Bangladesh Premier League inaugurated, marred by chaos

Mirpur: The third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) was inaugurated with a stage show featuring famous artists but was stained with disorder.

Bangladeshi Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith inaugurated the tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Friday as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan delivered the welcome speech, reports bdnews24.com.

After the inauguration, the captains of the six BPL teams were called to the stage. Soumya Sarkar came in place of Shakib Al Hasan as the Rangpur Riders skipper was not present.

The programme started with dancer Sadia Islam Mou's performance at 5.30 p.m., about 90 minutes behind schedule. Then Ayub Bachchu's band LRB performed some popular numbers which were followed by the exhibition of video clips of the past two BPL tournaments.

Band Chirkut's performance was followed by a highly applauded series of songs by singer Momtaz.

After the inauguration by Muhith, Indian singer Kay Kay started his performance. Then came Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan and Jacqueline Fernandez with their glamour show.

The fireworks during the gaps between performances were not a consolation for a good part of the audience that faced harassment while entering the stadium. Most could not enter through the gate mentioned in their tickets.

A lack of coordination of security made visitors run from one gate to another. Hundreds were still waiting outside at 7 p.m. as only Gate No.2 was open.

Security personnel severely beat up some visitors who tried to enter the stadium in a rush around 7.30 p.m. Neither security personnel nor police agreed to comment on the matter.

Holding 10,000 taka (approximately Rs.8,500) tickets in their hands, the people were shouting themselves hoarse but nobody cared to listen.

The six-city based tournament will be held from November 22 to December 15.