the players' kit bags and equipment inside the bus.

Bus driver Mohammad Babul told reporters that the situation was very disappointing and embarrassing. He stated that if they had been paid, they would have returned the players' belongings.

"The kit bags of both local and foreign players are inside the bus. But until we receive most of our payments, I cannot return them," he said.

The team owner, Shafiqur Rahman, claimed that the flight tickets for foreign players had been booked. However, since the payments have not been cleared, the players are still waiting at the hotel.

Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Haris, Afghanistan's Aftab Alam, West Indies' Mark Deyal and Miguel Cummins, and Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl are among the unpaid players. When they tried to contact the team management, they did not receive a clear response.

Sources say Mohammad Haris has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the issue. In response, the PCB contacted both Haris and the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Arrangements are now being made for Haris to fly back to Islamabad today.

Durbar Rajshahi's performance in the BPL 2025 season was also disappointing. They failed to qualify for the playoffs, winning only six out of 12 matches. The team finished in fifth place on the points table. Their last match was on January 27 in Dhaka against the Sylhet Strikers.