Bangladeshi cricket officials on Thursday lifted a ban on former Australian captain Steve Smith playing in the forthcoming Twenty20 Bangladesh Premier League, an official said.
He has signed for the side and is expected to join up with teammates in mid-January for the second phase of the BPL as a replacement for Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had initially blocked his participation after other franchises raised objections about Smith, who was not in the initial players’ draft list for the tournament.
“We could not give him permission earlier as other franchises had protested his signing,” BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said on Thursday. “Today four franchises emailed us separately saying that they have withdrawn their objections for the greater interest of the tournament,” he said.
Yunus added that in return other franchises wanted at least one replacement player outside of the players’ draft and the BCB had agreed to their demand.
