In a bid to improve domestic T20 structure for cricket in Myanmar, the national cricket board have announced the launch of Myanmar T20 League in January 2021 and will be organized every year going forward.
The 8-team T20 league will take place from January 25th – February 05th at Shwe Pin Lon national cricket ground. The event is being produced by 1X Sportz, a company based in India and is involved in sports marketing, sponsorships, league management, player management, live screening & TV broadcasting.
The 8 teams will be divided into two groups and each team will play the others in the group in a double round-robin group stage format, before the top two teams advance to the semifinals. The teams for the inaugural edition are Mandalay Warriors, Sagaing Lions, Yangon Stars, Magway Heroes, Naypyitaw Legends, Bago Challengers, Ayeyarwady Riders and Tanintharyi Blasters.
The organizers and the cricket board have plans of brining in overseas professionals to popularize the league across the globe from the 2022 edition onwards, as due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the inaugural edition will only feature the domestic players (capped and uncapped) taking part in the tournament.
Myanmar have been regular participants in Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and ICC level regional events including qualification pathway tournaments for T20 World Cup and have the Asian sub-regional qualifiers for 2022 T20 World Cup scheduled in 2021 and the league will provide opportunities for players to stake claim for spots in the national squad.
