Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, representing Dhaka Dynamites, will be the highest paid local player in this year's Bangladesh Premier League. He is among seven players in the A-plus category, which includes top Bangladesh cricketers.
Shakib is set to receive at least Tk 55 lakh (approx. $68,750), the cap set for his payment. Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe Mortaza and Mahmudullah will get at least Tk 50 lakh each from Barisal Bulls, Chittagong Vikings, Comilla Victorians and Khulna Titans respectively. Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar are also among the A-category players but will get Tk 40 lakh each from Rajshahi.
According to the BPL governing council's secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, these players had made an official request to the board to choose their teams and have their salary cap raised to match the BPL foreign players' cap.
"These senior players had a prayer to us, to match what foreign players will get in this tournament," Mallick said. "In other franchise-based domestic tournaments, foreign players get the same amount as local players.
"They also asked to choose their own team, which they said would enable to earn a little more money than the cap given by the BPL governing council. The board however won't take responsibility of the extra payment that they get from the franchise. They will only be responsible for the amount that we have put as cap."
Mallick said that Shakib's higher payment than the other six in the same category is because of his experience having played in various T20 leagues around the world. He added that the BPL governing council had to keep seven players in the same category to distribute them evenly between the teams.
"The pricing is merit-based. Shakib is the only Bangladeshi player who plays in the franchise-based T20 leagues around the world. His pricing has to be higher than the others. We have decided after discussing with the selectors. Shakib and Soumya Sarkar won't get the same rate. Shakib and the rest of the senior players have little difference between them in terms of the money," Mallick said.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on November 4.