Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup to feature top national players barred from India-bound World Cup

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The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the launch of a new short-format tournament, the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup, scheduled to be played during the T20 World Cup window. The three-team competition will begin on February 5 and will feature many of the country’s leading cricketers who are set to miss the T20 World Cup after the Bangladesh government barred the national team from travelling to India.

The tournament will consist of three teams — Dhumketu XI, Durbar XI, and Duronto XI — captained by Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Akbar Ali respectively. Each team will play the others once in a round-robin format, with league matches taking place on February 5, 6, and 7. The top two teams will then contest the final on February 9. All matches will be hosted at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

In a notable first for Bangladesh cricket, the BCB will introduce the impact player rule in an official domestic match. Under this rule, a player from the starting XI can be substituted at any stage of the game by a twelfth player selected from a list announced at the toss, adding a new tactical dimension to the competition.

The Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup has been granted official T20 status by the BCB and will carry total prize money and player fees worth Tk 2.5 crore (approximately USD 204,500), according to a BCB press release.

Several Bangladesh players have privately expressed disappointment at missing the T20 World Cup, though they have stopped short of publicly detailing their concerns or the specifics of a January 24 meeting with government officials.

Bangladesh’s participation in the T20 World Cup came under serious doubt after sports adviser Asif Nazrul stated that the team would not travel to India, a development that followed the BCCI’s decision to withdraw Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL. The situation triggered prolonged discussions between cricket authorities, but after negotiations failed, the ICC officially named Scotland as Bangladesh’s replacement for the tournament.

The new T20 league also comes at a time when Bangladesh’s domestic season has seen limited on-field action. Several domestic teams have boycotted the Dhaka leagues, and the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League has yet to be held for the 2025–26 season, leaving the Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup as a key competitive outlet for the country’s top players.