The first-ever Women’s Bangladesh Premier League is set to get underway, with the tournament schedule and venues already confirmed. The opening fixture will be played on April 4 at the Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium in Chattogram.
The final is scheduled for April 14 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, aligning with Pahela Baishakh celebrations. A closing ceremony will be held ahead of the final to mark the conclusion of the inaugural edition.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh Cricket Board Women’s Wing chairperson Rubaba Dowla confirmed after a meeting of the Women’s BPL Governing Council that three teams will take part in the competition.
Speaking at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Rubaba said, “We had earlier announced that the BPL would be held between April 3 and April 15. As per our current plan, the tournament will begin on April 4 in Chattogram, and we will stage the closing ceremony in Dhaka on April 14. That day marks the Bengali New Year, so we plan to host the closing ceremony then.”
The BCB is planning to stage the Women’s BPL with three franchises. The tournament will feature seven matches in total, including six group-stage games and the final. Although the teams have not yet been finalised, Rubaba expressed optimism about attracting strong franchise owners, particularly with the prospect of overseas players participating in the event. Squads will be assembled through a player draft, and the draft categories have already been divided, though a formal announcement is still pending.
Rubaba said, “We have invited bids for three franchises. There will be six group matches and one final. We are hopeful of securing quality team owners.”
The draft will feature three icon cricketers. Nigar Sultana Jyoti, Nahida Akter and Sobhana Mostary are expected to be listed as icons, with a maximum salary of BDT 1 million. The ‘A’ category is set at BDT 700,000, ‘B’ at BDT 500,000, ‘C’ at BDT 300,000 and ‘D’ at BDT 150,000.
Overseas women cricketers will also be part of the draft. Each franchise must recruit a minimum of two foreign players, with a maximum of three to four permitted. The proposed salaries for overseas players are USD 8,000 in Category A, USD 6,000 in Category B and USD 3,000 in Category C.
Elaborating further on the draft, the Women’s Wing chief said, “We will organise a separate event for the draft. We are hopeful that some international players will attend. We are offering them an opportunity as well. We have set a minimum of two overseas players per team and will finalise whether the maximum will be three or four.”
