Bangladesh has launched a domestic Twenty20 tournament after being excluded from the ICC T20 World Cup following its refusal to play matches in India, 24NewsHD TV reported on Thursday.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has introduced a three-team competition titled the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup, aimed primarily at players who missed out on the T20 World Cup due to the Bangladesh government's ban on the national side traveling to India.
The tournament got underway on February 5 and features three teams, Dhumketu XI, Durbar XI, and Duronto XI, captained by national cricketers Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Akbar Ali, respectively.
Under the competition format, each team will face the others once in a round-robin stage.
The group matches are scheduled for February 5, 6, and 7 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 9.
The BCB has also introduced the ‘Impact Player Rule’ in the tournament, marking its first-ever use in an official match in Bangladesh.
Under the rule, one of the starting eleven players can be replaced during the match by a nominated twelfth player, whose name must be declared at the time of the toss.
According to a BCB press release, the competition has been granted official T20 status, with a total prize money and players’ fee pool of 25 million taka.