CHATTOGRAM, Jan 17, (V7N) — The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has officially decided to launch the inaugural Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL) in February, immediately after the ongoing Men’s BPL concludes.

BCB director Najmul Abedin Fahim announced the decision, emphasizing that the tournament will be a one-off event aimed at assessing the potential of women’s franchise cricket in Bangladesh.

“The board was thinking for some time about how we can take women's cricket forward. Keeping that in mind, there was a thought about whether a BPL for women could be held. Today we reached a consensus that we’ll hold it,” Fahim stated.

Tournament Format and Structure

The WBPL will feature three teams, competing in a double round-robin format where each team plays the others twice. The top two teams will advance directly to the final.

All matches will be hosted at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. To encourage international exposure, each team will be allowed to include one overseas player.

“We’ll complete the WBPL within eight to nine days,” Fahim added. “Each team will meet each other twice. We have already spoken to some franchises, and they have shown interest.”

A Strategic Move for Women’s Cricket

Fahim stressed that the WBPL is a strategic move to gauge public and commercial interest in women’s franchise cricket.

“We want to start and see what kind of effect it has if we bring this women's competition to the table. We hope it will take women's cricket another step forward,” he said.

The BCB’s initiative aligns with global trends in promoting women’s cricket, following the success of similar leagues like the Women’s Big Bash League (Australia) and the Women’s Premier League (India).

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