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Chittagong Kings have threatened to pull out of the next edition of the
Bangladesh Premier League because they were replaced in the semi-finals
of this year's tournament hours after being officially deemed to have
qualified. The matter descended into farce, with the BPL first making a
clear statement on Monday saying Chittagong were one of the
semi-finalists and then, at 2:45am on Tuesday morning, issuing a release
saying that in fact Barisal Burners were the fourth semi-finalists. The
situation became murkier on Tuesday as the Chittagong franchise alleged
that the BPL had also not responded to their reports of being
approached to fix matches.
Nasir Ahmed, the Chittagong manager, said the manner in which Chittagong
had been ousted from the knockout phase was an "injustice". "We rushed
to the stadium [at night] and on arrival we were given a letter which
said Barisal are through to the semi-final and we are out," he said. "We
were stunned as this could not happen according to the tournament's
bylaws. This is an injustice and we want a remedy."
On Sunday evening, after Barisal had chased down Chittagong's score in
15 overs, it was announced by the broadcasters that Barisal were through
to the semi-finals on the basis of net run-rate. This, according to
Mike Procter, BPL match-referee and technical committee member, was a
false announcement. "It didn't come from us, nothing official came from
us," Procter said. "If the television [broadcasters] speculate and if
you guys [the media] speculate, we do not take the responsibility.
At that point, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna Royal Bengals and Dhaka
Gladiators were equal on 10 points. On Monday, Dhaka lost narrowly to
Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet Royals. By virtue of 12 points from 10
games, Khulna went to second place, leaving Dhaka, Barisal and
Chittagong tied on points at the end of the league phase.
In the head-to-head results between the three teams level on 10 points,
Dhaka had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once and therefore
qualified for the semi-finals in third place. That now left Chittagong
and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot. Chittagong had two wins,
against Barisal and Dhaka, while Barisal had only one, against
Chittagong. Barisal's net run-rate, however, was better than that of
Chittagong.
On Monday evening, BPL governing council chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain
officially announced the semi-final line-up. "According to the rules
Rajshahi, Khulna, Dhaka and Chittagong are through," he said. He
produced a photocopied page from the by-laws where clause 21.8.2 was
pointed out. It said: "when three or more teams finish with equal wins
in the league, then the team(s) which was (were) the winner of the most
number of matches played between those equal teams in the league will be
placed in the higher position(s). If after applying this criterion,
there are many items which are still equal, then such equal teams shall
be ranked according to their net run-rate in the league."
It was announced that Chittagong were in the semi-finals on the basis of
a better head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which
included Dhaka.
At 2.45 am on Tuesday morning, however, the BPL issued a release which
said that Barisal was the fourth semi-finalist. The second and third
points in the release said:
"(2) Three teams - Dhaka Gladiators, Barisal Burners and Chittagong
Kings are on equal (10) points. Dhaka Gladiators have most wins from
meetings with Barisal Burners and Chittagong Kings and therefore qualify
as the 3rd semi-finalist.
"(3) With Barisal Burners and Chittagong Kings both having one win
against each other the 4th qualifier had to be decided on the basis of
superior net run-rate. Barisal edged ahead of Chittagong on net run-rate
to become the 4th semi-finalist."
Procter explained that the confusion arose because there were two
clauses: one concerning a situation in which three teams were equal on
points (21.8.2) and one referring to a similar situation with two teams
(21.8.1). The former was used to decide Dhaka's qualification, which
left Chittagong and Barisal level, meaning clause 21.8.1 would come into
effect and Chittagong's win against Dhaka would not be counted.
"Because they ended up with the most points Dhaka were taken out of the
equation," Procter said. "Two teams were left. So you could not have a
head-to-head between three teams, but only two."
Chittagong, though, were left fuming and their chief executive has now
also said they had been approached to fix matches. These claims come a
day after the arrest of a Pakistani citizen, who was attending BPL matches, on suspicions of involvement in fixing.
"We have been approached by unknown callers at three times to fix
matches," the Chittagong chief executive Sameer Quader Chowdhury said.
"We informed the BPL governing council in writing but did not get any
response. Even the man arrested on suspicion the other day was first
identified by us."
He also said that Chittagong were considering pulling out of the
tournament, though the franchise had been bought for three years. "We
have invested a lot in this tournament [but] if this trend continues, we
will not participate from the next edition."
Another bone of contention for the Chittagong Kings was that the
official scoring website (digicricket.marssil.com) showed Chittagong
above Barisal in the head-to-head count till 11am in the morning but
later had N/A (not applicable) filled for each team in the head-to-head
column.
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