Fortune Barishal withdraw from upcoming five BPL editions

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced that defending Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Fortune Barishal, owned by Fortune Shoes, have decided to withdraw from the tournament for the next five editions.

Notably, Fortune Barishal had requested the BCB to reschedule the tournament, citing insufficient time to assemble a competitive squad. However, the request could not be accommodated within the current schedule, as per a Cricbuzz report.

The player draft for the upcoming BPL season is set for November 17, while the tournament is expected to begin around December 19, running through the December–January window. A total of 11 organisations have submitted their Expressions of Interest (EOI) to the BCB for franchise ownership ahead of the next cycle. The submission window closed on October 28.

The list of interested parties includes, Champions Sports Limited (proposed team: Dhaka Capitals), Triangle Services Limited (Chattogram team), SQ Sports Enterprise Limited (Chattogram Kings), First SS Enterprise Private Limited (Kumilla Fighters), Togi Sports Limited (Rangpur Riders), Bangla Mark Limited (Noakhali team), Mind Free Limited & Ruposhi Concrete Product Limited (Khulna team), Akashbari Holidays and Resorts (Barishal team), Desh Travels (Rajshahi team), Nabil Group of Industries (Rajshahi team), and JM Sports and Enterprise (Sylhet team).

"We have received these 11 EOIs and now we will be following the criteria we have while the next step is that we will assess their financial strength and the day after tomorrow (30th October) we will call them for individual interviews. The name you mentioned (Fortune Barishal) is not in the EOIs we received today," BCB president Aminul Islam told reporters at Navana Tower on Tuesday as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Speaking about the BPL, the Comilla Victorians remain the most successful team in the tournament’s history, having won the title four times. The Dhaka franchise has lifted the trophy three times, while Fortune Barishal have claimed the championship twice, in 2024 and 2025. The BPL 2026 season has been preponed to the December 2025–January 2026 window, as the league’s usual February–March schedule coincides with the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.