BPL to begin on December 19 with new team Noakhali Express

The 12th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will start from December 19 with six franchises.

BPL governing council secretary Iftekhar Rahman Mithu confirmed the date during a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

He said that they have taken the decision to increase the number of franchises from five to six to accommodate more local players, adding that scheduling was also a factor since it was difficult to arrange two matches per day with only five teams.

Noakhali Express is the new team, joining Dhaka Capitals, Chattogram Royals, Rajshahi Warriors, Rangpur Riders, and Sylhet Titans in the 12th edition of the franchise-based T20 league.

"One new thing is that we are planning to start the tournament in Sylhet. The final is likely to be held on January 16. We are also planning to arrange a short opening ceremony on December 17 in Dhaka," said Mithu.

The players' auction is set to return to the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after a 12-year hiatus, with the BPL Governing Council confirming November 30 as the new auction date.

The first two editions of the BPL, held in 2012 and 2013, featured an auction system. However, the following nine editions adopted a players' draft format.

Financial issues such as player payments and bank gurantee observed in the previous BPL are also set to manifest this BPL. The BPL governing council chairman Mithu informed that they are not yet confirmed about two of the teams as they are yet to meet financial guidelines. Mithu observed that in case teams remain as defaulters, the BCB will take over ownership rights of the defaulting franchises and run the teams themselves.
An opening ceremony has been planned for December 17 at Dhaka. Around 500 overseas players registered for the upcoming edition of the tournament and 250 high-impact players were listed for the auctions. Teams can make a minimum of one and a maximum of two direct signings before the auction while minimum two overseas players will have to be bought from the auction.

The franchises will need to include 14 local players with maximum of two Bangladeshi players as direct signings from Category A and B.