BCB unveils D-3 trophy, to begin with T20 phase in Barishal this December

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has unveiled full details of its new domestic tournament, D-3, a three-format competition featuring six franchises that will open with T20 matches at Barishal's Jibanananda Das Stadium on December 15.

Named for the trio of formats it covers, first-class, List A one-day and T20, the tournament was formally launched at a Dhaka hotel event on Sunday, with State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque attending as chief guest.

Ace Bluestar, Fortune Group, Citizens Bank, Walton Group, Seven Rings Cement and Akmi have all signed three-year agreements with the board to run the six franchises, each permitted to register a 23-player squad across all three formats.

Despite the franchise branding, BCB will retain significant control over the competition's finances, setting spending limits for each team and determining salaries for both players and coaching staff, with a players' auction scheduled for October 26.

The T20 phase, comprising 19 matches, opens the tournament in December, with the four-day first-class league following in January and the 50-over format, made up of 16 ODIs, completing the schedule from May next year onwards.

Seven four-day fixtures round out a 42-match tournament in total, with each franchise guaranteed at least 12 matches and as many as 17 across the three formats depending on how far they progress in every phase.

Barishal will host the opening T20 fixtures, with organisers also exploring Khulna as a second venue, while Dhaka remains the fallback option, and the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur has been mentioned for later stages of the T20 phase.

Each of the six franchises has been assigned an icon player: Mehidy Hasan Miraz at Walton, Towhid Hridoy at Fortune, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat at Akmi, Mushfiqur Rahim at Seven Rings Cement, Nurul Hasan Sohan at Ace Bluestar and Naim Sheikh at Citizens Bank.