The Bangladesh High Performance Unit (HP) reached the final of the 2024 edition of the Top End T20 tournament, organized by the regional cricket board of Northern Territory, Australia. However, they couldn’t clinch the title, losing to the Adelaide Strikers in the final. Bangladesh will send a team to this year’s edition of the tournament as well. But instead of the HP squad, this time the Bangladesh ‘A’ team will participate in the competition starting from August 14.
Before heading to Darwin for the tournament, the Bangladesh ‘A’ team will play three T20 matches against the HP squad as preparation.
The HP unit began its first training camp with 28 players on June 17 in Chattogram, which will continue until July 14. The second phase of training will start on July 16 and run until August 13. During this period, the three T20 matches against the ‘A’ team will be held at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Flight Lieutenant Motiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on August 1, 3, and 5.
Although the official squad for the Top End T20 tournament hasn’t been announced yet, several players including Hasan Mahmud, Akbar Ali, and Afif Hossain Dhrubo were seen practicing at the academy ground of Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Saturday. Nurul Hasan Sohan and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat are also likely to join the squad.
The 11-team Top End T20 tournament will run from August 14 to August 24. While the full schedule is yet to be released, Bangladesh is set to play their opening match against Pakistan Shaheens on the first day of the tournament.