BCB to get ready players’ list after assessing sponsors
The last day for submitting the Expression of Interest (EOI) for team sponsorship rights of the five participating teams for the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 Cup 2020 ended yesterday and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will now evaluate the job seekers before finalizing the teams.
The BCB earlier explained that they want to get started on the T20 tournament by mid-November and according to sources near developments, there are four interested parties that have already submitted the EOI till yesterday.
It had been learned that Beximco, Gemcon, Incepta, and BCB Director Alamgir Hossain Alo, with respect to a company, submitted the EOIs to the board.
BCB officials also said they'll invite international broadcasters through a tender to cover the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 tournament. BCB had earlier announced that you will have no Bangladesh Premier League, the franchise-based T20 tournament, this season. Instead, they opted to launch the domestic T20 competition to engage more domestic players after the success of the three-team fifty-over BCB President's Cup last month.
The selectors will prepare the players' draft for the tournament following the finalization of the sponsorship of the five teams. The board also announced that the players -- excluding those of the national, powerful, and the under-19 teams -- selected in the draft list for the tournament must undergo mandatory fitness tests before being considered eligible for the competition.
Meanwhile, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan, whose one-year ban ended on October 29, are also likely to get started their preparations for the T20 competition. Mashrafe had skipped the BCB President's Cup due to a hamstring injury sustained while playing football.
Shakib had trained for per month in October under his mentors Nazmul Abedin and Mohammad Salahuddin, ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, which was eventually postponed as a result of strict health protocols of the hosts. Shakib then returned to America.
The champion all-rounder is expected to go back to Bangladesh on November 4 and will train at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP). However, according to the selectors, Shakib may also need to pass the fitness test to be eligible to take part in the T20 tournament.
Like other domestic players, Shakib must score at the least 11 on the beep test to be deemed fit to take part in the tournament.
