Cricket Imports Set to Get Tax Relief

Bangla Press Desk:  As the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) activities continue to expand, so does its demand for cricket balls imported from abroad. The BCB imported 19,870 balls during the 2024-25 cricket season, while the number will rise to 20,123 in the 2026-27 season.

According to the requirements submitted by Cricket Operations, Women’s Wing, High Performance, Game Development, Age-Group Development, Tournament Committee and Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM), the BCB’s Tender and Purchase Committee will import cricket balls from the world’s leading brands.The decision was approved at a meeting of the BCB Board of Directors on 29 July.

Game Development and the Age-Group Development Committee have placed the highest demand for balls. They will require around 7,000 balls this season to conduct age-group cricket, school cricket, coaches’ courses and other activities.

Of those, school cricket alone will require around 2,300 balls.

CCDM needs around 2,500 balls to conduct five tiers of club cricket, while approximately 700 balls will be required for the extensive women’s cricket programme.

In addition, the Tournament Committee has sought around 2,000 balls to organise nine tournaments.

Continuing the practice of previous years, the relevant committees have again requested balls from the renowned Australian brand Kookaburra for international matches at home, as well as for the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL), National Cricket League (NCL), and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

According to the requirements, the BCB will have to import 5,376 Kookaburra balls alone.

The remaining balls will include those from Indian brands SG and SF, as well as Pakistan’s CA. The Daily Sun learned the details after speaking to several people associated with the BCB’s cricket activities.

The BCB will have to spend A$140 to import each Kookaburra cricket ball, equivalent to around Tk12,212.

The cheapest, the CA Super Test ball, costs US$8.50 apiece, equivalent to around Tk1,046.

The BCB will not import Dukes balls this time as they are not used anywhere outside England. Each Dukes ball costs US$85, equivalent to around Tk10,460.

In the current financial year, the BCB will spend Tk7,83,35,031, including customs duty, insurance, and freight-forwarding charges, to import men’s and women’s match balls, as well as hard and soft balls for bowling machines, from Australia, India, and Pakistan.

The cost will be reduced to some extent after the Tournament Committee moved away from its decision to use expensive England-made Dukes balls in the National Cricket League (NCL), the country’s first-class cricket competition.

As customs duty is mandatory on cricket balls imported from abroad, the BCB has to pay a substantial amount to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in this sector every year.

For the 2026-27 financial year, the BCB will have to spend Tk2,43,72,941 on customs duty, insurance and freight-forwarding charges for imported cricket balls.

The BCB’s Tender and Purchase Committee estimates that this amount will have to be spent against the purchase of balls based on calculations for the 2025-26 financial year.

Questions have also been raised over why the BCB should have to pay customs duty on match balls imported for domestic and international cricket staged in the country.

The issue was discussed at the BCB’s latest meeting. The board has decided to apply to the Ministry of Finance (Bangladesh) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR), through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, seeking a waiver of taxes imposed on cricket equipment imported from abroad.

BCB Tournament Committee chairman Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir told Daily Sun: “The BCB is part of the government. To expand cricket, Bangladesh’s popular sport, the BCB has to import a large number of balls from abroad.

“It is not right to impose VAT and tax on cricket equipment imported directly by the BCB. Every year, the BCB has to pay crores of taka in taxes in this sector.

“That is why the matter was discussed at the BCB meeting. We will write to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the NBR seeking a waiver of taxes imposed on the import of cricket equipment.”

The Ministry of Finance and the NBR had previously waived taxes on equipment imported for major ICC events held in Bangladesh.

The country’s cricket governing body now expects that taxes will also be waived on the cricket equipment the BCB needs to import to conduct its extensive cricket programmes.