Bangladesh Cricket Board confirms six teams for BPL eighth edition

The governing council of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has finalised six teams for the eighth edition of the T20 tournament. Sources in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has put forth the development on Sunday, December 12. The T20 championship for the previous season had to be scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its place, the inaugural edition of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup took place with only the Bangladesh cricketers as participants. Three news business houses, along with three former organisations, have expressed their desire to take part in the tournament.

Rupa & Marn Group (Dhaka Division), Progoti Group (Sylhet Division) and MindTree (Khulna Division) are the new franchises. Akhtar Group and Fortune Group have bagged the rights for Chattogram Division and Barishal Division respectively.

One-year contract for BPL franchises

The BCB decided to give one-year deals to the teams and hence, teams like Dhaka Dynamites, Khulna Titans and Rangpur Riders have pulled out of the tournament. In the meantime, KM Rifatuzzaman, the MD of the Chattogram Challengers, said that three foreign players will be allowed in a playing eleven rather than four.

”Yes, you can say that we are confirmed by the board to take part in BPL. We came here to talk with BCB and they told us that we will be representing our Chattogram Challengers,” Rifatuzzaman was quoted as saying in Cricbuzz.

”In the last edition, there was a provision of playing four overseas players while in this edition three players will be taking part for each franchise. The date for the draft is yet to be finalised and once it is finalised, we would be more organised. You know that the players’ draft of PSL is taking place today, and after it is completed, we can have a clear picture about the availability of the foreign players in the competition and can let you know who we are going to confirm,” he said.

The BPL is scheduled to take place from January 20 to February 20, 2022. But for the time being, the tournament is clashing with the Pakistan Super League, which is set to start on January 27.

“We are not worried about the PSL and we are expecting to host the players draft of this month but the only thing that we are worried about is the corona situation,” Rifatuzzaman added.