BCB President’s Cup kicks off today
After a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, competitive cricket in Bangladesh will finally resume with the BCB President’s Cup on Sunday. In the first match of the tourney, Mahmudullah XI will lock horns with Nazmul XI in the day/night ODI match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. The match is scheduled to start at 1:30 pm.
After a long seven months gap, country’s cricket fanatics will finally to see their favourite stars in action. BCB President’s Cup will broadcast live on Facebook.
With this tournament, the cricketers will hope to get their rhythm back before returning to international cricket. National team ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Nazmul Hossain Shanto are at the helm of three teams, participating in this tournament. The teams have also been named after them. The Under-19 World Cup winning youths will be seen playing in this tournament with the cricketers of the national team.
Although competition prize money amount is not that hefty, but there will be prize money and individual awards in the President’s Cup. Speaking with the media on Saturday, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said, “We are trying our best to make the President’s Cup attractive and enjoyable. There will be prize money for the champion and runners-up teams. The Man of the Match award will include a trophy as well as cash.” The BCB chief executive said, “Since it is a preparatory tournament, it will not be like a real competitive series. We have some initiatives to make it interesting and competitive so that it doesn’t look like a preparatory tournament. We want to motivate the players financially.”
It is rumoured that, 15 lakh taka will be given to the champion team and 10 lakh taka will be given to the runners-up. The Man of the Match and Man of the Tournament will also receive cash prizes. However, the BCB CEO did not disclose the exact amount. He said, “We will give the prize money. The exact prize money awards will be officially announced by the board soon.”
Meanwhile, each team will face each other twice. The final will be held on October 23. Reserve day has been kept for every match due to fear of rain. All the matches will be day and night. Each game of the tournament will be streamed live from the BCB’s official Facebook page www.facebook.com/bcbtigercricket via video streaming.