The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to expand the reach of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) by introducing new venues for the upcoming season. After a decade of matches being hosted exclusively in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet, two additional venues are being prepared to join the fold.
The announcement came from Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Youth and Sports Advisor of the interim government, in a Facebook post on 10 August.
“In the last 10 seasons of the Bangladesh Premier League, matches have been held across three venues, Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet,” he wrote. “However, for the upcoming season, plans are in place to host games in two additional venues beyond these three.”
To bring this plan to fruition, Rajshahi Stadium from the northern region and stadiums in Barishal and Khulna from the south are being prepared.
Currently, the BCB is considering Rajshahi, Bogura, Khulna, and Barishal as potential BPL venues. Among these, Khulna and Bogura have previously hosted international matches, although national team fixtures have been absent from both in recent years. Nonetheless, age-group matches, and the High Performance (HP) unit regularly use these grounds.
The most recent BPL season once again took place solely in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet — the same three cities that have hosted all BPL games over the past ten years. The only exception was in 2013, when select matches were played at the Chattogram District Stadium (formerly M.A. Aziz Stadium) and the Khulna Divisional Stadium (formerly Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium).