BCB alters BPL schedule, moves matches away from Chattogram

A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said on Wednesday that the board will host the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the country's lone franchise-based T20 tournament, in Sylhet and Dhaka, having decided to omit Chattogram from the list of host venues, report agencies.

According to the initial itinerary, the Sylhet phase was expected to end on January 03, after which the tournament was scheduled to shift to Chattogram. However, the BCB had to alter that schedule after the tournament was halted following the death of national leader Begum Khaleda Zia.

"We have a two-day gap and to adjust those two days we have decided to bring BPL only in two venues. We cannot adjust it (the two days) without this (playing the tournament in two venues). So we are sorry for the fans of Chattogram but under current circumstance we have to cancel the game in Chattogram. We can save two travelling days," Iftekhar Rahman, BPL governing council member secretary, told reporters on Tuesday.

According to the updated itinerary, Sylhet International Stadium will stage matches until January 12 before the competition moves to Dhaka. The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur will then host the latter stages from January 15.

The Eliminator is slated for January 19, followed later the same day by the first Qualifier in a double-header. After a rest day, the second Qualifier will be played on January 21, with the final scheduled for January 23.

Meanwhile, the two matches of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 matches scheduled for today and subsequently cancelled have been rescheduled to January 4 in Sylhet, the BCB confirmed on Tuesday.