The Bangladesh Premier League has once again come under heavy scrutiny, with criticism surrounding the tournament extending well beyond domestic circles. The latest assessment comes from British magazine The Cricketer, which has ranked the BPL as the lowest-performing franchise cricket league in the world.
The verdict follows another season marked by controversy, reinforcing long-standing concerns about the league’s structure, governance and credibility on the global stage.
How the leagues were judged
The Cricketer evaluated ten franchise tournaments using four key criteria: entertainment value, quality of cricket, sustainability or credibility, and overall standing.
The BPL finished bottom in three of those four categories. Only in sustainability or credibility did it avoid last place, ranking ninth, with the UAE’s ILT20 placed tenth in that category.
Falling behind emerging leagues
In the overall rankings, the BPL trailed not only established competitions such as the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League and South Africa’s SA20, but also newer or smaller tournaments. The Hundred, the Lankan Premier League and Major League Cricket in the United States all finished ahead of Bangladesh’s flagship franchise event.
At the top of the list, the IPL was ranked first overall, reflecting its dominance in quality of cricket and credibility. SA20 followed closely, topping the entertainment category despite being one of the newer leagues on the calendar.
Financial concerns and instability
Explaining its rankings, The Cricketer highlighted financial irregularities and corruption as key reasons behind the low ratings for both the BPL and the LPL.
“The two lowest-ranked tournaments were the LPL and the BPL, both of which continue to be associated with allegations of financial irregularities and corruption,” the magazine noted in its analysis.
Potential undermined by recurring problems
The review acknowledged that both tournaments have clear potential, particularly the BPL given Bangladesh’s cricket-mad population of more than 170 million. However, it stressed that persistent structural issues continue to hold the league back.
Among the problems identified were frequent changes in franchise ownership, a lack of long-term planning, high player turnover and an unstable window in the global cricket calendar. These recurring issues, the magazine argued, have prevented the BPL from developing a consistent identity or gaining sustained international credibility.
Bottom of the list
While the Lankan Premier League finished ninth overall, the Bangladesh Premier League was placed tenth, firmly at the bottom of The Cricketer’s global franchise rankings.
