"For the next one month we can spend the evening with some entertainment." This was the way a pharmacy owner on Friday welcomed the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which kicks off at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.

Like it or hate it, the BPL has become a dish of entertainment for people from all walks of life across the country. What happened in Sylhet over the past few days with regards to ticket sales only highlighted the craze surrounding this domestic T20 tournament.

And over the next forty days people will gather outside TV showrooms to catch the action on screens, cricket will be the most important ingredient at tea stalls and dominate other addas at shops big and small. Office-goers can unwind with the hitting of fours and sixes after returning home while those who visit the stadiums will become fully-engrossed in the 'cricketainment'.

If you want to see the frenzy for yourself, you can even ask a tea vendor and he will be able to give you the details of a match or player.

Gambling -- informal as it may be -- will find its way.

Like it because it induces huge entertainment and indeed a hangout entertainment, due to its shortened nature or because of the local and international players that take the field. Or hate it because of the purists' view that only Test cricket is real cricket, where drama may unfold at any moment or because a player can only show his true character in the five-day game and if not that then 50-over cricket can only be tolerated.

Whatever the debate is, T20 cricket, especially the franchise-based competitions, are now a reality. And at a time when 10-over-a-side cricket is going to be experimented, one had better accept the reality even if he or she is not a great fan of this format.

It is a reality as the organisers also give utmost attention to the competition. This is the only domestic competition where the board attempts to build up the action well before the start of the tournament and ensure that no stone is left unturned in order to make it a success when the rest of the domestic competitions -- including the first-class ones which we love to say are the backbone of our cricket -- suffer from a lack of proper attention.

There is no dearth of sponsors here either.

However, all of that is irrelevant for the masses.

"Just tell me about the amusement opportunities in our country? The BPL at least keeps us entertained," said Bashir Ahmed, the aforementioned pharmacy owner.

So let them enjoy the evening with the BPL.