Availability shapes Bangladesh’s first Domestic-3 icon picks
Availability takes priority in Bangladesh’s Domestic-3 picks
Bangladesh’s six Domestic-3 franchises have selected their icon cricketers, with player availability emerging as the defining factor behind a first round of choices that left several national-team regulars overlooked.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Towhid Hridoy, Mohammad Naim Sheikh and Mosaddek Hossain were chosen through a lottery process. Mehidy will represent Walton Group, Hridoy will play for Fortune, Mushfiqur has been selected by Seven Rings Cement, and Nurul Hasan Sohan will be ACE Bluestars’ icon player. Naim Sheikh will represent Citizen Bank, while Mosaddek Hossain, referred to as Saikat in the report, will be ACME’s icon.
National captains Najmul Hossain and Litton Das, left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim were among those not selected as icons. The choices prompted questions, but BCB president Tamim Iqbal said the franchises had made a tactical decision based on the demands of a tournament spanning three formats.
“At the end of the day this is a domestic tournament and players availability is very important,” Tamim said at the launch event.
He pointed to Naim Sheikh as an example of a player who is more likely to be available for the entire season because he is not currently involved with the national team. Tamim added that the country’s leading fast bowlers and other stars could still be selected when the full squad-building process takes place.
Each franchise will construct a 23-member squad in a player auction or draft scheduled for October 26, although Tamim said the final method had not yet been confirmed. The six teams have signed three-year agreements with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which will retain substantial control over the competition’s finances and operations.
A replacement for three domestic competitions
Domestic-3 will combine the T20, 50-over and four-day formats under one tournament, replacing the NCL T20, the Bangladesh Cricket League four-day competition and the BCL one-day tournament. Its schedule includes 19 T20 matches, 16 50-over matches and seven four-day fixtures.
The T20 leg is expected to begin in December at Barishal Divisional Stadium and the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The four-day competition is planned for January, with the 50-over phase scheduled for May next year.
The BCB will set spending limits and determine player and coaching-staff remuneration. The board says the cost controls are intended to keep franchise spending within bounds while giving domestic cricketers greater financial opportunities, exposure and continuity across formats.