Former Australian captain Steven Smith might be barred from playing in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Smith was recruited by the Comilla Victorians in late November as a replacement for Sri Lanka’s Asela Gunaratne. But replacement players are supposed to be selected from players who were in the original draft – Smith was not.

BPL technical committee chairman Jalal Yunus has requested the Bangladesh Cricket Board decide whether Smith is eligible.

‘We had allowed Comilla to sign Steven Smith for the greater interest of the BPL. The bylaws said that a replacement player has to come from the players who were in the draft, and after we allowed Comilla, the other franchises objected,’ said Yunus.

‘Which is why we held the meeting today, but since we couldn’t come to a conclusion, I have now referred it to the BCB.’

Smith is currently serving a ban from international cricket after his involvement in the ball-tampering saga that rocked Australia’s Test tour of South Africa earlier this year.

The ban, however, does not prevent him from competing in domestic Twenty20 tournaments around the world.

He recently represented the Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada and Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League.

South African batsman AB de Villiers, too, will playing in the BPL. He has signed for the Rangpur Riders.

De Villiers will be joined by countryman Christiaan Jonker and Robbie Frylinck in the BPL. Jonker and Frylinck will play for the Rajshahi Kings and Chittagong Vikings respectively.

Photo: Getty