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Sanjay Bangar, the former India allrounder, has retired from first-class cricket, bringing to an end a career that spanned over 20 seasons. He announced this decision when his team Railways failed to qualify for the quarter-finals after defeating Bengal in their final Group A match in Kolkata.”At the start of the season, I thought about giving it another shot. But having not qualified for the quarterfinals, that was it for me. Winning Ranji would have been ideal. We missed out narrowly on making it to the knockouts. But it has been a very satisfying season and a satisfying journey,” Bangar, who is the oldest player in the Ranji Trophy this season, told ESPNcricinfo from Kolkata.He shocked his Railways teammates by breaking the news after their victory against Bengal. “The decision was made today. After we came to know about the Saurashtra result, which meant that even a victory won’t be enough for us to progress, then I made up my mind,” Bangar said. “When I told the teammates, they were not ready for it. They were slightly taken aback but that’s fine.”Bangar played 12 Tests and 15 ODIs between 2001 and 2004. Besides playing a crucial role in securing Railways’ maiden Ranji title in 2001-02, and then repeating the feat in 2004-05, Bangar was instrumental in converting the team from also-rans to serious title contenders in the domestic circuit. The man from rural Maharashtra, who shifted base to Mumbai only to pursue his dream of playing cricket as a teenager, had, thus, no regrets looking back at his career.”Overall, it’s been a very satisfying journey. Played for the country, contributed to winning Test matches away from home. Winning five [domestic] championships for Railways. Making Railways a force to reckon with. I cannot ask for more. No regrets at all,” Bangar said. “It’s ended on a good note as well. Even though it was disappointing to have missed out narrowly on qualifying for the knockouts, it feels nice to have crossed the landmarks of 8,500 runs and 300 wickets [in first-class cricket].”Though it was “too early” for him to mull over his future, Bangar promised to be involved in the game. “I will surely be associated with cricket in some way or the way. Let’s see how it turns out.”

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has defended his decision to send a letter to the press — with perceived questionable comments on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) — but said that the fallout from the incident was not a distraction for his side ahead of the Boxing Day Test. SLC, in an official release, stated it will review the actions of Jayawardene and team manager Charith Senanayake, during the lead up to the Test in Melbourne.Jayawardene’s letter to the press, in which he said he had lost all confidence in dealing with SLC, had been prompted by a local newspaper’s reporting on a previous letter he had written to the board. He had believed the letter to be confidential, and the contents of which, if released, could potentially embarrass the support staff working with the Sri Lankan team. In his subsequent release to the press, Jayawardene expressed his disappointment with the board for having allowed his letter to be made public, which, in turn, was believed to be a breach of his contract for portraying the board in a negative light.”It’s not really a distraction,” Jayawardene said on the eve of the Test. “It’s not the first time something like this has happened and I’ve just taken it on board. I honestly don’t know what I’ve done in this scenario. The document was released by them, and I just asked the question, “How did that happen?” I think hopefully we can get that resolved pretty soon once they realise I haven’t done anything wrong. Right now my focus is on this tour and to try and give my best for the team. I don’t think most of the guys even know what’s going on.”Sri Lanka are waiting on the fitness of Nuwan Kulasekara, who has been struggling with a bruised rib, with Dhammika Prasad on standby to step into the pace attack. Kulasekara was hit by a delivery that leapt up off a crack on the fifth day in Hobart, and has not yet shaken off the soreness from the blow. He has been bowling in the nets, but will have his fitness determined on the morning of the Test.Opener Dimuth Karunaratne, meanwhile, is set for an extended run at the top of the order, despite having had an inauspicious start to the series in Hobart, scoring 14 and 30. Sri Lanka have a more experienced opener in Tharanga Paranavitana in the squad, but Jayawardene said the management had identified Karunaratne as a promising future prospect, and hope to give him opportunities free of the pressure of having to hold a place in the team. Karunaratne has played two Tests, and made a run-a-ball sixty against New Zealand last month. He was brought into the Test team after having had success in an A team tour to South Africa.”When we made the call on Dimuth, we wanted to make it a long-term decision. Whatever happens, he will at least get a good year in that slot. I think he’s shown a lot of promise as a Test opener. I think everyone’s very pleased with the way he’s been batting. It was unfortunate he got some good deliveries in the last Test. The way he bats gives us more opportunities. If he gets going, he’s a very aggressive batsman and he’ll score quickly for