D-Three Trophy: A New Era for Bangladesh Domestic Cricket, Know What This Format Is and Why It's Special

The player auction of the new-structure domestic cricket Domestic Three, or D-Three, is underway at a star hotel in Dhaka. From among 275 cricketers in five categories, the six teams of the tournament are selecting their players. So far, national team pacer Shariful Islam has been bought by City Bank for the highest 2 crore 30 lakh points. Another national team pacer, Taskin, has been bought by Walton Group for 2 crore 10 lakh points. And national team opener Tanzid Tamim has been taken by Fortune Barishal for the third-highest 2 crore taka. The first phase of the auction has now ended. After a break, the auction will continue until 4 pm. Let the auction go on; meanwhile, let us once again learn in detail about the new-structure domestic cricket D-Three, which combines three formats. What is D-Three and why Bringing the three-format competition—T20, 50-over cricket and four-day matches—under one structure, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has launched the 'Domestic Three' or 'D-Three' Trophy. The main objectives of this initiative are to increase the appeal of domestic cricket, expand cricketers' opportunities to play, and make the competition more professional. The formal announcement of this new competition was made on September 27, 2026. BCB President Tamim Iqbal said the initiative was taken to restore the lost appeal of domestic cricket and create a competitive environment. The decline in the popularity of domestic cricket was a matter of concern for the board. Through the new structure, the BCB wants to change that situation. The domestic franchise tournament BPL is not being held this time. The BCB wants to make the tournament, plagued by various controversies, more organized in the future. The BCB hopes that even without the BPL, the new-structure D-Three will somewhat compensate for the financial losses of the players. Three competitions, one structure The most important feature of the D-Three Trophy is that the three competitions previously held separately are now coming under the same structure. The T20 version of the National Cricket League (NCL) and the four-day and one-day competitions of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) are being included in this new structure. However, the regular four-day competition of the NCL will remain separate as before. According to the schedule announced by the BCB, a total of 42 matches are to be held across the three formats. Of these, there are 19 T20 matches, 16 one-day cricket matches and seven four-day cricket matches. In this structure, the same team will have to prove its capability in the longer format of cricket as well as the shorter format. Along with the ability to score quickly and handle pressure in T20, patience, strategy and consistency will also be tested in four-day cricket. Six corporate teams are participating The BCB has signed agreements with six corporate institutions to run teams for the first three seasons. The teams are H Blue Star, Walton Group, Citizens Bank, Akmi Group, Seven Rings Cement and Fortune Group. Through this franchise-based system, the board is trying to increase corporate investment in domestic cricket and professionalism in team management. It has also been announced that 50 percent of the income from sponsorship and ticket sales will be shared with the teams. Six icon cricketers of six teams Although the auction is today, each team has already selected one icon cricketer. Walton Group has taken Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Fortune Group has taken Towhid Hridoy, Akmi Group has taken Mosaddek Hossain, Seven Rings Cement has taken Mushfiqur Rahim, H Blue Star has taken Nurul Hasan and Citizens Bank has taken Mohammad Naim. Creating an opportunity for young cricketers and those established in domestic cricket to play in the same competition alongside experienced national team cricketers is also an important aspect of this structure. Player auction in points instead of money In forming teams for the D-Three Trophy, instead of the conventional money-based auction, there is a point-based auction. Each team has been allocated 10 crore points. Teams must build their squads by selecting players within that limit. However, there is no limit on the maximum number of points that can be spent on a single player. Each team will buy 22 cricketers from the auction. The auction is for cricketers other than the icon cricketers. The purpose of this method is to maintain balance among teams in player recruitment and to limit the tendency to build strong teams merely by spending more money. In the auction, the base points for 'A' category players have been set at 40 lakh, 'B' category at 30 lakh, 'C' category at 20 lakh, 'D' category at 10 lakh and 'E' category at 5 lakh. This auction has no relation to the financial earnings of the cricketers. Here, only the teams will select players. The cricketers will receive match fees of the amounts announced by the BCB. The fee for a four-day match is 1 lakh 50 thousand taka, the match fee for a 50-over match is 1 lakh taka and for T20 it is 80 thousand taka. Coaching and management In the D-Three Trophy, special importance is being given not only to players but also to the appointment of coaching and support staff for the teams. Along with head coaches, the selection process for assistant coaches and other support staff has taken place through a draft. H Blue Star's head coach is Sohel Islam, Akmi's Rajin Saleh, Citizens Bank's Mizanur Rahman Babul, Fortune's Mohammad Salahuddin, Seven Rings Cement's Talha Jubair, and Walton has taken Abdur Razzak as coach. When and where will the tournament start? According to the plan announced by the BCB, the T20 version of the D-Three Trophy is scheduled to start on December 15, 2026. The venue for the opening phase has been set as the Jivanananda Das Cricket Stadium in Barishal. There are also plans to hold matches in Dhaka. There are plans to hold the four-day competition in January 2027 and the 50-over version in May. Success will depend on implementation on the ground There is no doubt that the D-Three Trophy will bring novelty to Bangladesh's domestic cricket. But the success of a competition is not ensured merely by a new name, corporate ownership or the participation of big stars. Quality wickets, adequate matches, players receiving timely remuneration, competitive team formation and maintaining spectator interest—the success or failure of this event will depend on all of these.