Decision yet to be made on Rishad Hossain’s SA20 stint due to potential clash with BPL

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has cast uncertainty on spinner Rishad Hossain‘s participation in next year’s SA20, with the tournament set to overlap with the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League season.

Hossain was picked up by the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for the 2027 season, becoming the first Bangladesh cricketer to be signed by an SA20 franchise. His availability, however, remains uncertain due to the clash in schedules between the SA20 and the homegrown BPL.

The BPL governing council is yet to finalise a window for the tournament, but a window has been identified between January and February, with the board looking to bring in leading corporate houses to avoid funding issues from past seasons. There do remain doubts on whether the two tournaments could clash, with the SA20 set to run from January 9 to February 4.

As things stand, Rishad could miss a second successive BPL season after sitting out the previous edition while representing Hobart Hurricanes in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). However, BCB officials insisted no decision has been taken yet.

Hossain could be set to miss successive BPL seasons after missing the 2026 edition due to his participation in the Big Bash League with the Hobart Hurricanes. BCB officials did, however, insist that no decision has been taken on this front yet.

“If the BPL doesn’t take place then, there are no problems. If it does (two competitions overlapping), board will have look into it and take a decision. This is today’s news (Rishad picked in SA20) and after the auction they will apply for the NOC and later the board will consider it. Previously, Hobart Hurricanes had applied for him beforehand, but recently no such thing had happened so now that he has got a team he will apply and the board will take a decision,” a BCB official said via Cricbuzz.

“Each and every single NOC is treated on an individual basis and just because it happened once (Rishad missing BPL for Big Bash) doesn’t mean it will happen again. Now, when he applies for the NOC to take part in SA20, the board will decide whether to allow him or not at the expense of missing the BPL if it is scheduled during that point of time,” the official added.

Rishad has been growing in stature in the shortest format across franchise circuits. He picked up 12 wickets in the 2025 season of the Pakistan Super League, playing for the Lahore Qalandars. He was also impressive for the Hurricanes, picking up 15 wickets in 11 innings, the joint-most by a spinner in the tournament.