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The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is officially down to five teams ahead of the 2025-26 season when compared with the seven teams from the previous edition. As per the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) statement on the matter, only two teams from the 2024-25 season, Dhaka Capitals and Rangpur Riders, have survived the changes while the other five teams weren’t that fortunate enough with two-time reigning BPL champions Fortune Barishal and Khulna Tigers being disbanded entirely.
The three BPL teams that have gone through ownership changes are Chattogram, Rajshahi and Sylhet with the previous owners making way for the new ones. According to the report published in ESPNcricinfo, Chittagong Kings, Durbar Rajshahi and Sylhet Strikers are not going to compete in the BPL anymore and they will now be known as Chattogram Royals, Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans respectively.
Bangladesh cricket has been plagued with corruption and match-fixing in recent times
While the media department of the BCB confirmed the changes being made to the BPL ahead of the 2025-26 season, there are no details being revealed about the new owners of either of the three aforementioned teams. Over the past couple of years, Bangladesh cricket has been plagued with corruption and match-fixing with the top officials of the BCB admitting to it taking place in the Dhaka Premier League Division Cricket 2024-25 earlier this year.
Moreover, the 12th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League is expected to take place from December 2025 to January 2026 with just five teams in it. The player draft of the BPL 2025-26 is confirmed to take place on November 17 where three new teams will be picking their players from scratch while there is a likelihood of Dhaka Capitals and Rangpur Riders getting the chance to keep some of their players ahead of the new season.
