Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan on Sunday said there will be no Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) this year due to the circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He, however, also said that the Dhaka Premier Division League (DPDCL) might take place if the ongoing BCB President’s Cup and a proposed T20 league go well abiding by the Covid-19 health protocol.

“Everything is depending on the situation we are going through. There will be no BPL this year because BPL requires the inclusion of the foreign cricketers which is tough now due to the Covid-19 situation. At the same time, we need to ensure a better production system. If we can manage these, there will be no problem (to host BPL), but the things are bigger here. So we have no BPL in our sight,” Nazmul told the media.

“I think hosting an event like BPL will not be easy for us in Bangladesh. We know that most of the franchisees have to tackle many problems to run a team of BPL. And the bio-secure bubble which has been put in place in England and UAE (for IPL) is not possible in Bangladesh. I think it’s not possible for our franchisees to spend that much money to secure a high-quality bio-secure bubble for the teams,” Nazmul added.

Before the ongoing BCB President’s Cup, the last competitive game in Bangladesh took place back in March this year. It means there was no game of cricket in the country for more than six months. This year’s DPDCL has been postponed in March indefinitely. However, BCB president says they might go ahead with the plan of continuing the DPDCL this year.

“We have discussed the possibility to host the DPDCL this year. Most of us agreed that it’s possible. But we have to keep everything in mind. We have to make a detailed plan so that we can think about the possible problems and solutions. The biggest challenge is to put a big bio-secure bubble and keep the players and the team management in a secure environment, which we will do for the proposed T20 league. Our clubs are unable to accommodate their team in an expensive hotel. So we have discussed BKSP as the possible venue, where all the team can stay and play in three different fields. You will come to know within a few days what we are thinking about DPDC,” Nazmul further told the media.

Earlier, many cricketers, who are highly dependent on their income from the domestic leagues, requested BCB to host domestic events so that they can earn and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Along with them, Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) also urged BCB to come up with a way to host the domestic events.

Najmul Hossain Shanto-led team made a flying start in the BCB President’s Cup winning the opening game by four wickets against Mahmudullah Riyad-led Mahmullah XI on Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Rafael Nadal has matched Roger Federer with his 20th Grand Slam singles title.

Nadal’s 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic in the French Open final was also Nadal’s 100th career match win at Roland Garros. The Spaniard improved to 100-2 at the tournament.

Nadal didn’t drop a set in this year’s tournament. He served an ace on his first championship point.

It was Djokovic’s second loss this year. His only other defeat in 2020 came when he was defaulted from the US Open last month for inadvertently hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball he smacked in anger during a fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. Djokovic remained with 17 Grand Slam titles.

Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win a record-extending 13th French Open and match Roger Federer with his 20th Grand Slam title. The top-ranked Djokovic remained with 17 Grand Slam titles, reports AP.

Rafael Nadal leads Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2 in the French Open final and is one set away from a record-extending 13th title at Roland Garros. Djokovic saved three break points before holding his serve in the opening game of the second set to finally get on the board.

Nadal then broke twice for a 4-1 lead in the second and held from there. Nadal has not dropped a set in the tournament. Rafael Nadal won the first 6-0 against Novak Djokovic in the French Open final. Nadal has not lost a set at Roland Garros this year. He is seeking a record-extending 13th trophy at Roland Garros.

Nadal saved three break points at 3-0 and served an ace on his first set point. He also won the first set 6-0 against Djokovic en route to last year’s Italian Open title.

The French Open final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with the retractable roof closed on Court Philippe Chatrier began shortly after rain.

It was the 56th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic.

Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic have defended their French Open title in women’s doubles. The Hungarian-French pairing, seeded second, beat the 14th-seeded team of Alexa Guarachi, from Chile, and American Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 7-5.

It is Babos and Mladenovic’s fourth Grand Slam doubles title together. As well as winning at Roland Garros last year, they have also won twice at the Australian Open, in 2018 and 2020.

As well as four titles won with Babos, Mladenovic also won in the doubles at Roland Garros in 2016 with French countrywoman Caroline Garcia.

Roland Garros organizers say they’ve not made a profit from this year’s pandemic-hit edition of the French Open that was pushed back from spring to autumn, deprived of 97% of its ticket sales and most of its spectators and is wrapping Sunday with the men’s final of Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal.

As for next year, organizers are still planning to restore the Grand Slam clay-court tournament to its usual May-June slot but admit they have no visibility on whether the pandemic will allow that to happen.

“We have no crystal ball,” said Bernard Giudicelli, the French tennis federation president. “We are advancing into the unknown.”

Organizers said that staging this year’s September-October edition in the midst of the pandemic, with only 1,000 spectators allowed per day and just 3% of the usual amount of tickets sold, caused a hit of 80 million to 100 million euros ($95 million to $118 million) to the tournament’s revenues and left it earning about what it cost to hold.

“We’re not making a (profit) margin,” said Jean-François Vilotte, the French federation’s director general.

Giudicelli insisted that holding the tournament in such conditions was still a “winning” choice and that it would have been “unthinkable” for 2020 to have passed without a French Open.

“To be a Grand Slam is to be a pillar of the game,” he said. “The pillar held.”

Also read: Just 19, ranked 54th, Swiatek wins French Open for 1st Slam

In the opening game of the BCB President’s Cup on Sunday, Mahmudullah XI tumbled for 196 for 10 in 47.2 overs despite a fighting 51 from the captain Mahmudullah Riyad at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, the captain of Najmul XI, won the toss and sent Mahmudullah XI to bat first. But the openers of Mahmudullah XI— Liton Das and Naim Sheikh— proved that the wicket was too good for them.

Naim Sheikh fell prey to run-out by the legspinner Rishad Hossain’s extraordinary through scoring 9 runs off 11 balls with a four while Liton Das also failed to cope up with the wicket as he fell for 11 off 12 with two fours. Liton was haunted by Taskin Ahmed who had been impressed with the ball during the practice days.

Mominul Haque, who came to bat at number three, failed to anything on the board as he fell prey to Al Amin Hossain for a duck.

Losing some early wickets made the job tough for Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah. The onus was on them to rescue the team from the cliff edge. They posted 73 runs in the fourth wicket stand.

Imrul contributed 40 runs off 50 balls with three fours and one six while Mahmudullah hit the only 50-plus score for his team. Eventually, Mahmudullah XI posted 196 runs in 47.2 overs. Beside Imrul and Mahmdullah, Sabbir Rahman (22), Nurul Hasan Shohan (14), Abu Hider Rony (14) and Rakibul Hasan (15) contributed well with the bat.

For Najmul XI, Taskin Ahmed, Al Amin Hossain and Mokidul Islam bagged two wickets each. Naeem Hasan took one wicket.

With this event, competitive cricket made a comeback to the field in Bangladesh. Before this, the last competitive game in Bangladesh was in March this year. The deadly outbreak of Covid-19 forced a stop to all the cricketing activities for more than six months.

Brief score: Mahmudullah XI 196/10 in 47.2 overs, Mahmudullah 51, Imrul 40, Sabbir 22, Rakibul 15, Abu Hider 14, Nurul Hasan 14; Taskin 2/37, Al Amin 2/40, Mukidul 2/44.