us. That will win Test matches, not just here, but in Sri Lankan conditions as well. That’s something we are looking for him to do. He’ll definitely get a longer run in the team.”Jayawardene also said a strong performance from the experienced top order would be Sri Lanka’s best chance of securing a maiden victory in Australia. Sri Lanka slipped to 87 for 4 in their first innings in Hobart in one of the defining periods of the Test, which enabled Australia to secure a first innings lead of 114. Sri Lanka’s top order had also failed to fire collectively in the two Tests preceding the tour, in a home series against New Zealand.”A good performance from the top order will give us an opportunity to put pressure on the Australians, and our best chance of winning a Test match here would be our batters putting runs on the board. The top order has been our strength over the last couple of years when four or five guys have been getting the job done. Yes, we’ve had a couple of hiccups in the last few Test matches – in the last series against New Zealand and the one in Hobart. That can happen. You can’t be consistent for that period of time. We’ve got the experience, and we’ve got the talent. We just need to produce the goods.”Jayawardene was also confident his team would not be affected by any crowd hostility stemming from the ball tampering controversy in Hobart. Sri Lanka’s management had alerted the match referee to footage they believed might have shown Peter Siddle picking the seam of the ball during their first innings, but had stopped short of making an official complaint. Siddle, a Victorian, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ICC after the conclusion of the match.”I think we’ve been through a lot of hostile things in the past. 1995 was one thing, and even after that. I don’t think it will faze our guys at all. If anything that might give us a little extra. What you have to remember is that there will be a good, partisan Sri Lankan crowd in Melbourne as well, so it might go against them (Australia) as well. A lot of the younger guys probably won’t even understand what the crowd is going to tell them. It’s not going to be a big issue.”

ScorecardDelhi needed two wins to give themselves a chance at squeezing into the Ranji knockouts. But at the Roshanara Club, they were far from a dominant position to force the win against Maharashtra. An unheralded bowling attack on a wicket that is made for accuracy and length had Delhi all out for 193 late into the second day. At stumps, Maharashtra were 3 for no loss.In theory, Delhi can still win the match, as two innings have been completed and two days of play remain. Maharashtra’s first innings lasted just over 55 overs, and Delhi’s more lauded batting survived all of 77. It was proof enough of Maharashtra’s control that the run-scoring was neither fluent nor easy.This is a match played in fast forward, and so far, it appears Maharashtra’s first innings may not mean much. They have the advantage, though, on two grounds.First, they know that should bad weather wipe out chunks of the remaining two days, they have done enough to be the team ahead. Overnight rain and a morning shower delayed play by two hours this morning, and at stumps only 54 overs could be bowled in the day.Secondly, at all costs, Delhi will have to win this match with the bat, chasing any half-reasonable target on a wicket that is made for bowlers with discipline and accuracy.One of them would be left-arm pace bowler Samad Fallah, who picked up 5-67 in the 29 overs he bowled in three long spells of eleven, ten and eight overs running through the Delhi innings. It is his tenth five-wicket haul in his 40th first-class match, and not the first time he has bowled at the Roshanara. He picked up five wickets in his first match here two years ago and so knew how to bowl on this wicket.When play resumed, Manhas and Rawal played for most part of an hour, before Manhas tried to force the issue, playing across the line to the parsimonious Fallah. He was the first wicket to fall in the day, but it was the departure of the other Delhi stalwart Rajat Bhatia that signalled the end of Delhi’s frontline batsmen. Fallah came around the wicket to Bhatia and nibbled at his glove as he went forward defending, and wicketkeeper Motwani took the catch. He said his team thought of him as the bowler of the big wickets, and remembered getting Suresh Raina out for a duck against UP. “I relish the challenge of bowling to the best batsmen in a team. The others that are not that good, they play and miss.”The latter half of the Delhi innings was wrapped up by Nikit Dhumal, a debutant for Maharashtra in this game. It was a performance that Fallah appreciated. “Nikit made his debut in the under-25s for Maharashtra this season. And when we saw him here, it wasn’t like he was making his debut at this level. He brought us back into this game.”Dhumal picked up the wickets of Delhi top scorer, Vaibhav Rawal, blocking off the midwicket, which produced a stylishly lofted flick that landed in the hands of Anupam Sankelcha at deep-backward square leg. He then removed Sumit Narwal and Pradeep Sangwan, bowlers who were capable of exuberant innings that could have shrunk the score. It would be possible to defend any sizeable target that Maharashtra can set Delhi. The reason said Fallah, with a smile, was “because they’re desperate.”

