Sameen Rana, co-owner and chief operating officer of Lahore Qalandars, has expressed interest in becoming involved in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) if a business opportunity arises in the future.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) postponed the upcoming edition of the BPL as it looks to address financial irregularities. BCB president Tamim Iqbal has also indicated on several occasions that the board is open to foreign franchises joining the competition, provided they meet the required protocols.
Rana was seen spending considerable time with Tamim at the Sheikh Abu Jayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi during Bangladesh’s tri-series opener against Zimbabwe on Saturday. Speaking to the media during the lunch break, he expressed his desire to be part of the BPL.
“If there’s an opportunity, I would love to be part of the BPL,” Rana told reporters. Obviously, Bangladesh is very close to my heart. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to be involved in Bangladesh cricket in some capacity. It really depends on what kind of opportunity comes along,” he said.
“The BPL is a wonderful tournament. I know it’s been struggling for some time, and I know there are reasons behind that. But I think, with the kind of passion we have for cricket in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the league really shouldn’t be struggling,” he said.
“And if an opportunity arises where we can create a win-win situation, I would absolutely love to be part of the BPL,” he added.
Rana, who has been involved in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for 11 years and has experience with other franchise competitions, said he had exchanged ideas with Tamim on franchise cricket and hoped his experience could be useful to the BCB president.
“Some of the discussions I had with Tamim bhai were about sharing experiences. Obviously, I’ve been part of the PSL for 11 years. I’ve also been involved with the Global League in South Africa. We were part of that group. I’ve been involved in T10 cricket multiple times, and I’ve been interacting with Cricket Canada for quite some time. So, over the years, we’ve built a lot of knowledge, experience, and understanding. We were sharing some thoughts about how things could be improved,” he said.
Rana also expressed interest in establishing a player exchange programme with the BCB, which would allow Bangladeshi cricketers to train in Pakistan and benefit from Lahore Qalandars’ high-performance setup.
He said he would welcome players from Bangladesh as part of efforts to help emerging cricketers develop, citing similar initiatives with other cricketing nations.
“Inshallah, I would love to come to Bangladesh. Hopefully, we’ll find an opportunity through the BPL. And if not, I would love to establish an exchange programme with the Bangladesh Cricket Board.”
“We’ve recently signed an agreement with Guyana, with their Ministry of Youth and Culture, and they’ll be sending their players. We also had eight players from Zimbabwe spending six weeks at the High Performance Centre in Islamabad.
“So, I would love to see players from Bangladesh coming to Pakistan, if they’re interested, so that we can learn from each other. That’s my plan,” he concluded.
Lahore Qalandars enjoy a following in Bangladesh, with several Bangladeshi cricketers, including Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman having represented the franchise in the PSL.
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