The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) changed its plans for a T20 tournament beginning on December 22 yesterday. Earlier, the competition was supposed to feature four, franchise based teams but the new plan will see four Dhaka Premier League clubs - Abahani, Mohammedan, Prime Bank and one other club who have yet to be confirmed – fight it out instead.
The selection of the clubs seems to have largely been based on the clubs’ willingness to participate, “Our board president [Nazmul Hassan] has convinced Abahani and Mohmmedan Sporting Club to take part in the T20 tournament. Prime Bank is the other team. We are looking for a fourth, after which an official announcement will be made, most probably on Friday,” said a board official, who requested anonymity.
Meanwhile, Saiful Islam, an official from the Prime Bank Cricket Club, said that they have heard about the issue but have yet to receive anything official from the board. “We heard about this but we did not receive any official indications from the BCB. After we do, we can say anything about the issue,” he said.
BCB recently arranged the Challenge series where national team played the ‘A’ time in three T20 matches and this next tournament is a continuation in their efforts to prepare the Bangladesh team for the World T20 Championship, which Bangladesh is set to host next year.
The board is also looking to financially benefit the cricketers. Players will be divided into two categories and the 16 national cricketers will be divided across the four teams. “A” category players will receive Tk35,000 while the other cricketers will be category “B” and receive Tk25,000.
The team that wins the event will receive Tk2.5m and the runners-up will get Tk10m. The four teams will play in a double league with each side playing two matches with the other three teams. All the matches will be held at the Sylhet Divisional Stadium. The BCB had earlier planned to arrange the tournament at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium but changed the venue in accordance with ICC instructions.