The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) (Bengali:বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) (Bengali:বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament in Bangladesh which was established in 2012. The Bangladesh Premier League replaced the previous competition, the National Cricket League Twenty20, and features city-based franchises instead of the divisional teams which had participated previously and continue to do so in o
ther domestic competitions. The third season of BPL is scheduled to take place in November 2015 with six teams taking part. First season
Main article: 2012 Bangladesh Premier League
The inaugural season of the tournament started on 9 February 2012 with an opening ceremony with the first match starting on 10 February, and finished with the final on 29 February 2012. A total of 33 matches were scheduled, all of which were be played at two stadiums, Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka and Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Each team played each team twice, both at home and away in a round-robin system. The top four teams at the end of the round robin stage progressed to the knockout stage.[2] Sylhet and Chittagong failed to progress to the semi finals. Rajshahi, Khulna, Dhaka and Barishal reached semi finals. Afterwards, Dhaka took the champions trophy beating Barisal in final
Second season
Main article: 2013 Bangladesh Premier League
The second season of the tournament began on 18 January 2013, with the opening ceremony taking place in 17 January, while the player auction player's auction took place on 20 December 2012.[4] Dhaka Gladiators again emerged as champions beating Chittagong Kings in the final by 43 runs. Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka hosted most matches while the MA Aziz Stadium replaced the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong and Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna hosted matches of the tournament for the time in 2013. Unlike the first season, there were no icon players and the players taking part in the player's auction were divided into four categories, as opposed to the two categories in the first season.[5]
Franchises
Due to financial complications all of the franchises from the 2012 and 2013 seasons were canceled. The 2015 season will see new franchises taking part in the tournament, all of which were purchased for Tk. 10,000,000 (approximately US$130,000).[6]
Team City Owner(s) Captain Head coach
Barisal Barisal Axiom
Chittagong Chittagong DBL Group
Comilla Comilla Royal Sports
Dhaka Dhaka Beximco
Rangur Rangpur I-Sports
Sylhet Sylhet Alif Group Bangladesh
Defunct Franchises
The first two seasons saw the seven divisional cities chosen as the franchise teams to participate in the tournament. In the first season, 6 divisions were chosen among 7, with the exception of Rangpur.[2] The minimum bidding price for each franchise was $1 million and the franchise owners given possession of the franchise for six years and could only sell it after three years.[7] Rangpur Riders was the seventh team to enter the tournament, making its debut in 2013 Bangladesh Premier League.[8] [9]
Rules
There are five ways that a franchise can acquire a player. In the annual auction, buying domestic players, signing uncapped players, through trading and buying replacements. In the trading window players can only be traded with his consent. The franchise will have to pay the difference between the old contract price and the new contract price. If the new contract is worth more than the older one then the difference will be shared between the player and the franchise selling the player. Each team will consist of 18 players
Maximum of 8 international players, up to 5 of which will be allowed to play in a match.[7]
Each team must contain at least one Associate player, reflecting on Bangladesh's own history as an Associate. A total of six Associate players have been signed, one each by the six franchises.[11]
On 20 February the organisers allowed for teams to purchase 2 extra foreign players and 2 local players.