The new season of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 is all set to begin on January 21 next, confirmed Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday. 

A total of six teams will participate in this premier T20 cricket league of Bangladesh, and the teams will be based on — Barishal, Chattogram, Cumilla, Dhaka, Khulna and Sylhet. However, the names of the teams are yet to be revealed.

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“We have finalized a six-team BPL,” Ismail Haider Mallick, a member of the BPL governing council told the media on Wednesday. “We might not be able to host an opening ceremony in this situation (of a pandemic).”

On December 27, a players draft will take place in the capital for the teams to rope in the players— both local and international. 

The local players will be divided into six different categories— A, B, C, D, E and F. The players in the A category will get BDT 7 million, while fees for other categories are (all in BDT and million): 3.5 for B, 2.5 for C, 1.8 for D, 1.2 for E, and .5 for the F category. 

And the international players will fall in five different categories— A, B, C, D and E. The players in the A category will draw USD 75 thousand while 50 for B, 40 for C, 30 for D and USD 20 thousand for the D category. 

Each team is allowed to rope in one local player from any category outside the draft, and every team will be entitled to rope in at least 10 and a maximum of 14 local players from the draft on the top of one direct signing. No team will be allowed to hire more than 14 local players at any point in the event. 

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Each team is allowed to register a minimum of three and a maximum of eight foreign players, and three direct signings are also allowed. Each team is bound to play at least three foreign players in every match. 

This year’s BPL will be held in three different venues across Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet.

The champions will be rewarded BDT 10 million and the runners-up will get BDT 5 million as the prize money.