Bangladesh to face Pakistan in three-match ODI series in March
They look to commence their preparations for ODIs ahead of that
BCB plans Bangladesh cricket league with four teams for it
Bangladesh cricket board (BCB) plan to commence their preparations for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan with a 50-over domestic tournament and is looking to name it as Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL). The tournament will be played by four teams and is expected to commence from the third week of February.
According to a report from Cricbuzz, with the ODI World Cup set to be played in 2027, Bangladesh are looking to launch their preparations immediately as they are now not part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. BCB were initially eyeing to host BCL as an Under-23 One-Day tournament, but have now dropped the plan and are all set to go forward with it as a full-fledged senior competition.
Cricbuzz also suggested that the BCB cricket operations asked the BCB tournament committee to push the proposed Under-23 version to any another suitable window. Instead, they have provided go ahead to the four-team format, which will be now played in February as the BCL.
Abu Emam Mohammed Kawsar, BCB tournament committee manager, confirmed the development.
"Yes, we had planned for the BCL Under-23 in this February but from cricket operations we were told that we need our senior players in the field because most of them won't be playing any cricket since Bangladesh is not participating in the ongoing T20 World Cup, and they have a Pakistan series in March where they will play ODIs," said Kawsar.
"So we are hosting BCL one-dayers with senior cricketers in February instead of BCL Under-23 and now we are planning to host the U-23 tournament at some other suitable place," he said.
Kawsar also talked about the potential schedule. He said, "We planned the BCL four-day in the second week of April and want to complete first two rounds of the tournament before the Test series against Pakistan that is scheduled in May as we feel it will help the Test cricketers to prepare for the longer- format series," he said.
The teams which will participate in the BCL will be based on zonal division. Central Zone, East Zone, North Zone and South Zone will be the four participant teams. The tentative schedule suggests the first round of the competition is expected to commence from February 22 or 23 and the final is likely to be played on first week of March.
Rajshahi and Bogra are identified as the two venues which will host the first three rounds of the tournament while Mirpur Sher-e Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka will host the final.
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Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 after BCB had a major standoff with the ICC. The dispute started when Bangladesh refused to travel to India for their group matches, citing safety concerns and wanted to play in Sri Lanka. The ICC ran an independent security check and found no real threat and rejected Bangladesh's request to move the games to Sri Lanka. With no change in stance from Bangladesh, the ICC officially removed them and invited Scotland, the next highest-ranked team.
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The ICC decided not to punish Bangladesh with fines or bans, wanting to protect the game's long-term health. Instead, they reached a deal where Bangladesh will even host a major ICC event before 2031. This move helped calm tensions.
