BPL's short boundary lines in discussion

According to the rules, the franchises did not pay the cricketers 50 percent of their money before the game. This has been a topic of criticism from the beginning of the Bangladesh Premier League. At the beginning of the tournament, there was unrest over selling tickets which has not been seen in the past. However, field performances were enough to keep the discussions aside.

The batters have shown the best performance on the Mirpur wicket in the history of the BPL at the beginning. The teams have made big scores by hitting four-sixes. They have also been seen chasing around two hundred runs easily. The first phase of the Dhaka phase of the BPL at the Mirpur ground has surpassed all records in the run festival.

The Sylhet International Cricket Stadium has also been added another complement to this. The matches were showered by four-sixes there. A mammoth score can be seen on the first day of the Sylhet phase. The big reason behind the high number of runs in the BPL this time is the short boundary lines. The boundaries of the BPL field have been reduced to increase the number of fours sixes and runs. Now this reduced short boundary line has become the topic of discussion.

According to the Playing Conditions Guidelines of the ICC, the world cricket governing body, the maximum length of the boundary from the center pitch in men's T20 cricket will be 90 yards. That is 82.29 meters. And the minimum will be 65 yards (59.43 meters); but in the BPL, the maximum length of the boundary on the Sylhet field is 70 yards (64.09 meters), and the minimum is 64 yards (58.52 meters). Although there is considerable doubt about how accurate the measurement is. In the meantime, Fortune Barisal captain Tamim Iqbal has become critical regarding the short boundary lines in Sylhet.

The veteran batsman, who has been playing cricket for more than two decades, told reporters in Sylhet: "The way the field has been prepared is good. What I want to see is a larger boundary line. When there is space, I don't know why we are playing with 58-60-yard boundaries. In international cricket, 65-70-yard boundaries are seen. Then there is some opportunity for bowlers."

The wicket in Sylhet is batting-friendly; but due to the small boundary lines, a record number of sixes were hit in the first match of the Sylhet phase of the BPL. A total of 31 sixes were hit in the match between Sylhet Strikers and Rangpur Riders. This is a BPL record. Rangpur won that match easily, chasing Sylhet by 205 runs. However, there is no instruction from the BPL Governing Council to shorten the boundary, said BCB Director Nazmul Abedin Fahim, who is also the member secretary of the BPL Governing Council.

The official also said: "We have no instruction in this regard. The boundaries have been set as per international standards. 65 yards is internationally acceptable there. Even then, we will check the boundaries."

Those who have been given the responsibility of preparing the field also say that the boundaries have been kept as per international standards. In cases of small cricket grounds, the boundary lines are short due to lack of space. These are the exceptions. However, it is natural to raise questions if the boundaries are short despite having enough space.