The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has hurried together a three-team, four-match T20 tournament that starts today, 5 February, at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. All of the country’s leading players—barred from travelling to India for the men’s T20 World Cup—will turn out in what the board is calling the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup.
Litton Das captains Dhumketu XI, Najmul Hossain Shanto leads Durbar XI and Under-19 World-Cup-winner Akbar Ali heads up Duronto XI. The sides play each other once on 5, 6 and 7 February; the top two meet again in a straight final on 9 February.
Key numbers first. The competition has official T20 status, uses an “impact player” swap-in rule for the first time in Bangladesh, and carries Tk 2.5 crore (about US$205,000) in prize money and appearance fees. Every game is under lights in Mirpur and will be shown on domestic television.
Why is it happening? Put simply, the government’s late-January directive not to tour India left Bangladesh without a World Cup. A senior adviser, Asif Nazrul, told reporters “the security environment is not suitable”, and the ICC moved quickly, inviting Scotland to take Bangladesh’s spot. That decision, announced three weeks ago, effectively ended any lingering hope of compromise.
BCB officials insist the stop-gap event is about giving players meaningful cricket rather than damage control. Chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said in a statement, “We owe it to the boys to keep them match-ready and the fans deserve something to watch.” Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, back in Dhaka earlier than planned, offered a blunter assessment: “Sitting idle for six weeks helps no-one.”
Player reaction has been muted in public, though one senior international admitted privately the mood is “flat”. A couple of squad members had IPL deals lined up before Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL contract was cancelled, and the dominoes fell from there. Domestic options have been thin, too; the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League is yet to start its 2025-26 season after several clubs threatened a boycott over playing conditions.
The competitive quality of a three-team, week-long league is an open question. Yet coaches believe the impact-player trial could offer useful data. Former Bangladesh opener Javed Omar likes the idea, albeit cautiously: “It’s tactical but you can’t let it slow the game down. We’ll see very quickly if it works.”
For supporters, the equation is simple: live cricket versus nothing at all. Tickets are free for under-16s and modestly priced elsewhere. The stands may not reach full capacity, but the BCB hopes a short, concentrated burst of matches will soften the blow of missing a global tournament.
The reality, though, is stark. Bangladesh’s best cricketers are at home while the world stage moves on without them. The Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup can keep arms and legs ticking over; it cannot replace a World Cup.