Ghaziabad’s Nehru Stadium could well be one of the most vociferous and hospitable crucibles of Indian domestic cricket. On the field, its team, Uttar Pradesh, though, doesn’t make a ruckus but gives no freebies either. Particularly not if they are Ranji Trophy points. At the end of the third day in their season opener against Delhi, UP are pushing for an outright victory over their much higher-rated and celebrated neighbours. Delhi were 197 for 4, just 29 runs ahead with Mithun Manhas on 63 and Sehwag on 21 when play ended due to fading light. One more wicket for UP, and it could be the deluge they are waiting for.By tea, Delhi had lost Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, both out in their forties, their team at 120-3. With Virender Sehwag not on the field for two sessions, Unmukt Chand had opened the innings with Gambhir but was caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar off the first ball he faced.Sehwag had injured the index finger of his right hand yesterday afternoon going for a catch at first slip. A medical check up at the hospital directly across the road had indicated neither fracture nor the requirement of stitches. There had been confidence in the Delhi camp that Sehwag will come out to bat ‘if required’ and at the tea break, Sehwag had been seen knocking outside the pavilion. He turned up 15 minutes into the final session with the dismissal of Punit Bisht and having batted for an hour, was not out on 21 with three boundaries.Delhi’s problems in the match though extend far beyond Sehwag’s injured finger. Far stronger on paper than their opponents, Delhi have failed to match UP’s energy on the field or with the bat. Or even display any of the ‘bouncebackability’ of a team which is chockfull of both batsmen and bowlers who in the respectful words of the spectators here, are called, “international players.”It was one of UP’s own ‘international’ players who seized the match by its collar and dragged it his team’s way. A rollicking unbeaten half-century from Praveen Kumar had the packed Sunday crowd on their feet, Praveen ensuring that the last two UP wickets put up 80 runs between them. UP had resumed the day at 292-6 and lost two wickets in less than ten overs. Their fightback began when their No. 10 walked in.Praveen and overnight batsman Suresh Raina both scored 51 runs; Raina’s was a cultured innings, but not his most authoritative as wickets fell around him. Praveen came perhaps two spots lower in the order than is fitting, but instantly got into the contest against the second new ball with Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra.He faced an appeal for leg before off his first ball against Nehra but hit him over mid-off for a four off the second. Delhi broke out into celebrations on the third, over an alleged caught behind that the umpire didn’t support. Praveen made swiping leg-side gestures behind his pads showing himself squared-up in front of stumps. In response he got hit on the fingers by Nehra and then had to deal with the barrage of short balls from Ishant at the other end.Praveen’s tussles with the Delhi bowling lit up the crowd that had grown to about 10,000 strong. Every time it was his turn to bat against one of the two big Delhi bowlers, the crowd began chanting his name, “Peekay aa gaya, Peekay aa gaya.” (PK’s come, PK’s come.)In the thick haze of an otherwise leaden Sunday morning, these were fireworks. The moment Ishant and Nehra finished their new-ball spells, Praveen chomped into the rest of the Delhi bowlers. Left arm spinner Vikas Mishra was hit for two gargantuan sixes: one that went over the sightscreen that with a bit more cloth could cover two storeys, the other over Ishant’s head at widish long on. Praveen was not out on 51 (57b, 5×4, 2×6) and his company had even the No. 11 Imtiaz Ahmed surviving 49 minutes.While Praveen’s cover driving is not a thing of beauty like Raina’s, on Sunday he became representative of the idea that four-day domestic cricket will always thrive if it contains at least a single element: entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.

Praveen Kumar, the India medium pacer, has revealed his frustration at being sidelined by the national selectors despite having recovered from injury. Praveen was also not picked in the Rest of India (ROI) squad for the first-class Irani Cup match, the curtain-raiser for the domestic season, which will be played from September 21 to 25 in Bangalore.”I was hoping to get a call for the New Zealand series but that didn’t happen. I was a bit disappointed not to find a place in the ROI side too,” Praveen told the . “At the moment I’m looking forward to the Challenger Trophy [the domestic one-day tournament featuring India’s best limited-overs players], as it will be the only competitive cricket for me.”Sometimes I sit and wonder about why I’m not there in the Indian side. It’s frustrating to be sidelined.”Praveen had had a fine 2011, picking up six wickets on Test debut against West Indies in Jamaica in June, and going on to take 27 from six matches at 25.81; he was one of the few positives for India on the dismal tour of England, with 15 wickets in three Tests. However, a chest injury kept him out of the Test series in Australia in December-January, and he wasn’t able to replicate his pre-injury form in the limited-overs series that followed: the Commonwealth Bank Series, the Asia Cup and the IPL.The chest injury was not the only one Praveen suffered last year: he had missed the World Cup with a tennis elbow, and didn’t play the final Test in the England series because of pain in his left ankle.”I had a good time in the West Indies and England, and then injuries halted my progress. Injury is in nobody’s hands,” Praveen said. “When I’m on the field, I always try to give 200%. And when you do that, you can get injured.”He will play for India B in the revamped Challenger Trophy, which begins on September 29 in Rajkot.

