The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced that the next edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will be held in a condensed window from mid-December to mid-January, featuring five teams due to time constraints ahead of next year’s ICC T20 World Cup.
On Saturday, at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, BPL Governing Council member secretary Iftekhar Rahman Mithu said, “The first thing was that we had to decide in this short time whether we would hold the BPL or not. I’m delighted to announce that the BPL is happening. As I mentioned during the press conference, the Board has decided to hold the BPL. The timing will be from mid-December to mid-January.”
The Expression of Interest (EOI) notice for franchise bidding will be published in national newspapers tomorrow. Given the short timeframe, the BPL has been trimmed to five teams. “You know that this is a fresh start. All previous franchise contracts have expired. The EOI notice will be published tomorrow,” Iftekhar said.
Although more than five franchises could join in the future, he clarified, “We have listed ten regions, but given the short time frame, we are comfortable proceeding with five teams for now. That does not mean there won’t be six or seven teams later.”
For the first time in BPL history, this year’s event will be organized by New York-based sports management company IMG. There had been some media speculation suggesting that IMG was not interested in organizing the tournament in this short window.
“If I have seen in several media reports, there are discussions suggesting that negotiations with IMG are not moving forward or that IMG is not interested in assisting us. That is not correct,” Iftekhar said. “Our contract with them is nearly finalized and will be signed within a few days. They will be on board. Maybe this edition will be smaller in scale due to the time constraints.”
Last year’s BPL faced criticism, especially over financial issues, with some franchises accused of failing to clear players’ payments. Iftekhar emphasized that the Board will be very strict in selecting franchises this season to avoid similar issues.
