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BPL 2025-26 to be played between five teams; Barishal's participation unlikely: Report

Debashis Sarangi

BPL 2025-26 to be played in Dec-Jan [Source: AFP]BPL 2025-26 to be played in Dec-Jan [Source: AFP]

The upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will feature only five teams instead of six due to a shortened cricketing window. As revealed by the BPL GC secretary, Iftikhar Rahman Mithu, the next BPL season will be held between mid-December and mid-January, finishing well before the 2026 T20 World Cup. 

BPL window shortened, Barishal unlikely to feature in 2025-26 edition

It's worth mentioning that the T20 World Cup will be played in February-March next year. So, the BCB will roughly get a one-month window to wrap up the Bangladesh Premier League. This is the reason why the number of participating teams will be trimmed from six to five, reported Cricbuzz. 

While Iftikhar Rahman Mithu stated that there would be five sides in the BPL this season, the upcoming editions might witness the participation of more teams. 

"The board has decided to host the BPL from mid-December to mid-January. Given the short window we have this year, we are comfortable with five teams. That doesn't mean it can't be six or seven in the future, but our priority is to stage a five-team BPL within a one-month window. We have to finish in the month of January before the February World Cup. I am not saying that it cannot be six or seven but at this point we are comfortable running it with five teams in this one-month window," he said as quoted by Cricbuzz. 

The report also revealed that defending BPL champions Fortune Barishal are the most likely to miss out, as their captain, Tamim Iqbal, has decided to boycott all kinds of cricket under Aminul Islam's allegedly corrupt regime. 

However, Iftikhar Rahman Mithu took a diplomatic stand on the matter, saying the organisers would like to have the Tamim Iqbal-led team in the competition. Nevertheless, considering Tamim has had serious feuds with the BCB in recent times, it's highly likely that Barishal will be the team missing from the tournament this year.