T20 tournament with only local players before BPL 6

Bangladesh Cricket Board's cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan said the board is mulling holding a T20 tournament, involving only the local cricketers, before the Bangladesh Premier League T20 2018. The sixth edition of the BPL is likely to take place in October this year. Discussion of holding such T20 tournament comprising the local cricketers had emerged last year after the BCB faced criticism for allowing five overseas players in the playing XI of the BPL teams. The thought of organising a T20 tournament for the local players reemerged recently following Bangladesh’s brilliant performance in the Nidahas T20I tri-nation series in Colombo. The Tigers in the tournament involving India and host Sri Lanka finished runners-up after losing the final to former world champion India.

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Bangladesh had stormed into the final riding on two nail-biting wins against the Lankans. The two-week long T20I series showed Bangladesh do have the ability of improving in the shortest format of the game, but only through playing T20Is more often. “We have a plan to hold a domestic T20 tournament involving only the best of the local players. We plan to have it ahead of the BPL this year,” Akram informed to the media Saturday. According to former Bangladesh captain Akram, BPL governing council member secretary Ismail Haider Mallick has already declared his intention of hosting such tournament and is currently working on the details. The tournament will feature four teams, much like the Bangladesh Cricket League (four-day first-class domestic tournament).