The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has introduced a new approach to team-building in domestic cricket, extending the draft system beyond players to include coaches and support staff. On Tuesday, the six franchises competing in the inaugural Domestic Three (D3) Trophy selected their coaching and management personnel through a management draft at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
The initiative is part of a broader restructuring of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket calendar. Unlike previous arrangements, in which different competitions and teams were largely organised separately, the D3 Trophy will bring three formats—T20, 50-over and four-day first-class cricket—under the same six franchises. The idea is to create greater continuity in player development, coaching and performance management across formats.
The BCB provided the franchises with a pool of coaches from which they could select their respective management teams. Each franchise chose a head coach, two assistant coaches, a physiotherapist, a strength and conditioning coach and a performance analyst. The management draft was held before the player selection process, giving the franchises an opportunity to establish their coaching structures ahead of squad formation.
Six franchises, six head coaches
The head-coach selections brought together a mixture of established domestic coaches and former Bangladesh internationals.
ACE Bluestar selected Sohel Islam, while Rajin Saleh, a former Bangladesh captain, was chosen by ACME. Mizanur Rahman Babul will lead Citizens Bank. Fortune Group opted for experienced coach Mohammad Salahuddin, while former Bangladesh pacer Talha Zubair was selected by Seven Rings Cement. Walton appointed former Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak as its head coach.
| Franchise | Head coach | Assistant coaches |
|---|---|---|
| ACE Bluestar | Sohel Islam | Salahuddin Ahmed Uzzal, Ashiqur Rahman Majumder |
| ACME | Rajin Saleh | Tarek Aziz Khan, Foysal Hossain Dickens |
| Citizens Bank | Mizanur Rahman Babul | Nazmul Hossain, Mohammad Selim |
| Fortune Group | Mohammad Salahuddin | Mohammad Ashraful, Abdul Karim Juel |
| Seven Rings Cement | Talha Zubair | Hannan Sarkar, Humayun Kabir Shaheen |
| Walton | Abdur Razzak | Tushar Imran, Dollar Mahmud |
The appointments also give the competition links with Bangladesh’s national and age-group cricket structures. National team batting coach Mohammad Ashraful has joined Fortune as an assistant to Salahuddin, while Talha Zubair, who is also part of the national team coaching set-up, will lead Seven Rings Cement. Hannan Sarkar, who has worked with Bangladesh’s age-group cricket, will serve as one of Seven Rings’ assistants.
The involvement of coaches with national-team responsibilities, however, creates a scheduling consideration. Their availability will depend on Bangladesh’s international commitments. BCB tournament committee chairman Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir said the coaches would work with their D3 franchises when there were no national-team commitments. The system also allows franchises to bring in an alternative coach from the available pool if a selected member of their management is unavailable.
One team across three formats
The central feature of the D3 Trophy is that the same six teams will compete in all three formats. The T20 competition is scheduled to begin on 15 December, followed by the four-day competition in January and the 50-over tournament in May. Across the three phases, the competition will comprise 42 matches: 19 T20s, 16 one-day games and seven four-day matches.
Each franchise is expected to have a squad of 23 players, meaning that player management will be particularly important. A cricketer selected for the same franchise may have to adapt from the demands of fast-paced T20 cricket to the longer periods of concentration required in four-day matches, while also maintaining the tactical and physical requirements of 50-over cricket.
The structure is therefore intended to give coaching teams responsibility for player development across formats rather than concentrating solely on one competition. It could also provide franchises with a clearer picture of players’ abilities in different match situations over the course of a season.
The six icon players have already been assigned to the franchises. Mushfiqur Rahim will represent Seven Rings Cement, Mehidy Hasan Miraz Walton, Towhid Hridoy Fortune, Mosaddek Hossain ACME, Nurul Hasan Sohan ACE Bluestar and Mohammad Naim Citizens Bank.
Player draft next
With the management structures now in place, attention turns to the players. The player draft is scheduled for 26 October, when the six franchises will build their 23-member squads.
That process will complete the initial make-up of the D3 teams and provide a clearer indication of how each franchise is equipped for the three-format challenge.
The BCB has positioned the D3 Trophy as a significant restructuring of domestic cricket, with the competition bringing together elements of previously separate domestic tournaments under one franchise-based system. The first test of the model will come in December, when the six newly assembled teams take the field in the T20 phase. Its longer-term success will depend on how effectively the franchises manage players, coaching resources and competing format demands throughout the season.