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 were played at the Jadvapur University Salt Lake Campus ground, which also hosts First Class Matches.
The inaugural season was held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2024, with eight franchises.
The league will feature players from the state, including those with Indian Premier League (IPL) and international experience. Inspired by the success of the IPL, it will offer world-class production quality and broadcast standards. The primary aim of the league is to unearth new talent 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 over 150 million through TV, digital-social media, and traditionalÃÂ media.
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.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) founded the league in 2024. The league is affiliated to the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI).
In total, there are 34 matches in the league stage of the tournament for both men and women. The four teams that finish top of the league progress to the semi-finals. The winners progress to the final.
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, including two outstation players.
Eden Gardens is used to host all the men's matches.
Jadavpur University Campus Ground is used to host all the women's matches.
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.