ScorecardEd Joyce enjoyed a successful first day in the job of Sussex’s Championship captain•Getty Images

Ed Joyce is too experienced a cricketer to imagine that all his days as captain of Sussex will be as pleasurable as this. For a start, he won the toss. Then he made the quite obvious decision to field, for the weather was overcast and the springy pitch likely to give assistance to anyone running down the slope. He could have plucked John Snow out of retirement and wickets would still have fallen.As it was, in two sessions following rain in the morning, Worcestershire were dismissed for 162. There was more bounce than movement for James Anyon and Steve Magoffin, although there was that, too, and, to the delight of everyone connected with Sussex, Mike Yardy held two excellent catches at second slip the day after relinquishing the captaincy. Evidently he is well relieved to be rid of a task that had become little more than a chore.No Worcestershire batsman coped with the steepling bounce that Anyon and Amjad Khan, in particular, were able to obtain after play started at 2.15pm. Magoffin, whether through his choice or that of his captain’s, bowled up the hill and soon struck: Phillip Hughes was held well, to his left, by Yardy. Then Vikram Solanki, Surrey-bound but still a prominent Worcestershire cricketer, was bowled through being a trifle late in his defensive push.Daryl Mitchell, with eight runs to his name in 21 overs but at least managing to stay in, edged Khan to the new captain at third slip, James Cameron’s off stump was knocked back by Anyon and Matt Pardoe was sharply held by Yardy, also off Anyon. Moeen Ali, the one batsman to make a reasonable score, pulled Magoffin straight to a fielder just in front of square. Only the No. 9, Richard Jones, played an innings of sorts after that.It was not the greatest display of batsmanship but an ideal start for Joyce in what was the first Championship match Sussex have staged at Hove since the end of May. This was a quicker pitch, too, than was generally the case here last year, no doubt prepared with Anyon’s sharpness in mind. Yardy undertook the captaincy for almost four years, giving it up with the blessing of Mark Robinson, the Sussex cricket manager.”It takes a lot of time and attention. Every day you are absorbed by it and live by it. The pressure takes its toll,” Robinson said. “Michael wants to concentrate on his own game.””You have different types of vice-captain. You may have a young person you are grooming for the future or someone who can step in when needed and that is what we have with Ed. It gives him an opportunity to expand his captaincy skills in the same way that Michael had when he took over from Chris Adams.”Robinson added that Yardy’s decision had nothing to do with his well-documented battle with depression.Joyce had to bat in the seven overs Sussex were left to face under the floodlights, which were turned on not long before the close, but his day was undimmed. There was no deployment of a nightwatchman. He and Chris Nash, with runs aplenty behind him in his last match, also had their difficulties against the moving ball, yet survived.

