The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has clarified whether Indian cricketers will feature in it inaugural Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL)which will be held from April 4 to 14. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) currently bans male players from overseas T20 leagues unless they retire from Indian cricket.
However, no such restriction applies to women cricketers. Indian stars like Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma have featured in leagues in the West Indies, Australia and England, apart from playing at home in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
On Wednesday, February 25, Rubaba Dowla, chairperson of the BCB Women’s Wing and the WBPL Board of Governors, responded in the affirmative when asked about the participation of Indian players. She confirmed that there are no country-specific restrictions on their involvement in the Women’s BPL.
“We are open to everyone,” Dowla told reporters. “There is no country-specific restriction. Whoever shows interest and whichever team wants to bring such players can do so. It’s open to all, so we’ll see,” she added.
WBPL PREPARATION IN PROGRESS
On Wednesday, February 25, the BCB officially began preparations for the inaugural WBPL by conducting its first coordination meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
Dowla also said that players from around the world have already expressed interest in the tournament, adding that any final decisions and recruitment will be made after direct discussions with the players.
“Several international players have already shown interest,” Rubaba told reporters after a coordination meeting in Mirpur.
“Teams will then contact the players and complete the recruitment. There are some big-name star players who have expressed interest,” she said.
The WBPL governing body chief hinted that the inaugural edition is likely to start in Chattogram and end in Dhaka. She noted that the board intends to mirror the IPL framework in terms of the cap allowed for overseas players in the final eleven.
This means that the acquisition of players will not be done through an auction; instead, franchises select their teams through a draft process.
As for Jemimah, Mandhana and Harmanpreet, the trio is currently in Australia for a three-match ODI series against the seven-time world champions. Mandhana was also part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team that secured the Women’s Premier League (WPL) title in 2025.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
February 26, 2026
