BPL 2025-26 begins with question marks hovering and a World Cup to think about
It's the 12th season of the BPL but it still has big problems to grapple with, player payments and the integrity of the cricket chief among them
Mohammad Isam
25-Dec-2025 • 6 hrs ago
Imad Wasim is one of the prominent overseas players in the BPL this season • Dhaka Capitals
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has survived a series of stumbles and mis-steps to get into its 12th year. As it begins, there are serious questions about the tournament's integrity, the quality of the cricket, payments and logistics. ESPNcricinfo looks at where things stand a day away from BPL 2025-26.
The dark, 900-page cloud
The 900-plus pages of the corruption investigation report on the previous season's BPL, which an independent inquiry committee submitted to the BCB two months ago, hangs like a dark cloud. The BCB didn't reveal the names of the cricketers who have been named in the report, but last month, nine players were "not invited" to the tournament's player auction.
Several of those players seethed publicly and one of them threatened to sue the BCB. They will miss this season's BPL, which could set their careers back by a few years, especially until the BCB decides what to do with the findings of the report.
The BCB stood its ground at the time of the auction, but certain individuals, who were reportedly red-flagged in the report, were found sitting in some of the franchise tables at the auction. Those same individuals, mostly team officials, continue to be involved with the franchises.
There is also intrigue regarding the exact contents of the 900-page report. Till it becomes public, questions about the BPL's integrity will persist even as the matches go on.
Do franchises have money to pay the players?
One of them don't, and have withdrawn from the BPL, forcing the BCB to step in and take the reins of the team, Chattogram Royals, one of the four new teams in the fray.
In any case, the BPL franchises' record of defaulting on player payments isn't a thing of the past. Many players and coaches remain unpaid from the 2024-25 season, and even from earlier editions.
The initial editions after the tournament started in 2012 had a number of payment issues, before a period from 2016 to 2019 when things were better. The issue reared its ugly head again last season. The worst of this was when the Durbar Rajshahi players boycotted a training session and a match protesting delays in various categories of payments, including daily allowances and hotel bills. It needed government intervention for the owners to pay up.
What is of added concern this year is the economic crunch currently on in Bangladesh.
Some of the players who were reportedly contracted before the auction and some who were picked in the auction have withdrawn from the tournament - Sri Lanka's Niroshan Dickwella, Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed, Ireland's Paul Stirling among them. That affects the quality of the cricket, and the payment worries are not going to go away in a hurry.
New franchises, old problems
Rajshahi Warriors, Sylhet Titans, Noakhali Express and Chattogram Royals have joined the rickety BPL bandwagon for the season, as the number of teams came down from seven to six. But the Chattogram franchise had already been in the news with their owner saying that two individuals, reportedly named by the inquiry committee, had convinced him to invest in the BPL.
They have already lost a few overseas players due to withdrawals, and there have also been logistical gaps when the team arrived in Sylhet for the start of the tournament - the vehicle sent to pick them up wasn't large enough to fit everyone in.
All this before they wrote to the BCB saying they were struggling to find sponsors and didn't want to be part of the tournament.
Only two teams have returned to the BPL as they were. The big-spending Rangpur Riders have brought back most of their set-up, including head coach Mickey Arthur, while Dhaka Capitals are also back with a new look in terms of players, including the biggest overseas buy at the auction, Dasun Shanaka.
Focus on upcoming players
BPL's schedule clashes with tournaments like the Big Bash League, UAE's ILT20 and the SA20 in South Africa. That, plus the perception of it being an unstable tournament, means a lot of T20 A-listers are not part of it. The positive is that there is a pool of uncapped players with the opportunity to become overnight sensations.
A number of uncapped local players were bought at the auction at prices higher than their base prices. Among them, opener Habibur Rahman Sohan stands out for his big-hitting, while the emergence of Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, a big-hitting allrounder who has come out of the taped-ball circuit, has been a nice story. There is also the allrounder SM Meherob, who is becoming a dependable performer in domestic cricket.
There will also be renewed interest in Akbar Ali, who has led Rangpur to two domestic titles already. Whether he can bring his leadership success into what he must hope is a strong season in terms of performance remains to be seen.
The T20 World Cup is around the corner
Bangladesh's preparations for the T20 World Cup depend on how their main players perform in the BPL, since they don't have any international cricket lined up in the two months leading into the big tournament.
"This bunch of players are almost ready for the next World Cup," captain Litton Das had said after the 2-1 series win over Ireland in early December, coming as it did after series wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan, among others. But he is now hoping none of his main players pick up injuries during the BPL.
A few major players are not around. Rishad Hossain is playing for Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL and doing well, as are Taskin Ahmed (Sharjah Warriorz) and Mustafizur Rahman (Dubai Capitals) in the ILT20. Focus, therefore, will be on the main batters in the BPL, the likes of Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Saif Hassan, apart from Litton. Their form and fitness will be important indicators ahead of the World Cup.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84