Shane Watson and Brett Lee are flying home early from Australia’s poor ODI tour of England and face cloudy futures beyond it after both were confirmed to have suffered calf strains during the series-deciding loss to England in Durham. Watson bowled only one over before leaving the field at Chester-le-Street and Lee soon joined him in the treatment room after two deliveries of his second spell.Following initial scans conducted on tour it has been decided to send the duo home in order to begin treatment of the injuries. Both are in doubt for Australia’s Twenty20 and ODI series against Pakistan in August. Watson’s calf problem is on his left leg, the opposite to that which suffered hamstring and calf problems that kept him out of the majority of the last Australian summer. Lee’s injury is a bad sign for a fast bowler who at 35 is already close to the conclusion of his international career.”They were both disappointed, obviously Shane has had a few injuries in his time, but he’s a hard worker, and works extremely hard on getting his body right, so he was fairly disappointed,” Mitchell Johnson said. “But I think he can still do an allrounder’s job, and that’s how he wants to play his cricket as well. I definitely think we need him in that role as well, for his experience.”Brett’s had a pretty good career through injuries, he hasn’t had too many majors ones, but it’s jsut a little one at the moment, and I’m sure he’ll be back pretty quickly.”The issue of Watson’s ability to cope with the all-round demands of his preferred role in the national team is a recurring one, and the coach Mickey Arthur has said he is unsure of the best way forward. Arthur pointed out that in addition to the injuries Watson has suffered, his batting and bowling best seldom coincide.”We want Watto as an all-rounder. He gives us immense value and great balance. We need to have Watto as an all-rounder in that team for the balance of the side,” Arthur said following the Durham defeat. “It seems that he bats well for a period of time then he doesn’t bowl well. And if he bowls well [he doesn’t bat well]. We have got to get it right as Watto is a great cricketer. He will get it right, we just need to sit down and plot a way forward and think how we are going to use him better.”The injuries to Watson and Lee have meant an early call-up to Australian duty for the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who joined the squad in Manchester late on Sunday night after taking 2 for 27 to help Yorkshire qualify for the domestic Friends Life t20 quarter-finals. Starc was chosen for the Australia A tour that follows the final ODI at Old Trafford, and has won the approval of the national selector John Inverarity.”Starc, his figures over here, I’ve been watching closely and he’s been taking wickets consistently, and a very high proportion of his wickets are bowled and lbw,” Inverarity said. “I think he looks in really good shape. He’s 22 and his body is slightly gangly – I reckon it’ll be a year or 18 months; he’s going to keep improving, and he’s a good bowler.”

Richard Levi, the South Africa opening batsman who jointly holds the record for the highest score in Twenty20 internationals, has signed with Somerset for the Friends Life T20. Levi replaces countryman Faf du Plessis, who was not permitted to travel to Somerset by CSA because of national commitments.”We are delighted to have him on board,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket said. “With Marcus Trescothick likely to miss the start of our T20 campaign, I wanted to sign a power hitter for the top of our batting order. Richard certainly fits the bill and is capable of making Taunton look a very small ground.”It was frustrating to miss out on du Plessis, particularly after what happened with Chris Gayle. But I am more than happy to have secured Richard’s services and we will keep fingers crossed that nothing happens to prevent him joining us.”Somerset have suffered major setbacks in their bid to secure a second overseas player for the Flt20. Chris Gayle pulled out of their campaign after opting to play for West Indies in the upcoming ODI series against England before du Plessis was forced to cancel his arrangement because CSA require him to play in a series between South Africa A and Sri Lanka A and an unofficial T20 tri-series with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh – a series that Levi and Albie Morkel, who has also agreed to play for Somserset, could still be required for.That series is scheduled from June 18 to 24. If they are required, the pair will be able to play in Somerset’s first two matches on June 13 and 14, before joining up with the South Africa national squad for their week in Harare. They would then return to Somerset to play the remaining five fixtures and be available for a potential quarter-final and finals day.Although Levi and Morkel are not CSA contracted players, unlike du Plessis, both are part of the national squad’s limited-overs plans and had to receive clearance from CSA before committing to Somerset. “Team management and the coaching staff had a discussion about it and we decided it’s about giving both opportunity and experience in this format,” Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa team manager, said.Levi, in particular, has found a niche in the twenty-over game. He smashed an unbeaten 117 in his second T20 match for South Africa against New Zealand in Wellington in February, breaking Chris Gayle’s record and hitting the most sixes in a T20 innings with 13. The 45-ball century was also a world record.The knock earned him a contact with the Mumbai Indians for the IPL season, after initially going unsold, and he immediately impressed with a half-century on debut for them. Since then, Levi has struggled, particularly against the pace and swing of Dale Steyn. He has played in six matches and totalled 83 runs and could use more time in the middle in preparation for the World T20 later this year.Somerset are set to provide that, extending their long association with South African players. Graeme Smith captained them to victory in the Twenty20 Cup in 2005 and they have recently enjoyed the services of seamer Vernon Philander in the County Championship.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ben Hilfenhaus’ economical spell gave Chennai Super Kings the early advantage•AFP

