In an embarrassing turn of events, Durbar Rajshahi has been on the news for all the negative reasons as the world has now learned that the franchise has not been able to clear the dues of its players. The situation is so dire that the franchise even failed to secure hotel reservations for its players which landed the franchise owner into further trouble. 

Due to unpaid dues, the overseas Rajshahi players refused to take the field against Rangpur Riders last Sunday and the franchise had to field all 11 local players in their lineup. Surprisingly, the team managed to win that fixture by a meager margin of two runs. 

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BPL's reputation in jeopardy over non-payment issue

In a bid to swiftly resolve the issue, BCB has been compelled to take stern legal action against the erring franchise. The non-payment of players on one side, the franchise has also defaulted in paying hotel reservation bills that have landed the franchise owner in a new controversy. During an ongoing conversation with Daily Star, the BCB media committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman has indicated that the board will launch a legal investigation to resolve this pressing matter with urgency citing that BPL's global image is under threat. 

"We have to take legal action by any means now. The money has to be paid. Otherwise, BPL's reputation will be ruined. The violation of contractual obligations like cheque dishonor and other issues will be addressed and we will file cases for all matters, as per the merit of the breaches. The board has given them enough chances. But they have crossed all limits. They were given a contract. There are breaches of contract clauses. Until today, we didn't take any action but now, we will take all the legal actions against them."

Taskin's cheeky "Cheque Bounce" remark highlighted the franchise's grim issue 

After leading his side to a surprise victory against Rangpur Riders on Sunday, Taskin addressed the media and said that the franchise had paid some of the players on the match day. The payment was made in the form of a cheque and being witty as usual, Taskin expressed his concerns in a very hilarious way. The Rajshahi captain hoped that the cheque provided to him by the franchise did not bounce like a ball bouncing on a wicket. 

"When I asked [the overseas players], they said they won't play without money. I just said it's their call. What can I say, I am also a player. We really felt bad playing without the foreign players. We requested the board to play with local players. They allowed it, and then winning the game gave us some respite. We were given the cheque today. We will place it today. One can hope [it goes through]. If the cheque bounces like this wicket, we are in trouble."

Taskin lauds the popularity of BPL this season despite his own team's struggles

Taskin believes that the current edition of the BPL has gained a lot of popularity and is processing seamlessly despite growing allegations of non-paid dues. Moreover, he has led his side valiantly despite a lot of internal struggles as they find themselves ranked third in the points table.

On the other hand, the Rajshai skipper Taskin Ahmed has been in a league of his own being the leading wicket-taker in this competition with 24 scalps to his name. While they are certainly in contention for a spot in the playoff berth, they will first need to put their off-field issues to rest.