The eighth edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL), the country's prime first class cricket tournament, is all set to roll onto the ground from January 31.
The franchise-based four-day competition is a single-league basis tournament where the four teams will face off each other once to qualify them for the final.
The BCL, the four-team tournament, however, was brought forward with an eye to giving the national players an opportunity for some longer-form match practice ahead of upcoming Test series against Pakistan and Zimbabwe. And therefore the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), which was supposed to be the next domestic league on the calendar, was deferred.
The Prime Bank has already cut their sponsorship ties with BCB, so along with the North Zone team, the board have to operate South Zone this season.
Walton Central Zone and Islami Bank East Zone are the other teams in the competition.
Four venues- Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS), Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS), Chattogram, Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) and Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium (SKICS), Cox's Bazar-will host the matches this season.
In the first round on January 31, South Zone will take on BCB North Zone at ZACS while Islami Bank East Zone will lock horns against Walton Central Zone at SBNCS.
The final of the tournament is on February 21-24 at the SICS.
The draft of the tournament was held on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in which the four teams drafted their players.
Each team retained six players from the previous season.
However, the notable omission from the player list is Saifuddin who is yet to recover from the injury fully.
BCB North Zone: Ariful Haque, Naeem Islam, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sunzamul Islam, Ebadat Hossain Chowhdury, Rony Talukdar, Sumon Khan, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Rishad Hossain, Sanjit Saha, Salahuddin Shakil, Jahurul Islam Omee, Tanvir Haider, Enamul Haque, Junior, Mizanur Rahman, Hossain Ali and Muktar Ali
Walton Central Zone: Saif Hassan, Shuvagata Hom, Taibur Rahman, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Arafat Sunny, Shahidul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Raqibul Hasan, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Jaker Ali, Nazmul Islam, Naim Sheikh, Abdul Mazid, Irfan Hossain, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Shoriful Islam, Akbar Ali and Mehidy Hasan Miraz
Islami Bank East Zone: Imrul Kayes, Abu Jayed Rahi, Afif Hossain, Mominul Haque, Nayeem Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Pinak Ghosh, Hasan Mahmud, Zakir Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Amite Hasan, Rejaur Rahman, Tanvir Islam, Imran Uzzaman, Khaled Ahmed, Rony Chowdhury and Mohammad Ashraful
BCB South Zone: Abdur Razzak, Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shafiul Islam, Mahmudullah Riyad, Fazle Mahmud, Farhad Reza, Shamsur Rahman, Al-Amin, Nasum Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Shahriar Nafees, Robiul Haque, Irfan Shukkur, Aminul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Ruyel Miah. -BSS