You can’t rule out Chennai Super Kings. They are no strangers to wriggling out of a difficult situation, and they did it again in Jaipur, when it seemed their playoff prospects were in peril. The teams, at a crucial juncture in the season, could ill-afford a slip-up, and Super Kings huffed and puffed in a low-scoring chase but made it thanks to a late onslaught from Albie Morkel and S Anirudha. They completely altered the flow of a game heading for a close finish and, with 13 points in the bag, Super Kings broke into the top four.Royals were favourites when they had Super Kings at 84 for 6 in the 17th over, the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja, caught in the deep, prompting a roar of relief from a usually calm Rahul Dravid. But Super Kings were always in the game with Morkel around, and Anirudha matched him shot for shot as the Royals bowlers buckled under pressure. That surge, which produced 43 off 13 balls, left the home crowd deflated and Royals stunned by the sudden transformation it wrought.As has often been the case this IPL, the seamers erred at the death, with attempts at bowling yorkers failing miserably to end up as length deliveries. With 41 needed off 21, Morkel launched Pankaj Singh just over the long-off boundary, a mistimed hit carrying all the way. A top-edged four and a single later, the equation was down to 30 required off three overs.Not even the experienced Shane Watson could maintain Royals’ hold. A length ball was smashed over long-on, and Anirudha, having a go himself instead of giving his senior partner the strike, pulled over the midwicket fence before steering a full toss past point for a boundary. Shaun Tait was brought back with 12 needed off 12, but another pitched up delivery was swung towards cow corner. Tait then bowled Anirudha with a perfect yorker, only to find out he’d overstepped, just marginally, before doling out five wides down the leg side to hasten the finish.Morkel and Anirudha undid an impressive performance from the Royals bowlers for the bulk of the innings; they had given the hosts hope of defending their lowest score this season. Suresh Raina had looked threatening, finding boundaries with effortless ease but his attempt to go over extra cover failed against Pankaj. Michael Hussey and Dwayne Bravo tried to consolidate but the ball was not coming on well enough on a slow track, and the Royals bowlers, especially Siddharth Trivedi, kept the pressure on with their accuracy. Bravo holed out, Hussey was run out, MS Dhoni slashed one to point and Jadeja soon followed. That was until Morkel and Anirudha got together.Royals’ below-par score owed partly to the frustration of having their innings interrupted three times by rain, but largely to some disciplined bowling by the Super Kings seamers, especially Ben Hilfenhaus, that kept the batsmen in check. Hilfenhaus beat the bat often, getting the ball to nip away past the outside edge, and maintained a tight line in the channel outside off. His victims were Dravid and Watson, both caught while trying to accelerate during a troubling spell; Watson was brilliantly taken by R Ashwin, diving forward at third man.While Hilfenhaus finished with figures of 2 for 8 in four overs, Yo Mahesh backed him up with the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny, out after a brief counterattack. Though Brad Hodge targeted the spinners for a couple of boundaries, and an erratic Bravo was taken for runs, the good work done at the start of the game by Super Kings’ bowlers was to serve their middle order well in the end.

Bangladesh Premier League franchise owners have set a deadline of May 9 and May 31 for the clearance of payments for international and local cricketers respectively. The dates were decided in a meeting initiated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board between BCB president Mustafa Kamal and the franchise owners on Monday after the issue of delay in payments was raised in newspapers in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the UK.Even before the BPL started, the franchises had said that due to bank transfers being the payment mode, they would need the permission of the concerned authorities in the government. The breakdown of the payments – amount paid in advance and the amount paid after the tournament – was never made public.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who also led Duronto Rajshahi in the BPL, was the first and only cricketer to raise the flag that payments to the local and overseas players haven’t been made properly. Julien Fountain, Pakistan and Dhaka Gladiators fielding coach, had tweeted about the payment issue as well. ESPNcricinfo found out that several local players were unhappy with payment issues but declined to comment or be quoted when contacted.The transfer of foreign currency from Bangladesh to other countries is considerably difficult as the Bangladesh Bank sets a limit. Franchises have often cited this as a problem to make payments to players’ bank accounts, especially because the tournament was set-up and staged within a few weeks. Several of these issues were apparently not addressed ahead of the February 10 opening game.Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has said that the April 30 deadline for the BPL franchises to pay taxes will not be extended. Kanon Kumar Roy, director general of Directorate of Inspection (Taxes), Dhaka told yesterday, “We will take drastic action to realise taxes. We will set our next course of action in a meeting which will take place within this week. Many of them requested us to extend the date for paying the dues, but we are not considering their appeals.”According to NBR officials, the tax authorities received one crore (10 million) taka from the BPL parties – which includes six franchises, event management firm Game On Sports, players’ salaries and the BPL governing council – while a tax payment of 20 crore (200 million) taka was projected. NBR had formed a team headed by Roy to monitor all financial transactions in a bid to ensure that all taxes are going to the state coffers.