XtraTime Web Desk: Another blow for banned former Australian captain Steve Smith as the Bangladesh’s Cricket Board on Thursday confirmed that it has barred the fiery batsman from the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 tournament after a few franchises wasn’t happy with his inclusion in the league.
Smith who is currently banned for a year by Australian Cricket Board signed a contract with Comilla Victorians to take part in next edition of BPL which is set to begin from January 5.
He was expected to join the team in mid-January for the second phase of the BPL as a replacement for Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
“The rule of the tournament is that if a franchise takes a replacement, his name should be in the list of initial players’ draft. But Smith’s name was not there, “ said Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
“Some franchises raised objection about it. So we have to bar him from playing the BPL,” he said.
Australia’s ex-vice captain David Warner will however play in the BPL — which concludes on February 8, 2019 — having signed for the Sylhet Sixers as one of their two pre-draft signings.
Smith and Warner were handed a year-long international bans for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket in March.
The BPL was expected to be Smith’s third T20 league outing — after Canada’s Global T20 and the Caribbean Premier League — since the ban was imposed.
He also recently signed for the Pakistan Super League, which will be played in February and March.
The BPL, which started in 2011, was hit by allegations of match-fixing in its early years.
After a suspension, the tournament resumed in 2015 and has since been staged without serious controversy.