Bangladesh Premier League facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bangladesh Premier League

Bangladesh Premier League
Countries	Bangladesh
Administrator	Bangladesh Cricket Board
Format	Twenty20
First edition	2012
Latest edition	2024
Next edition	2025
Tournament format	Double round-robin and Playoffs
Number of teams	7
Current champion	Fortune Barishal (1st title)
Most successful	Comilla Victorians (4 titles)
Most runs	Tamim Iqbal (3321)
Most wickets	Shakib Al Hasan (134)
TV	List of broadcasters

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is a super exciting professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh. It's like a big sports festival organized by the BPL Governing Council. The BPL is one of the top professional cricket leagues in Bangladesh. It's even one of the most-watched cricket leagues in the world!

During the winter, each team plays against every other team twice. This is called the "league stage." After these matches, the top four teams move on to the "playoffs." The playoffs are a series of knockout games that lead up to the big Championship game. The winner of Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2 play in the final match to decide the champion!

The Bangladesh Premier League started in 2011. It was created by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The first season happened in February 2012. Games were played in big stadiums in Dhaka and Chittagong. The BPL is led by the chairman of its Governing Council.

History of the BPL

Cricket leagues like the Indian Premier League became very popular around the world. Seeing this success, the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to create its own franchise-based league. On January 18, 2012, the board made a big deal with Game on Sports Group. This deal gave the group the right to manage the tournament for six years.

The league began with six teams from the biggest cities in Bangladesh. Many companies wanted to own a team. In the end, six companies won the rights to their own clubs. In July 2022, the BCB announced the schedule for the next three BPL seasons. This happened after the ICC (International Cricket Council) set aside January and February for the BPL in its future plans.

First Season: 2012

The very first BPL season officially began on February 9, 2012. It started with a huge opening ceremony at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Before the games, players were chosen by teams in an auction on January 18 and 19, 2012.

The first match was between Sylhet Royals and Barisal Burners. The final game was between Dhaka Gladiators and Barisal Burners. The Dhaka Gladiators won the first championship by eight wickets! All the matches in this first season were played in Dhaka and Chattogram.

Second Season: 2013

For the second season, a new team, Rangpur Riders, joined the league. This brought the total number of teams to seven. The Dhaka Gladiators won again, beating Chittagong Kings in the final. The final match was once more held in Dhaka.

For most of the matches, the MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram was used instead of the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Also, the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna was added as a third location for games.

After this season, there were some serious issues with teams not following league rules and players not getting paid on time. Because of this, the owners of the original six teams were suspended. The owners of Dhaka Gladiators were even banned for life! Some players and officials also faced bans for not playing fairly.

Third Season: 2015

The BPL didn't happen in 2014 due to some challenges. But it came back in 2015 with six brand new teams! This time, the tournament was held in the winter, not the spring. Comilla Victorians won this competition, beating Barisal Bulls by three wickets.

Before the 2016–17 season, the Sylhet Super Stars team was suspended for breaking rules. Two new teams, Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings, joined the league. This brought the number of teams back to seven.

Fourth Season: 2016

The BPL draft for 2016 happened on September 30. Before the draft, teams signed 38 international players. Each existing team could also keep two local players from the 2015 season. A total of 301 players were part of the draft, and 85 players were chosen by teams.

Dhaka Dynamites, led by Shakib Al Hasan, finished first in the group stage. Rajshahi Kings, led by Darren Sammy, were in fourth place. The Dynamites beat Khulna Titans to reach the final. The Rajshahi Kings won their playoff games to also reach the final.

In the final, the Kings chose to field first. The Dynamites scored 159 runs. Evin Lewis scored the most runs for the Dynamites with 45. Farhad Reza from the Kings took 3 wickets. The Kings struggled to score runs and lost wickets quickly. The Dynamites won the match and their first title by 56 runs! Kumar Sangakkara was named the best player of the match. This was the third title for a Dhaka team in the BPL.

Khulna Titans captain Mahmudullah was named the player of the tournament. He scored 384 runs and often bowled very well in the last over of games.

Fifth Season: 2017

This was the fifth season of the BPL. It was organized by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and had seven teams. The season started on November 4 and ended on December 12, 2017. The first game was between the defending champions, Dhaka Dynamites, and Sylhet Sixers.

The Barisal Bulls team was not part of this tournament because they didn't meet the financial rules.

Group stage matches were played in three parts. The first and third parts were in Dhaka, and the middle part of 10 matches was in Chittagong. Two matches were played each day. The first four matches were delayed due to heavy rain. The tournament restarted on November 8, and the first six games were rescheduled.

In the final, Rangpur Riders beat Dhaka Dynamites to win their first title! Chris Gayle was named the best player of the match and also the best player of the series. He scored the most runs in the tournament with two amazing centuries (146 not out off 69 balls and 126 off 51 balls), totaling 485 runs. Shakib Al Hasan took the most wickets with 22.

• Chris Gayle hit the most sixes ever in a T20 match (18 sixes)!
• He also scored the highest runs in a T20 final and the highest in BPL history (146 not out).
• The partnership between Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum was the highest ever in BPL (201 not out for the second wicket).
• Because of this great performance, Rangpur Riders won the championship.

