Next edition of BPL to have only five teams

by Atif Azam • Last updated on

The Expression of Interest (EOI) will be announced for the teams on Sunday © Getty

The next edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will be played between five teams in a compact window from mid-December to mid-January, BPL GC secretary Iftikhar Rahman Mithu said on Saturday.

Iftikhar told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium that the decision was taken due to time constraints ahead of next year's ICC T20 World Cup.

"The board has decided to host the BPL from mid-December to mid-January," said Iftekhar. "Given the short window we have this year, we are comfortable with five teams. That doesn't mean it can't be six or seven in the future, but our priority is to stage a five-team BPL within a one-month window," he said.

"We have to finish in the month of January. The window he mentioned, we have to finish before the February World Cup," he said. "I am not saying that it cannot be six or seven but at this point we are comfortable running it with five teams in this one-month window. So, our priority is the first five teams. We are starting fresh this year. The Expression of Interest (EOI) will be announced tomorrow.

It is possible that reigning BPL champions Fortune Barishal will not take part in next edition of BPL. Tamim Iqbal, who is leading the Fortune Barishal side, recently announced that they are boycotting all kind of cricket under the leadership of Aminul Islam terming him as illegal.

Iftekhar insisted that they are hoping Fortune Barishal would come forward and take part in the competition.

"My request is that it would be good if they (Fortune Barishal team) come," said Iftekhar. "I can't force anyone to come. We welcome them; they have run their team well and we have never had any complaints. So, we always want well-managed teams like theirs to participate. We are open, but we can't force anyone. From my perspective, considering the effort they put in and the following they built in Barishal... my request is that it would be good if they came," he said.

Iftekhar added that they will be very strict in choosing their franchises due to all the controversies that erupted in last edition of BPL over financial concerns.

"The problems we faced in the last BPL were mainly related to the franchises. So, the selection of the franchise will be very strict. If the financials aren't right, if the management isn't right... you might be a big group with good financials, but you need people for cricket management as well. We will primarily look at these things," he said.

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