The 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is likely to start on January 10 following the upcoming national elections, as per Bangladesh Cricket Board Director and BPL Governing Council Committee Secretary Ismail Haider Mallick informed on Saturday.
In 2022, the BCB informed that the 2024 BPL would start on January 5. However, due to the upcoming elections, the date may get postponed a week.
“We discussed when we can start the BPL. The primary decision was to start it right after the national election. We are seeing in the news that the election will be in the first week of January. If so, then we will start the tournament on January 10 or around that. We will have to start it in January and end within February because we have a series against Sri Lanka,” Mallick told the media after a BCB meeting on Saturday.
Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in February-March next year as the Lankans will arrive in Bangladesh for a full tour, including two Tests which are part of the World Test Championship. Thus, the BCB has no option but to arrange the BPL in January, as per Mallick.
He also added that the player’s draft for the 10th edition of the BPL will be held in September.
“We will try to have the player’s draft at the end of September so that each team has enough time to prepare their teams. We have already told the franchises about the timing,” he said.
Mallick also added that there could be a new franchise if any of the existing franchises step back or if they decide to add another team and make it an eight-team tournament.
