The 2012 Bangladesh Premier League, also known as Destiny-Boishakhi BPL 2012 (for sponsorship reasons), was the inaugural season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) established by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The competition featured six franchises and used a tournament format with a double round robin group stage followed by two semi-finals and a final. The season began on 9 February with the final played on 29 February. The competition was won by Dhaka Gladiators.
Opening ceremony
The President of Bangladesh Zillur Rahman launched the tournament during an opening ceremony held at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 9 February 2012. The ceremony featured dancers, actors and singers and ended with fireworks and a laser lighting display.
Venues
A total of 33 matches, including the semi-finals and final, were held at two venues in Chittagong and Dhaka. The Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium in Chittagong hosted eight matches, with the majority of matches, including all playoff matches and the final, being held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Sponsors
Bangladeshi group Destiny and the Boishakhi TV channel were the title sponsors of the tournament, paying Tk. 7.50 crore to earn that right. Other sponsors included the Bangladesh Tourism Board, United Airways and Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. Channel 9 was the main broadcaster for the tournament.[citation needed] The management partner was Game On, an Indian sports company, which organised the logistics of the tournament.
Match fixing
BPL 2012 had its first brush with controversy before the tournament began. Mashrafe Mortaza, captain of the Dhaka Gladiators, informed his team management of a potential spot-fixing approach by another player. Gladiators media manager Minhaz Uddin Khan said the franchise informed the BPL of the approach, and an ICC ACSU officer arrived in Dhaka to investigate the matter.
Overdue payments
The league had agreed to pay the players in three instalments through the tournament: 25% at the outset, 50% during, and the remainder at the end. A series of financial irregularities arose which left many of the overseas players out of pocket after the tournament ended. Some had received only the first 25%. Most eventually were eventually paid in full, except players from Pakistan who were still awaiting theirs in April 2012.
Semi final confusion
The first semi-final of the BPL had the team that finished first in the league playing the team that finished fourth. Duronto Rajshahi finished first, with 14 points, but until 2.00 am on the morning of the semi-final, it wasn't clear who was being placed fourth, a cause of great confusion.
Initially, it was announced that Barisal Burners were through to the semis, after their victory against Chittagong Kings, on the basis of net run-rate. At that point, the other two spots were going to be contested between Chittagong, Khulna Royal Bengals, and Dhaka Gladiators. The next day, after Dhaka lost narrowly to Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet Royals, Khulna moved into second place with 12 points, leaving Dhaka, Barisal, and Chittagong tied on 10 points at the end of the league phase. In the head-to-head results between the three teams, Dhaka had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once. They also had a superior net-run rate and this qualified them for the semi-finals in third place. That left Chittagong and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot.
It was initially announced that Chittagong had qualified for the semi-finals ahead of Barisal, apparently on the basis of a better head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which included Dhaka. At 2.45 am on the day of semi-final, however, the BPL issued a release announcing Barisal as the fourth semi-finalist because of their better head-to-head record with Chittagong alone. The BPL stated that the turnaround was necessary for due compliance with tie-break conditions in the tournament rules and regulations.
Reporter Mohammad Isam pointed out that the upshot of the unnecessary confusion was to grant Rajshahi ample time in which to prepare mentally for the semi-final, while their opponents were "left in limbo until the wee hours of the morning".
Player auction
Players were assigned to franchises at a player auction, held in Dhaka on 19 January 2012. Each franchise was allowed to sign 18 players, including up to eight non-Bangladeshi players. A maximum of five overseas players could have been played in each matches.[citation needed]
Format
Each franchise played ten matches in the group stage of the competition, playing twice against every other team. The top four teams qualified for the semi-final stage.[citation needed]
The tournament rules stated that if a match ended with the scores tied that a super over would be used to decide the match. If more than one team ended the group stage of the competition on the same number of points the regulations said that the teams would be ranked using the criteria:
Group stage
During the group stage of the tournament Duronto Rajshahi won seven of their ten matches and finished top of the league table with Khulna Royal Bengals, who won six matches, finishing second. Three teams, Barisal Burners, Chittagong Kings and Dhaka Gladiators, all finished with five wins and ten points. The tournament regulations stated that if teams finished level on points and had each won the same number of matches, that net run rate would be used to decide the rankings for teams. After some confusion, Dhaka Gladiators were placed third in the group stage followed by Barisal Burners, with Chittagoing Kings eliminated from the competition.
Note: The top four teams advanced to the semi-finals.
Group stage fixtures
Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to field.
Chittagong Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to bat.
Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to bat.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to bat.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to field.
Chittagong Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
Duronto Rajshahi won the toss and elected to bat.
Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to field.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to bat.
Chittagong Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to field.
Duronto Rajshahi won the toss and elected to bat.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to bat.
Chittagong Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to bat.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to field. , Attendance: 21,240
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
Chittagong Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Khulna Royal Bengals won the toss and elected to bat.
Barisal Burners won the toss and chose to field.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
Sylhet Royals won the toss and elected to field.
Knockout stage
The organisers of the tournament caused some controversy after the broadcasters awarded the final semifinal spot on air to the Barisal Burners based on their superior net run rate over the Chittagong Kings, both of which were tied on the same number of points with only one of the two to progress to the next round. The following day (27 February 2011) officials from the Bangladesh Premier League confirmed that Chittagong Kings would progress to the next round, in place of the Burners, due to a better head-to-head record. Later that day the officials retracted their initial decision and replaced the Kings with the Burners as the 4th placed team based on their superior net run rate.
Semi-finals
Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to field.
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.
Final
Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
