Asia’s top sports content provider, ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) announced its broadcast of the much awaited inaugural Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) from 9-29 February on STAR Cricket and STAR Sports.
As the biggest cricketing event of Bangladesh, BPL will bring all the glitz and glamour of T20, featuring some of the top names in cricket from around the globe with 21 days of non-stop world class cricket action and entertainment. As the definitive rights holder of the best in international sporting events, ESPN STAR Sports will showcase this exciting new T20 event to cricket lovers across Asia, along with Channel 9 which will broadcast the tournament domestically in Bangladesh.
With the match action kicking off on 10 February, this first edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will feature six teams that will play each other twice each in a round-robin format over 33 matches held in Chittagong and Dhaka. Each team will feature a stellar mix of a leading Icon player from Bangladesh along with current T20 stars and cricketing greats including:
Barisal Burners
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Shahriar Nafees
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Brad Hodge
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Australia
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Chris Gayle
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West Indies
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Chittagong Kings
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Tamim Iqbal
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Shoaib Malik
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Pakistan
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Mutthaya Murlidharan
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Sri Lanka
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Dwayne Bravo
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West Indies
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Khulna Royal Bengals
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Shakib Al Hasan
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Nasir Hossain
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Bangladesh
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Herschelle Gibbs
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South Africa
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Sanath Jayasuriya
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Sri Lanka
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S Chanderpaul
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West Indies
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Sylhet Royals
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Alok Kapali
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Naeem Islam
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Bangladesh
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Kamran Akmal
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Pakistan
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Darren Sammy
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West Indies
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Brad Hogg
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Australia
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Dhaka Gladiators
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Mohammad Ashraful
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Nazim Uddin
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Bangladesh
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Saeed Ajmal
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Pakistan
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Shahid Afridi
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Pakistan
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Keiron Pollard
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West Indies
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Duronto Rajshahi
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Mushfiqur Rahim
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Bangladesh- Icon player
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Zunaed Siddique
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Bangladesh
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Abdul Razzaq
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Pakistan
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Marlon Samuels
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West Indies
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Said Joyee Biswas, Director, Programming of ESPN STAR Sports, “We are delighted to support the expansion of T20 to Bangladesh by bringing this exciting new tournament to cricket fans in Asia.
“As the rights holder for some of the globe’s best cricket events including ICC World T20, CL T20, India-Australia test matches, ODI tri-series between Australia, India and Sri Lanka, and England-Australia ODIs, we are pleased to add Bangladesh Premier League to our portfolio of top cricket coverage.”
Said Enayetur Rahman, Managing Director of Channel 9, “As the first GEC channel of Bangladesh with a mix of Sports and Entertainment, and the producer of BPL T20, we are pleased to partner with ESPN STAR Sports to bring BPL to cricket lovers and look forward to a long term relationship.”
Running from 9-29 February the tournament will feature a mix of 1-2 matches per day. On days when two games are played, the first match will begin at 2pm local time followed by the second match at 6.30pm. In addition to the Icon player from Bangladesh, each team is allowed 9 foreign players, 5 of who can play per match per team. The opening ceremony of BPL will commence at 5pm local time on Thursday 9 February.
ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier sports from around the globe featuring some of the most iconic sports events to viewers across 24 countries in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports operates from its Singapore headquarters and has regional offices across six countries in Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, South Korea). ESPN STAR Sports features a comprehensive portfolio of multimedia assets including its 25 television channels, 3 broadband networks, digital content services, and its on-ground Event Management group.