Film actress Nipun (C) performs during the opening ceremony of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in the Dhaka city on Thursday. — Sanaul Haque

A flop show marked the beginning of the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League as the opening ceremony failed to live up to its hype and expectations at Mirpur on Thursday.
The organisers had promised a glitzy programme featuring local and international artistes but some unscheduled intervals after each segment marred the entire programme.
President Zillur Rahman formally declared the tournament open at 6:45pm and light fireworks followed a massive mismanagement with leading Bangladeshi singers Runa Laila and Momtaz taking onto the podium.
Both Runa and Momtaz only performed a lip song as opposed to the promise made by the organisers who had already started sweating as some of the performers were still missing at the stadium.
What made the segment of Runa and Momtaz ugly was the unscheduled playing of national anthem, which was already played once before the president made his brief speech.
A dance show that followed featuring leading models and actresses – Mou, Mamo, Nadia, Monalisa, Chandni and Rhea – was also ordinary at best, which prompted the crowd booing the organisers.
The entire programme turned into a mess when there was no one else left at the stadium to perform for nearly 45 minutes, leaving the organisers shell-shocked and fans completely confused.
Anjan Ganguly, managing director of Game On Sports Management, the company responsible for the event, told reporters that the break was due to the late arrival of band singer James, who was caught in a notorious Dhaka traffic.
It tested the patience of handful crowd, many of whom got an entry into the stadium after the organisers opened the gate seeing an empty gallery.
James finally arrived at about 8:30pm and almost immediately went on stage to sing some of his customary songs. There was still no sign of Indian singer Sunidhi Chauhan, Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandez and Pakistani singer Atif Aslam, who were top attractions of the programme.
BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick said Sunidhi arrived at the field but could not perform due to time limitation. Jacqueline and Atif got on the stage belatedly to save some blushes of the organisers finally.