For the first time in 46 years, DPL bars overseas players

There won't be any overseas players in the 2019-20 Dhaka Premier League, the league chairman Kazi Inam Ahmed said on Sunday. This is the first time in 46 years that the most lucrative competition in Bangladesh's domestic scene will not include any overseas cricketers.

Inam said this decision was taken to give more places to the local players, keeping in mind that the Bangladesh Premier League already allows foreign players to be part of the tournament.

"The main discussion was that the other countries don't have international players in their domestic competition," Inam said. "It was originally done so that our players can rub shoulders with the one international player. They are getting that in the BPL so to give the best opportunity to the local players, we are doing it for this year. Of course we can follow different option in the following year."

Since the 1980s and 1990s, some of the biggest names in world cricket have played in the Dhaka Premier League, including Wasim Akram, Sanath Jayasuriya, Arjuna Ranatunga and Neil Fairbrother. Cricketers like the late Raman Lamba, Ashok Malhotra, Arun Lal and Athula Samarasekara have also been regulars in the league. Off-late, a lot of cricketers from England, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe have played in the competition, and very recently a lot of Indian cricketers like Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Unmukt Chand and Jalaj Saxena have been regular visitors too.

This year's league is scheduled to begin on March 15, with the open market players transfer to be held from March 3 to 5.