Bangladesh star batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is set to miss the first round of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) for BCB North Zone due to fever and hamstring injury.

The tournament is slated to begin on January 31 with the first round. Meanwhile South Zone's Imrul Kayes is also suffering from hamstring problems and will likely miss the first round along with pacer Khaled Mahmud, who suffered a side strain while bowling at the nets today.

This season, the only franchise-based first-class tournament of the country will involve only two corporate houses, Walton for Central Zone and Islami Bank for East Zone, while the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will manage the two other teams North and South Zone.

The BCB tournament committee has come decided to cut the red-ball tournament short this time, running it in a single league format to create a window for the upcoming 2019-2020 Dhaka Premier League. The second round of the tournament will be played from February 7 till February 10 followed by the third round between February 14 and February 17. The final will be played from February 21till February 24.