BCL starts today

The ninth edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League is starting today with two matches at Dhaka and Rajshahi.

Four teams are taking part in the tournament- BCB South Zone, Islami Bank East Zone, Walton Central Zone, and BCB North Zone.

The opening day will see BCB South Zone face Islami Bank East Zone at the Shaheed Kamaruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi. The other match of the day will be at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram between Walton Central Zone and BCB North Zone.

The tournament will be played in a single-league format, and then the final will start at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on January 2.

All the matches will be live-streamed on the official YouTube channel of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

South Zone are the current holders of the tournament. They also have the most titles of the tournament with five.

In the current edition, a one-day version has been added for the first time, which will be played after the four-day segment ends.

The four teams are without many key players for the four-day edition as national team cricketers are away at New Zealand for a two-match series.

South Zone will not have Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nurul Hasan Sohan, and Fazle Mahmud at their disposal, with Central Zone missing Shohidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan and Najmul Hossain.

East Zone will be without several players as Tamim Iqbal is injured and Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Mohammad Naim are away with the national team.

North Zone will be without Syed Khaled Ahmed, Liton Das, and Taskin Ahmed.