Sixth Season: 2019

The final match was between Comilla Victorians and Dhaka Dynamites. The Comilla Victorians became champions!

This season was originally planned for late 2018. However, it was moved to January 2019 due to safety concerns around the general election in Bangladesh. For the first time, the Decision Review System (DRS) was used in the tournament. DRS helps umpires make more accurate decisions.

In the final, Comilla Victorians beat Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs to win their second title. Tamim Iqbal was named the best player of the match for his amazing 141 not out. Rilee Rossouw scored the most runs in the tournament with 558. Shakib Al Hasan took the most wickets (22) and was also named the player of the tournament.

Seventh Season: 2019-20

The final match was between Rajshahi Royals and Khulna Tigers. The Rajshahi Royals became champions!

In September 2019, the BCB decided to run the tournament itself, without franchises. They named it Bangabandhu BPL T20 2019-20 to honor Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his 100th birthday.

Rajshahi Royals beat Khulna Tigers by 21 runs in the final. The Royals' captain, Andre Russell, was named both the best player of the final and the best player of the tournament. He played great all-around and led his team to their first BPL title!

Eighth Season: 2022

The final match was between Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal. The Comilla Victorians became champions!

This season was supposed to start in March 2021 but was moved to January-February 2022. Six teams were announced. Some teams from previous seasons were not included, and a new team from Barisal joined. The Comilla Victorians also returned. The DRS system could not be used this season because technical teams were not available. Spectators were initially allowed, but then the board decided to play without them due to a rise in a new virus variant.

The top two teams, Fortune Barishal and Comilla Victorians, reached the final. In a very close game, Comilla Victorians won their third title by just one run! Sunil Narine was the best player of the final. Shakib Al Hasan, captain of the runner-up team, Fortune Barishal, received the Player of the Tournament award. He scored 284 runs and took 16 wickets.

Ninth Season: 2023

The final match was between Comilla Victorians and Sylhet Strikers. The Comilla Victorians became champions!

The ninth season was held from January 6 to February 16, 2023. The BCB decided to have seven teams and sell the team ownership rights for three years. Five of the previous six teams kept their ownership, and the Rangpur Riders returned after two seasons. The schedule was announced in December 2022, with two matches played per day and extra "reserve days" for knockout games in case of bad weather.

In the final, Comilla Victorians beat Sylhet Strikers by 7 wickets. This was their second win in a row and their fourth title overall!

Tenth Season: 2024

The final match was between Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal. This was their third time meeting in a BPL final! In 2015 and 2022, Comilla Victorians won in the very last ball.

This time, Fortune Barishal won their first title!

The 2024 BPL was one of the best seasons ever. With three different venues and seven teams, it was full of exciting competition. Fortune Barishal had a very strong batting lineup with many national team players. Rangpur Riders, with Shakib Al Hasan, were also a great team. The competition between these two teams was thrilling! Barishal won after beating the top two teams in the league.

This BPL season had a huge crowd and amazing fireworks. It also made the most money of any BPL season so far!

• Most Runs: Tamim Iqbal (492 runs in 15 games)
• Most Wickets: Shoriful Islam (22 wickets in 12 games, including a hat-trick in the first match)
• Best All-rounder: Shakib Al Hasan (255 runs and 17 wickets)

Eleventh Season: 2025

Get ready! The next season is coming soon.

How the League Works

The Bangladesh Premier League works like a team effort. All the money earned from TV rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales is shared between the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the teams. A special group called the Governing Council (GC) controls the league. The Bangladesh Cricket Board chooses the members of this council.

As of the 2018–19 season, there are seven teams in the league. Each team plays every other team twice. The top four teams then go to the play-off matches. These playoffs lead to the championship match, where the league champion is decided!

Teams in the BPL

Here are the teams that play in the Bangladesh Premier League:

Team History in the BPL

Teams in the BPL sometimes change their names or take breaks. This table shows how teams from different cities have appeared in the league over the years:

How Players Join Teams

The BPL uses a "draft system" to assign players to teams. Teams can pick new players during a yearly draft. They can also choose to keep players from the previous year. Players can also be signed outside of the draft or traded between teams. Since 2015, a company called Imago Sports Management has helped with the player draft.

Tournament Results

BPL Finals: Who Won?

All the BPL finals have been played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Team Performance Overview

This table shows how each team has performed overall in the BPL.

Note:

• Tie&W and Tie&L mean matches that were tied and then won or lost in a "Super Over."
• The win percentage does not include matches that had no result.

Overall Team Standings by Season

This table shows how each team finished in different BPL seasons:

•      C: Champions (won the final)
•      RU: Runner-up (lost in the final)
•      SF or PO: Team reached the semi-final or play-off stage
•      DNP: Did not participate in that season

Team Success Summary

This table shows how many times each team has been champions, runners-up, or reached the playoffs.

Broadcasters

The BPL is broadcast in many countries so fans around the world can watch the games!

• Source: BCB

See also

• List of Bangladesh Premier League captains
• List of Bangladesh Premier League records and statistics
• Big Bash League