The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced that a Twenty20 cricket tournament comprising teams from the Dhaka Premier League will begin on Feb 25.
The tournament will feature local cricketers exclusively. Foreign players will not be allowed to take part.
BCB Director Kazi Inam Ahmed made the announcement at a media briefing on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
The decision came amid growing calls for a domestic T20 competition outside the Bangladesh Premier League to develop more local talent in the shortest format of the game.
The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) had previously expressed a willingness to stage a domestic T20 competition last season, but to no avail.
“The T20 tournament will be held before the start of the Dhaka Premier League. Twelve teams will take part in the competition. They will be divided into four groups.”
Matches in the group stage of the tournament will be played between Feb 25 and Feb 27. The two semi-finals will be held on Mar 1, followed by the final on Mar 3.
The final will be played under the floodlights of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. But the venues for other matches have yet to be finalised.
The BCB is working on securing official T20 status to the tournament, as is the case with the BPL, said Inam, also the chairman of CCDM.
He added that the organisers are working to secure live broadcasts for the matches.
