Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan has claimed Bangladesh cricket is set to witness ‘its biggest opening ceremony’ through the Bangladesh Premier League T20 2019. BCB chief Nazmul following a meeting at the BCB office on Wednesday informed the opening of the seven-side BPL T20 will be held on December 8 and that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to be present as the chief guest and unveil the curtain of the tournament. The tournament will roll into the ground on December 11 and have the Players’ Draft on November 17.
BPL T20 2019 is set to mark the birth centenary of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the tournament has been named Bangabandhu BPL T20. None of the previous franchises however is taking part of the tournament this season after BCB delayed renewal of the franchise contracts and decided to take full control of the teams for the season.
BPL T20 2019 was initially scheduled to begin on December 6 and have the opening ceremony two days earlier.
“Countdown to Bangabandhu’s birth centenary will start on December 8 as decided by the government. We are happy that honorable Prime Minister has agreed to attend the opening ceremony. This is a big thing for us [BCB] that the countdown is starting with cricket. The opening will be held on December 8 and the tournament will start on 11th,” said Nazmul to the media following the meeting.
BCB has been mulling a grand opening ceremony of BPL 2019 and Nazmul informed the plan has been set and will soon be informed.
“We want it to be grand given Bangabandhu’s name is involved. Only thing I can say at this point that the ceremony will be the biggest in cricket board’s history. We have a big intention. However I cannot reveal the details at this point but it will involve many things. Something that Bangladesh has not seen before,” Nazmul said.
Though the teams are being managed by the BCB, at least five sides are set to have sponsors as financial support. The remaining two teams are likely to be both financed and managed directly by the BCB.
The BCB had planned to assign big name coaches to each side and according to Nazmul the board has already confirmed four names.
