# Bengal Pro T20 League

The Bengal Pro T20 League also known as Bengal Pro T20 or BPLT20, is a men's and women's professional Twenty20 cricket league in West Bengal, India. It is organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and contested by eight district-based franchise teams. It is usually played during post summer season from June to August of every year.
The format was invented with the expectation that each match would last around three-and-a-half hours. The Viacom 18 showed Sports18 TV broadcasts of the competition, while all of the women's matches and some of the men's matches were available to stream for free on JioCinema.
Almost all matches take place as back-to-back double-headers at the same venue on the same day. The venue for Men's was the historic Eden Gardens and the women's played at the Jadvapur University Salt Lake Campus ground, which also hosts First Class Matches.

## History

The inaugural season was held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2024, with eight franchises.
The league will feature top players of the state (across IPL and international). Inspired by the success of India Premier League (IPL), the league will have world class production quality and broadcast. The major aim of this league is to unearth new talents from the state.
The first season of the league was initially planned to be held from 11 June to 28 June 2024.
The inaugural edition of the league reached a cumulative audience of 150 Million plus through TV, digital-social media and traditional media.

### Background

In 2024, the Bengal Pro T20 League was launched. The West Bengal franchise playing Indian Premier League (IPL), the league was aimed to make up for the absence of high-profile matches in Kolkata in the year and to expose talented players from districts. It was conceived by former BCCI president and then CAB president Sourav Ganguly.

### Administration

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) founded the league in 2024. The league is affiliated to the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI).

## Tournament structure

In total there are 31 matches in the league stage of the tournament for each men and women. The four teams that finish top of the league progress to the semi-finals. The winners progress into the final.

## Teams

There are eight franchises competing in the league. The franchises are named after a city it is representing in the state. Each team can have a maximum of 17 players that includes two outstation players.
| Team name | City / Towns | Owners | Men's captain | Women's captain |
| Adamas Howrah Warriors | Howrah | Rice Adamas Group | Anustup Majumdar | Dhara Gujjar |
| Harbour Diamonds | Diamond Harbour | GD Sports | Manoj Tiwary | Sukanya Parida |
| Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers | Kolkata | Lux Industries and Shyam Steel | Abishek Porel | Mita Paul |
| Murshidabad Kings & Kueens | Murshidabad | Pritam Electricals and Jalan Builders | Sudip Kumar Gharami | Deepti Sharma |
| Shrachi Rarh Tigers | Durgapur | Shrachi Sports Ventures | Shahbaz Ahmad | Titas Sadhu |
| Rashmi Medinipur Wizards | Medinipur | Rashmi Group | Abhimanyu Easwaran | Richa Ghosh |
| Servotech Siliguri Strikers | Siliguri | Servotech Power Systems | Akash Deep | Priyanka Bala |
| Sobisco Smashers Malda | Malda | Sona Biscuites | Mukesh Kumar | Hrishita Basu |

## Venues

Eden Gardens is used to host all the men's matches.
West Bengal :
* Kolkata
* Eden Gardens
* Capacity: 68,000
Jadavpur University Campus Ground is used to host all the women's matches.
West Bengal :
* Kolkata
* Jadavpur University Campus Ground
* Capacity: 5,000

## Tournament seasons and results
### Men's finals

| Season | Final | Final | Final | Final | Player of the season |
| Season | Winners | Result | Runners-up | Venue | Player of the season |
| 2024 | Sobisco Smashers Malda 116/8 (20 overs) & Murshidabad Kings 7/0 (1.1 overs) | Joint winner Sorecard | | Eden Garden, Kolkata | |

### Women's finals

| Season | Final | Final | Final | Final | Player of the season |
| Season | Winners | Result | Runners-up | Venue | Player of the season |
| 2024 | Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers 110/5 (20 overs) | Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers won by 5 runs Scorecard | Murshidabad Kueens 105/9 (20 overs) | Jadavpur University Campus Ground, Kolkata | |

## Broadcasting

In 2024, Viacom18 acquired the media rights and became the broadcast partner of the league. Viacom18 broadcasts the matches on Sports18 3 TV channel with Commentary in English, Bengali and Hindi and also streamed Live at their OTT platform, JioCinema. Both the men's and women's matches were also streamed live on Fancode in English.

## Team's performance
### Men's

| Season Franchise | 2024 |
| Adamas Howrah Warriors | 5th |
| Harbour Diamonds | 8th |
| Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers | SF |
| Murshidabad Kings | C |
| Rashmi Medinipur Wizards | SF |
| Servotec Siliguri Strikers | 6th |
| Shrachi Rarh Tigers | 7th |
| Sobisco Smashers Malda | C |
* Teams are listed alphabetically by year of entry into the league
* C: champions
* RU: runner-up
* SF or PO: team qualified for the semi-final or playoff stage of the competition

### Women's

| Season Franchise | 2024 |
| Adamas Howrah Warriors | 5th |
| Harbour Diamonds | 7th |
| Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers | C |
| Murshidabad Kueens | RU |
| Rashmi Medinipur Wizards | SF |
| Servotec Siliguri Strikers | 8th |
| Shrachi Rarh Tigers | SF |
| Sobisco Smashers Malda | 6th |
* Teams are listed alphabetically by year of entry into the league
* C: champions
* RU: runner-up
* SF or PO: team qualified for the semi-final or playoff stage of the competition