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This is the first regular domestic event amid the Covid-19 pandemic. All the regular domestic competitions were put on hold for more than a year due to the pandemic.
Khulna will take on Sylhet at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Dhaka will face Rangpur, Rajshahi will take on Chattogram at Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium and Dhaka Metro will face Barishal in Barishal Stadium in the first round of NCL.
Khulna, Sylhet, Dhaka and Rangpur are in tier-one and the other ones in tier-two of the league.
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The team remaining at the fourth spot of tier-one will be demoted to tier-two in the next season while the toppers of tier-two will be promoted to tier-one.
Meanwhile, the participating players got to take part in only a four-day to three-day practice camp before this league.
"They needed more time to prepare well," Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the cricket advisor Bangladesh Krira
Shikkha Protisthan and former coach and manager of Bangladesh Cricket Board High Performance Unit, told UNB.
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"To play first-class cricket, the cricketers need to stay with the team for a few weeks or more. Since they were out of the field for more than one year, just practising a few days at home is not enough."
At least two players from Barishal and Khulna also expressed their disappointment due to the lack of preparation time ahead of the biggest first-class event of the country.