BSS, Dhaka :
The players’ draft of the eighth edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 is set to be held today (Monday) at a local hotel in the city.
The players’ draft will start from 12.00pm, the official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said. The significance of this year’s Bangabandhu BPL is huge for the players and the BCB, specially due to the Twenty20 World Cup which will be held in October next year.
The most glamorous cricket tournament of the country is set to start on January 21 and the final is on February 18.
Six teams will vie for the coveted trophy this year as BCB found six franchisees which took the ownership of six divisions. Fortune Shoes Limited had acquired the ownership of Barishal, Delta Sports Limited (Akhter Group) owned Chattogram, Cumilla Legends Limited is obtained by Cumilla, Rupa Fabrics Ltd and Marn Steel Ltd (Consortium) got Dhaka Division, Mind Tree Ltd took Khulna and Pargoti Green Aturo Rice Mills Ltd bought the rights of Sylhet.
A total of 34 matches will be held by double round robin league followed by three play offs and a final in three venues-Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram and Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, the BCB had announced that the champions team will be awarded BDT one crore, while the runners-up will get BDT 50 lakh.
For local players there six category types with the Category A players price fixed at BDT 70 lakh each . For Category B, C, D, E and F the price fixed at BDT 35 lakh, 25 lakh, 18 lakh, 12 lakh, and five lakh respectively. For foreign players there were five categories with the Category A players’ price fixed at US$ 75, 000. For Category B, C, D and E the price is at US$ 50,000, US$ 40,000, US$ 30,000 and US$ 20,000. A team can recruit one local player from any category as a direct signing prior to the players’ draft.
A team will be entitled to register a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 14 local players. Except for the one direct signing, all other local players must be obtained from the players’ draft.
The number of registered Bangladeshi players for each team cannot exceed 14 at any point during the tournament.
Each team can register a minimum of three and a maximum of eight overseas players. A maximum of three foreign players can be registered outside of the players’ draft as direct signings. Each team must include three overseas players in its playing XI.
BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said no team has yet informed the BPL authorities in writing which cricketer was taken before the draft.
